The French Republic (French: République française, English: the French Republic), referred to as France, is a presidential Republic country in Western Europe, its overseas territory includes South America and some parts of the South Pacific. It is the third largest country in Europe and the largest in Western Europe, bordering Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland and Italy in the East and Spain, Andorra and Monaco in the south. Its topography is high in the southeast and low in the northwest with roughly hexagonal in shape. It faces water on three sides, the Mediterranean Sea in the south, the Atlantic Ocean in the west, and Britain across the English Channel in the northwest. Corsica is the largest island in France.
France has become one of the major European powers since the end of the middle ages, its national strength reached its peak in the 19th-20th century, it established the second largest colonial empire in the world at that time and was also the most densely populated country in the 20th century. In the long history, the country has cultivated many famous writers and thinkers who have far-reaching influence on human development. In addition, it has the fourth largest World Heritage in the world.
France is a highly developed capitalist country. As one of the four major European economies, its citizens have a high standard of living and a good social security system, it is one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, a founding member of the European Union and NATO, a member of the Schengen Convention and the group of eight, and one of the major political entities in the European continent.
The western part of France belongs to marine temperate broad-leaved forest climate, the southern part belongs to subtropical Mediterranean climate, and the central and eastern part belongs to continental climate. The average precipitation increased from 600 mm to more than 1000 mm from northwest to Southeast, the average temperature in January is 1-7 ° C in the north and 6-8 ° C in the south, and 16-18 ° C in the north and 21-24 ° C in the south in July.
The main mineral deposits in France are iron ore, followed by bauxite and potash ore, the reserve of iron ore is about 1 billion tons, but the grade is low, the mining cost is high, and the coal reserves are almost exhausted. All iron ores and coal mines have been closed, and the ore needed is completely dependent on import, the reserves of nonferrous metals are very small and almost all of them depend on imports. Energy mainly depends on nuclear energy, and about 78% of electricity is supplied by nuclear energy. In addition, the development and utilization of hydraulic and geothermal resources are relatively sufficient. The forest area is about 15.565 million hectares, with a coverage rate of 28.6%.
The French love sports. The popular sports include football, tennis, French Football League, rugby of French Football League, ground roll, sailing, swimming, skiing, and cycling ring race. Parkour, one of the world's most famous extreme sports, originated in France.
