France is one of the most developed countries in the world possessing the fifth largest economy. It is also a member state of the European Union and also one of the founding member of the United Nations.
France is also one of the largest countries in Europe in terms of area (the others being Russia and Ukraine). France is known for several things ranging from French food (eclair, chocolate mousse, crêpes, snails, croissants), French wine (champagne, Merlot), fashion and luxury (Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Dior), and beautiful French language, culture and of course, Eiffel tower! France is also the birthplace or the hometown of several great artists, painters and other great men like Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Monet, Napoleon, Rousseau, Voltaire, Marie Curie, Charles de Gaulle, etc. Let us know some more interesting France facts.
Interesting France Facts
The following are some of the significant and interesting France facts and information.
- The earliest inhabitants of the land of what is now France, were the Neanderthals.
- Julius Caesar took over France around 55 BC and it remained under the Roman empire until 5th century.
- One of the interesting France food facts is that there are dozens of different types and sizes of bread and nearly hundreds of types of cheese made in the country.
- France's National Anthem (La Marseillaise) was written and composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle and sung by the men of Marseilles as they marched to Paris during the revolution.
- The French 'Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen' of 1789 is the first universal declaration of human rights in the world.
- The Bastille Day (14th July 1789) when the French overthrew the monarchy, is celebrated as the Independence day of France.
- France was the world's first producer of different types of wine and liquors.
- The Louvre Museum (house of the famous 'Mona Lisa' painting by Leonardo da Vinci) is one of the largest museums in the world, with around 35,000 pieces of art housed in it.
- The Eiffel Tower, one of the most renowned structures in the world, is a little more than 300 mt high (approx. 1060 ft), weighs 7000 tonnes and has 1665 steps to reach the top.
- Every year in July, France hosts the Tour de France (bicycle race) that starts in Strasbourg and ends in Paris covering around 2,261 miles (3500 kms).
- Every year France hosts the French Open grand Slam or the Les Internationaux de France de Roland Garros (tennis tournament) in late May and June which is the only international tennis tournament to be held on a clay court.
- France has hosted the Summer Olympic Games (5 times), the Winter Olympic Games (3 times), and the FIFA World Cup (2 times).
- Frenchmen and women have won the maximum number of Nobel Prizes for Literature (13), more than any other country in the world.
France Facts for Kids
Here are some fast general facts about France for kids.
- Capital ~ Paris
- Government type ~ Republic
- Official Language ~ French
- Currency ~ Euro (EUR)
- Population ~ 60 million (approximately)
- Independence day ~ 14th July
- The highest mountain ~ Mont Blanc (ht= 4807 meters or 15,771 feet)
- France has 4 sea fronts (the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the Channel and the Mediterranean) with 5500 km (3,418 miles) of coastline
- Largest Beach ~ at La Baule (12 km or 7.5 miles)
- Climate ~ Temperate
- France has had only 4 presidents since 1974: Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, François Mitterrand, Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy.
Interesting Fun Facts about France
Although only the size of Texas, France has seven mountain ranges and five major river systems.- It is the largest nation in Western Europe, with countries like Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Andorra and Monaco sharing its boundary.
- France is home to 29 UNESCO World Heritage Sites like the Mont St. Michel Abbey, Versailles Palace, and the Chartres Cathedral.
- It has nearly 3000 miles of seashore, with three major water bodies: the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and the English Channel.
- It is also referred to as L’Hexagone, which means the hexagon, due to the geometrical shape of the country.
- While all the stripes of the official French flag are of equal width, the one used by the navy has bands that increase in width from blue to red.
- The marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine with the future king of England, Henry II led to British rule in France for about 300 years.
- French people love cheese. Though traditionally there are around 350 to 400 varieties of French cheese, there are in fact over 1000 different types available in the French market.
- French wine is immensely popular all over the world. The country is one of the largest wine producing nations in the world. There are 17 distinct wine producing regions like Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, Loire and Provence that continue with the tradition of wine making in France.
- An amusing fact about France is that while beer is considered a luxury drink saved for special occasions, wine is free with most meals.
- France is also home to the only Disneyland in Europe, located near Paris.
- An underground rail tunnel, known as the Chanel Tunnel, joins England and France. It runs beneath the English Channel, connecting Folkestone, Kent in England and Coquelles, near Calais in France.
- The Tour de France, the most famous bicycle race in the world is an annual bicycle race of France, in which cyclists cover over 2100 miles in 23 days.
- The first flight of the Concorde took place in 1969, from the French city of Toulouse, one of the centers of the aerospace industry in Europe.
The concept of jean clothing was born in the Languedoc-Roussillon city of Nîmes, France, from where it was imported by Levi Strauss to California to make tough clothes for gold diggers.- The Statue of Liberty, one of the most widely recognized structures of US, was made in France. It was then gifted to the US in 1886 to celebrate its centennial. In fact, the face of the Statue is believed to have been modeled on Eugene Boyer, the wife of Isaac Singer, the famous sewing machine manufacturer.
- April Fool's Day is believed to have originated in France, in 1564, when the country started following the Gregorian Calendar. Those that did not know about the switch in the calendars, were mocked on this day as they continued to believe that 1st April was the first day of the French new year.
- France is the home of the TGV - Train à Grande Vitesse, French for high speed train. A TGV test train set the record of being the the fastest train when it reached a speed of 357 mph on April 3, 2007.
- Another interesting French fact is that a number of words in the English Language have originated from French individuals. For example, the word 'chauvinism' is believed to have originated from Nicola Chauvin, a soldier in Napolean's army whose loyalty to the emperor was legendary. The word 'sadism' originated from the name of Marquis de Sade, a French nobleman who led the life of a libertine and wrote sadistic novels.
- France is also home to the Louvre, one of the largest art museums in the world.
- France is where the Gothic Art and the Baroque style of architecture were born. This is the reason why there are numerous cathedrals and buildings that are fine examples of Gothic Art.
- From the French Alps to the marvelous beaches lining the azure waters in the French Riviera, France is one of the most visited countries in the world. In 2007, it attracted as many as 81.9 million tourists. This number was greater than its population!
France is an amazing nation. The old world charm that it still preserves in its architectural splendors, along with the dizzying modernity, allures people from all over the world to this country that is a beautiful amalgamation of cultural heritage and economic progress.
The final Curious © phrase:
“France had neither winter nor summer nor morals - apart from these drawbacks it is a fine country”
( Mark Twain)
