Introduction & Quick FactsLandReliefThe Hercynian massifsThe ArdennesThe VosgesThe Massif CentralThe Massif ArmoricainThe great lowlandsThe Paris BasinThe Flanders PlainThe Alsace PlainThe Loire plainsThe Aquitaine BasinThe younger mountains and adjacent plainsPyrenees, Jura, and AlpsThe southern plainsDrainageThe Seine systemThe Loire systemThe Garonne systemThe Rhône systemThe Rhine systemThe smaller rivers and the lakesSoilsClimateThe oceanic regionThe continental regionThe Mediterranean regionPlant and animal lifePlant lifeAnimal lifePeopleEthnic groupsLanguagesReligionSettlement patternsRural landscape and settlementBocageOpen-fieldMediterraneanMountainPostwar transformationUrban settlementDemographic trendsPopulation historyEmigrationImmigrationPopulation structurePopulation distributionEconomyAgriculture, forestry, and fishingGrainsFruits and wine makingDairying and livestockAgribusinessForestryFishingResources and powerMineralsEnergyManufacturingIndustrial trendsBranches of manufacturingFinanceBanking and insuranceThe stock exchangeForeign investmentTradeServicesCivil serviceTourismLabour and taxationTransportation and telecommunicationsRoadsRailroadsWaterwaysAir transportTelecommunicationsGovernment and societyGovernmentThe constitutional frameworkThe genesis of the 1958 constitutionThe dual executive systemThe role of the presidentParliamentary composition and functionsThe role of referendaThe role of the Constitutional CouncilRegional and local governmentThe régionsThe départementsThe communesThe overseas territoriesJusticeThe judiciaryAdministrative courtsPolitical processSecurityArmed forcesPolice servicesHealth and welfareSocial security and healthHousingWages and the cost of livingEducationPrimary and secondary educationHigher educationOther featuresCultural lifeCultural milieuDaily life and social customsThe artsLiteratureThe fine artsPainting and sculptureMusicDanceArchitecturePhotographyThe cinemaCultural institutionsAdministrative bodiesMuseums and monumentsSports and recreationMedia and publishingTelevision and radioThe pressHistoryGaulGeographic-historical scopeThe peopleThe Roman conquestGaul under the high empire (c. 50 bce–c. 250 ce)Gaul under the late Roman Empire (c. 250–c. 400)The end of Roman Gaul (c. 400–c. 500)Merovingian and Carolingian ageOriginsEarly Frankish periodGaul and Germany at the end of the 5th centuryThe MerovingiansClovis and the unification of GaulFrankish expansionThe conversion of ClovisThe sons of ClovisThe conquest of BurgundyThe conquest of southern GermanyThe grandsons of ClovisThe shrinking of the frontiers and peripheral areasThe parceling of the kingdomThe failure of reunification (613–714)Chlotar II and Dagobert IThe hegemony of NeustriaAustrasian hegemony and the rise of the PippinidsThe CarolingiansCharles Martel and Pippin IIICharles MartelPippin IIICharlemagneThe conquestsThe restoration of the empireLouis IThe partitioning of the Carolingian empireThe Treaty of VerdunThe kingdoms created at VerdunThe Frankish worldSocietyGermans and Gallo-RomansSocial classesDiffusion of political powerInstitutionsKingshipThe central governmentLocal institutionsThe development of institutions in the Carolingian ageEconomic lifeTradeFrankish fiscal lawThe churchInstitutionsMonasticismEducationReligious discipline and pietyThe influence of the church on society and legislationMerovingian literature and artsCarolingian literature and artsThe emergence of FranceFrench society in the early Middle AgesThe political history of France (c. 850–1180)Principalities north of the LoireThe principalities of the southThe monarchyEconomy, society, and culture in the Middle Ages (c. 900–1300)Economic expansionUrban prosperityRural societyReligious and cultural lifeThe age of cathedrals and ScholasticismCulture and learningFrance, 1180 to c. 1490France from 1180 to 1328The kings and the royal governmentPhilip AugustusLouis VIIILouis