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République Française
Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité: “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” is the French motto.
Centrally located within Western Europe, hexagonal-shaped France belongs to both Northern and Southern Europe (see The Travel Guide: Northwestern Europe). The only country bordered by the North Sea, Atlantic Ocean, and the Mediterranean Sea on three sides, two of its sides are bordered by the Alps and the Pyrenees Mountains.
The United Kingdom is France’s northern neighbor across the English Channel, or la Manche in French, which is the arm of the Atlantic Ocean linked to the North Sea by the Straight of Dover, or Pas-de-Calais in French. The eastern French border is shared with Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany in the north, Switzerland and Italy to the south. On the eastern Mediterranean shoreline near the Italian border, France surrounds the independent enclave of Monaco, the smallest principality in the world. The far southwestern border is shared with Spain and Andorra.
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Discover the Regions of France
CAPITAL REGION
Paris metropolitan area:
Petite Couronne + Grande Couronne +
20 Arrondissements
CENTRAL FRANCE
Poitou-Charentes + Limousin + Aquitaine
THE NORTH
Nord-Pas-de-Calais + Picardy
Champagne-Ardenne + Lorraine + Alsace
THE SOUTH
Midi-Pyrénées + Languedoc-Roussillon
MONACO (independent state)
OVERSEAS TERRITORIES
Guadeloupe and Martinique (Caribbean islands), Guyane (South America)
Mayotte and Réunion (African islands)
Historical | Cultural Provinces
Explore Places in France
Regions + Cities
Basics of France
Know Before You Go
French
official language
Euro €
currency
18
official regions
Paris
capital of France
Languages + Dialects
French dialects remain from pre-Revolutionary times at which point assimilation of French as a common language became important for communication. Today, locals work to preserve their ancestral language heritage, each with unique traditions, food, music, and architecture.
- Blues: Français (French, Gallo-Romance langue d’oil dialects)
- Green: Breton (Celtic language from Anglo-Saxons)
- Dark yellow: Flamand (Dutch dialect)
- Yellow: Francique (German dialect)
- Orange: Alsacien (German dialect)
- Purple: Franco-Provençal (Swiss/Italian Romance dialect)
- Reds: Occitan (Romance langue d’oc (lenga d’òc) dialects similar to Catalan)
- Brown: Catalan (language of Catalonia in northeast Spain)
- Gray: Basque (language isolate of the Basque region)
Read More
All About France
The Eiffel Tower: French Icon, Once Disputed, Now Cherished
Daybreak cast a hazy pastel backdrop beyond the trellised silhouette. Once viewed by Parisians as a blemish upon the skyline, this wrought-iron structure now proudly stands as France’s most celebrated icon. Our body clocks, not yet adjusted from Pacific Standard…
Honoring Gothic Inspiration and Quality: Paris Notre Dame, the Masterpiece
Certain places throughout the world exude quality and inspire each of us to be the best version of ourselves. In Paris (and throughout France, for that matter) quality is the standard rather than the exception. At the heart of the…
Travel Guide: Northwestern Europe
As we watched the 2018 FIFA World Cup games, we prepared for a nearly month-long trip to Europe. The global game of football, soccer to Americans, was our theme. Aaron and I had wanted to take our two teenage boys to…
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