France officially the French Republic is a unitary sovereign state comprising territory in Western  Europe and several overseas regions and territories.  Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean; due to its shape. France is one of only three countries (with Morocco and Spain) to have both Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines.  By area, France is the 42nd largest country in the world but the largest country in the European Union, and the third-largest in Europe as a whole. With a population approaching 67 million, it is the second-most populated country in the EU. France is a semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the nation’s largest city and the main cultural and commercial center.

France has been a major power in Europe since the Late Middle Ages, reaching the height of global prominence during the 19th century, when it possessed the second-largest colonial empire in the world.   

Throughout its long history, France has produced many influential artists, thinkers, and scientists, and remains a prominent global center of culture. It hosts the world’s fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually.  France remains a great power with significant cultural, economic, military, and political influence in Europe and around the world.   Due to its overseas regions and territories throughout the world, France has the second-largest exclusive economic zone in the world.   France is a developed country and has the world’s fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP.   French citizens enjoy a high standard of living, and the country performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, civil liberties, and human development.  France is a founding member of the United Nations, where it serves as one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.