IXLater CapetiansForeign relationsThe period of the Hundred Years’ WarThe kings and the war, 1328–1429Philip VIJohn the GoodCharles VCharles VICharles VIIRecovery and reunification, 1429–83Governmental reformsMilitary reformsRegrowth of the French monarchyEconomy, society, and culture in the 14th and 15th centuriesEconomic distressThe citiesThe churchCulture and artFrance, 1490–1715France in the 16th centuryMilitary and financial organizationThe growth of a professional bureaucracyThe age of the ReformationThe Wars of ReligionPolitical ideologyFrance in the early 17th centuryHenry IVLouis XIIIThe FrondeThe age of Louis XIVThe development of central governmentLouis’s religious policyAbsolutism of LouisForeign affairsFrench culture in the 17th centuryFrance, 1715–89The social and political heritageThe social order of the ancien régimeMonarchy and churchCommitment to modernizationContinuity and changeAgricultural patternsIndustrial productionCommerceCitiesCultural transformationThe EnlightenmentThe influence of Montesquieu and RousseauThe political responseThe historical debateForeign policy and financial crisisDomestic policy and reform effortsTax reformParlementsKing and parlementsThe causes of the French RevolutionThe French Revolution and Napoleon, 1789–1815The destruction of the ancien régimeThe convergence of revolutions, 1789The juridical revolutionParisian revoltPeasant insurgenciesThe abolition of feudalismThe new regimeRestructuring FranceSale of national landsSeeds of discordReligious tensionsPolitical tensionsThe First French RepublicThe second revolutionA republic in crisisGirondins and MontagnardsThe Reign of TerrorThe Jacobin dictatorshipThe Army of the RepublicThe Thermidorian ReactionThe DirectorySister republicsAlienation and coupsThe Napoleonic eraThe ConsulateLoss of political freedomSociety in Napoleonic FranceReligious policyNapoleonic nobilityThe civil codeCampaigns and conquests, 1797–1807The Grand EmpireThe Continental SystemConscriptionNapoleon and the RevolutionFrance, 1815–1940The restoration and constitutional monarchyConstitutionalism and reaction, 1815–30Louis XVIII, 1815–24Charles X, 1824–30The revolution of 1830The July MonarchyThe Second Republic and Second EmpireThe revolution of 1848The Second Republic, 1848–52The Second Empire, 1852–70The authoritarian yearsThe liberal yearsThe Franco-German WarThe Third RepublicThe Commune of ParisThe formative years (1871–1905)Attempts at a restorationThe constitution of the Third RepublicRepublican factionsOpportunist controlThe Dreyfus AffairForeign policyThe prewar yearsWorld War IThe interwar yearsGerman reparationsFinancial crisisCollective securityInternal conflict on the leftThe Great Depression and political crisesGerman aggressionsSociety and culture under the Third RepublicEconomyCultural and scientific attainmentsFrance since 1940Wartime FranceThe Vichy governmentThe ResistanceLiberationThe Fourth RepublicConstitution of the Fourth RepublicPolitical and social changesColonial independence movementsThe Fifth RepublicFrance after de GaulleFrance under a Socialist presidencyMitterrand’s first termMitterrand’s second termFrance under conservative presidenciesThe Chirac administrationThe Sarkozy administrationThe euro-zone crisis and the Socialist resurgenceThe 2012 presidential campaignThe Hollande administrationThe Macron presidencySociety since 1940The cultural sceneMajor rulers of France, France is a semi-presidential republic and its capital, largest city and main cultural and economic centre is Paris. Metropolitan France was settled during the Iron Age by Celtic tribes known as Gauls before Rome annexed the area in 51 BC, leading to a distinct Gallo-Roman culture., France, a country of northwestern Europe, is historically and culturally among the most important countries in the Western world. It has also played a highly significant role in international affairs for centuries..