Here, let us take a look at the Geography of France. Largest West European nation; most major French rivers -- the Meuse, Seine, Loire, Charente, Dordogne, and Garonne -- flow northward or westward into the Atlantic Ocean, only the Rhone flows southward into the Mediterranean Sea. Mother's mean age at first birth is 28.9 years (2020 est.) (), whereas, the Maternal mortality ratio is 8 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
Location | metropolitan France: Western Europe, bordering the Bay of Biscay and English Channel, between Belgium and Spain, southeast of the UK; bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Italy and Spain; French Guiana: Northern South America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Brazil and Suriname; Guadeloupe: Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, southeast of Puerto Rico; Martinique: Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, north of Trinidad and Tobago; Mayotte: Southern Indian Ocean, island in the Mozambique Channel, about halfway between northern Madagascar and northern Mozambique; Reunion: Southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar |
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Geographic coordinates | metropolitan France: 46 00 N, 2 00 E; French Guiana: 4 00 N, 53 00 W; Guadeloupe: 16 15 N, 61 35 W; Martinique: 14 40 N, 61 00 W; Mayotte: 12 50 S, 45 10 E; Reunion: 21 06 S, 55 36 E |
Map references | metropolitan France: Europe; French Guiana: South America; Guadeloupe: Central America and the Caribbean; Martinique: Central America and the Caribbean; Mayotte: Africa; Reunion: World |
Tarrain | metropolitan France: mostly flat plains or gently rolling hills in north and west; remainder is mountainous, especially Pyrenees in south, Alps in east; French Guiana: low-lying coastal plains rising to hills and small mountains; Guadeloupe: Basse-Terre is volcanic in origin with interior mountains; Grande-Terre is low limestone formation; most of the seven other islands are volcanic in origin; Martinique: mountainous with indented coastline; dormant volcano; Mayotte: generally undulating, with deep ravines and ancient volcanic peaks; Reunion: mostly rugged and mountainous; fertile lowlands along coast |
Natural Resources | metropolitan France: coal, iron ore, bauxite, zinc, uranium, antimony, arsenic, potash, feldspar, fluorspar, gypsum, timber, arable land, fish; French Guiana: gold deposits, petroleum, kaolin, niobium, tantalum, clay |
Natural Hazards | metropolitan France: flooding; avalanches; midwinter windstorms; drought; forest fires in south near the Mediterranean; overseas departments: hurricanes (cyclones); flooding; volcanism: Montagne Pelee (1,394 m) on the island of Martinique in the Caribbean is the most active volcano of the Lesser Antilles arc, it last erupted in 1932; a catastrophic eruption in May 1902 destroyed the city of St. Pierre, killing an estimated 30,000 people; La Soufriere (1,467 m) on the island of Guadeloupe in the Caribbean last erupted from July 1976 to March 1977; these volcanoes are part of the volcanic island arc of the Lesser Antilles that extends from Saba in the north to Grenada in the south |
Irrigated Land | 14,236 sq km (2020) |
Major rivers (by length in km) | Rhin (Rhine) (shared with Switzerland [s], Germany, and Netherlands [m]) - 1,233 km; Loire - 1,012 km note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth |
Major aquifers | Paris Basin |
Land Boundaries | 3,956 km |
Border Countries | Andorra 55 km; Belgium 556 km; Germany 418 km; Italy 476 km; Luxembourg 69 km; Monaco 6 km; Spain 646 km; Switzerland 525 km |
Coastline | 4,853 km |
Climate | metropolitan France: generally cool winters and mild summers, but mild winters and hot summers along the Mediterranean; occasional strong, cold, dry, north-to-northwesterly wind known as the mistral |
Area | |
Total Area | |
Land Area | 640,427 sq km ; 549,970 sq km (metropolitan France) |
Water Area | 3,374 sq km ; 1,530 sq km (metropolitan France) |
comparative Area | slightly more than four times the size of Georgia; slightly less than the size of Texas |
Maritime Claims | |
Territorial sea | 12 nm |
Contiguous zone | 24 nm |
Exclusive economic zone | 200 nm (does not apply to the Mediterranean Sea) |
