France - Geography

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.)

Geographical data of France
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

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.)
Population Distribution

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

People and Society

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
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.)
Demographic profile
All Important Facts about France

Want to know more about France? Check all different factbooks for France below.

France is found in Western Europe