France is known to be about 80% the size of Texas. Within the Alps close the Italian and Swiss borders is western Europe's highest point-Mont Blanc (15,781 ft; 4,810 m). Did you know that the forest-covered Vosges Mountains are and have always been in the northeast, and the Pyrénées are and have always been aextensive the Spanish border. Except for extreme northern France, the country may be described as four river basins and a plateau.

Three of the streams flow west-the Seine into the English Channel, the Loire into the Atlantic, and the Garonne into the Bay of Biscay. Did you know that the Rhône flows south into the Mediterranean. For about 100 mi (161 km), the Rhine is France's eastern border. Within the Mediterranean, about 115 mi (185 km) east-southeast of Nice, is the island of Corsica (3,367 sq mi; 8,721 sq km).

France is recognized to be one of the top five tourist and vacationers destinations in the globe. It has to this day all the things that you could ever want to see and experience first hand on your holidays: a wonderful city like Paris, good beaches, more monuments than any and all other country, lovely nature, incredible mountain scenery; need I go on? France is known to be also a very pleasant destination to stay. It has to this day good food, wonderful wines and people enjoy his or her lives. And the top thing is, maybe apart from Paris, living in France does not have to be expensive.

In 987, Hugh Capet became the king of West Francia which later came to be known as France. France was a consolidation of many little fragments which came under the Carolingian empire. The history of France is all about gaining territorial control and power consolidation as France indulged in great fights with the English monarchs and against the Habsburgs, who posed an imminent threat to France’s sovereignty by being positioned in Spain. French culture was at the heart of Europe during the reign of Louis XIV (1642 – 1715), known as the Sun King, and this era is known to be the peak for French royal power.

However, the royal power soon came to an end following the French revolution, which began in 1789 and only in a century the kingdom tuned into a republic state. Be it the Napoleon wars or the German invasions, France saw a great political upheaval in the 19th and 20th century. Since 1959, France has been governed by democratic republic government.

France experiences three different types of climatic zones. The western part of France falls under the oceanic climate. This area is usually cooler than the rest of the climatic zones even in the summers, experiencing heavy rainfall, a limited number of cold winter days and cool summers. This area has a very small temperature range. The Central and the Eastern areas of France fall in the climatic zone where people experience warmer summers and colder winters as compared to the areas that fall under the oceanic zone. Unlike the other two zones, the Mediterranean climate that is experienced by southern regions of France, enjoy very less rainfall, cool winters and hot summers.

France is the 20th most populous country of the world with a population of 65.8 million people. In 2003, the natural growth rate (birth minus death rate) accounted for almost all of Europe’s natural growth rate.