Facts and figures about France

Political information

France, is a republic, with a written constitution. (5th Republic)

President Emmanuel Macron (5 year mandate).
Prime Minister Edouard Philippe

Information about the principle political parties, the French government and ministries.

Geographical information

The country is split into 22 administrative regions ( until 31st December 2015)

The regions listed in alphabetical are :
Alsace, Aquitaine, Auvergne, Basse-Normandie, Bourgogne, Bretagne, Centre, Champagne-Ardenne, Corse, Franche-Comte, Haute-Normandie, Ile-de-France, Languedoc-Roussillon, Limousin, Lorraine, Midi-Pyrenees, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Pays de la Loire, Picardie, Poitou-Charentes, Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur, Rhone-Alpes.

The country is split into 13 administrative regions ( from 1st January 2016)

Each region is divided into "departments" (counties). There is a total of 96 departments (106 when including the DOMs (Département d'outre-mer) & the TOMs (Territoires d'outre-mer) which are overseas departments.

There are 36851 towns and villages in France (including the DOMs).

The total land surface is 550,000 sq km. The highest point being the Mont Blanc which culminates at 4,807 metres above sea-level. The coastline is more than 5,500km long, with access to the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea and Mediterranean Sea.

Facts about France

There are 964,356 km of road with 7,396 km of "autoroutes" or motorways;
31 940 km of railway track, 1 268 reserved for the high-speed TGV  train. The railway system in France is nationalised and called the SNCF (Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer)
Main airport, Charles de Gaule Roisy Paris, secondary is Orly, Paris.

Military service is now abolished, however 1 day of civil education for men and women from 18 years of age is required.

The forces are divided into Army, Navy, Air Force, National Gendarmerie

Currency

Until 02 January 2002, the currency was the French Franc, it has since changed into the European currency and now the Euro is the legal tender.
1 Euro (€) = 100 Euro centimes

Information, value and pictures of Francs, old exchange rates

History

The history of France is complicated, with frontiers that continually changed, invasions and wars with the neighbours and migrations of populations to and from various countries. The country changed in shape and size through the centuries and even the capital changed locations.

Historical timeline, briefly describing the principle events and important dates of France.

History and time line of events during World War I and also World War II