Continental shelf | 200m depth or to the depth of exploitation |
Elevations | |
Highest point | Mont Blanc 4,810 |
Lowest point | Rhone River delta -2 m |
Mean elevation | 375 m |
Land Use | |
Agricultural land | 52.7% (2018 est.) |
Agricultural land: arable land | arable land: 33.4% (2018 est.) |
Agricultural land: permanent crops | permanent crops: 1.8% (2018 est.) |
Agricultural land: permanent pasture | permanent pasture: 17.5% (2018 est.) |
Forest | 29.2% (2018 est.) |
Other | 18.1% (2018 est.) |
Much of the population is concentrated in the north and southeast; although there are many urban agglomerations throughout the country, Paris is by far the largest city, with Lyon ranked a distant second
In France, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: Celtic and Latin with Teutonic, Slavic, North African (Algerian, Moroccan, Tunisian), Indochinese, Basque minorities
Population | |
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Pop growth rate | 0.2% (2024 est.) |
Birth rate | 10.9 births/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Death rate | 10 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Health expenditure | 12.2% of GDP (2020) |
Physicians Density | |
Hospital bed Density | 5.9 beds/1,000 population (2018) |
Total fertility rate | 1.9 children born/woman (2024 est.) |
Gross reproduction rate | 0.93 (2024 est.) |
Contraceptive prevalence rate | NA |
Est married women (ages 15-49) | 54.8% (2023 est.) |
Literacy | |
Education expenditures | 5.5% of GDP (2020 est.) |
Net Migration rate | 1.1 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Nationality | French | Frenchman(men), Frenchwoman(women) |
Languages | |
Religions | Roman Catholic 47%, Muslim 4%, Protestant 2%, Buddhist 2%, Orthodox 1%, Jewish 1%, other 1%, none 33%, unspecified 9% (2021 est.) |
Age Structure | |
0-14 years | 17.3% (male 6,060,087/female 5,792,805) |
15-64 years | 60.7% (male 20,875,861/female 20,615,847) |
65 years and over | 22% (2024 est.) (male 6,621,146/female 8,408,845) |
Dependency Ratios | |
Total dependency ratio | 63.1 |
Youth dependency ratio | 28.3 |
Elderly dependency ratio | 34.8 |
Potential support ratio | 2.9 (2021 est.) |
Median Age | |
Total | 42.6 years (2024 est.) |
Male | 41 years |
Female | 44.2 years |
Urbanization | |
Urban population | 81.8% of total population (2023) |
Rate of urbanization | 0.67% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) |
Major urban areas (Pop) | 11.208 million PARIS (capital), 1.761 million Lyon, 1.628 million Marseille-Aix-en-Provence, 1.079 million Lille, 1.060 million Toulouse, 1.000 million Bordeaux (2023). |
Sex Ratio | |
At birth | 1.05 male(s)/female |
0-14 years | 1.05 male(s)/female |
15-64 years | 1.01 male(s)/female |
65 years and over | 0.79 male(s)/female |
Total population | 0.96 male(s)/female (2024 est.) |
Infant Motality | |
Total | 3.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.) |
Male | 3.4 deaths/1,000 live births |
Female | 2.8 deaths/1,000 live births |
Life Expectancy at birth | |
Total population | 82.6 years (2024 est.) |
Male | 79.8 years |
Female | 85.5 years |
Drinking Water Sources | |
Improved: urban | urban: 100% of population |
Improved: rural | rural: 100% of population |
Improved: total | total: 100% of population |
Unimproved: urban | urban: 0% of population |
Unimproved: rural | rural: 0% of population |
Unimproved: total | total: 0% of population (2020 est.) |
Sanitation facility acess | |
Improved: urban | urban: 100% of population |
Improved: rural | rural: 100% of population |
Improved: total | total: 100% of population |
Unimproved: urban | urban: 0% of population |
Unimproved: rural | rural: 0% of population |
Unimproved: total | total: 0% of population (2020 est.) |
Alcohol consumption per capita | |
Total | 11.44 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Beer | 2.52 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Wine | 6.44 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Spirits | 2.3 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Other alcohols | 0.18 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Tobacco use | |
Total | 33.4% (2020 est.) |
Male | 34.9% (2020 est.) |
Female | 31.9% (2020 est.) |
Want to know more about France? Check all different factbooks for France below.