France
The French Republic or France (French République Française or France), is a country located in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco, Andorra, and Spain. It is a founding member of the European Union, a member of NATO, a permanent member of the UN Security Council. It holds nuclear weapons.
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| National motto: Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité (Liberty, Equality, Brotherhood) | |||||
| Official language | French | ||||
| Capital | Paris | ||||
| Largest City | Paris | ||||
| President | Jacques Chirac | ||||
| Prime Minister | Jean-Pierre Raffarin | ||||
| Area - Total 1 - Metropolitan France2 - % water | Ranked 47th 674,843 km² (260,558 sq. mi.) 551,695 km² 3 (213,011 sq. mi.) 543,965 km² 4 (210,026 sq. mi.) 0.26% | ||||
| Population (January 1, 2004) - Total 1 - Metropolitan France2 - Density2 | Ranked 20th 62,350,500 59,900,300 110/km² | ||||
| Currency | Euro(€)5, CFP Franc6, | ||||
| Time zone | UTC +1 (CET) (DST +2)2 | ||||
| National anthem | La Marseillaise | ||||
| Internet TLD | .fr 2 | ||||
| Calling Code | 33 2 | ||||
| (1) Whole territory of the French Republic, including all the overseas departments and territories, but excluding the French territory of Terre Adélie in Antarctica where sovereignty is suspended since the signing of the Antarctic Treaty in 1959 (2) Metropolitan (i.e. European) France only (3) French National Geographic Institute data (4) French Land Register data, which exclude lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km² (0.386 sq. mi. or 247 acres) as well as the estuaries of rivers (5) Whole of the French Republic except the overseas territories in the Pacific Ocean (6) French overseas territories in the Pacific Ocean only | |||||