General Information
1. Capital:
2. Official language: le
3. Official name (in French!)
4. National Anthem:
5. Flag: le tricolore (tri-color) 3 vertical sections of
,
6. National Motto:
,
,
(what does this mean in English?
,
, and
,
7. Official symbol
Government
1. Form of government: parliamentary democracy currently the
2. Head of state: Président (elected by people for a
th Republic.
year term).
3. The current Président:
4. Executive: Prime Minister and President each have
powers.
5. Legislature: parliament of two houses
a. The National Assembly has (
They serve a
b. The Senate has (
members) more powerful than the Senate;
year term.
members) and Senators serve a
year term.
6. Judiciary: the highest court is the Court of
7. Political Subdivisions:
regions /
departments.
People
1. Population:
, 000,000 (approximately)
2. Major ethnic groups:
% French /
% immigrants
a. The 5 largest immigrant groups are:
,
3. France s major religions include:
% Buddhist /
,
,
,
% Roman Catholic /
% Unaffiliated
% Muslim, /
% Protestant /
% Jewish /
Nom:
Date:
Economy
1. The basic currency unit is the
,
French paper currency often features famous
2. France s chief agricultural products include:
,
and
.
,
,
,
3. France s major industries include:
,
,
,
,
,
,
4. The percent of energy France gets from nuclear power
%
5. France s world ranking in tourism is #
Land & Climate
1. Bordering Countries:
a. l
(Spain)
b. l
(Italy)
c.
(Switzerland)
la
d. l
(Germany)
e. la
(Belgium)
f.
(Luxembourg)
le
g. La principauté de
(Monaco)
h. l
(Andorra)
2. Bordering bodies of water include:
a.
b.
c.
3. France is often referred to as
because of its shape.
4. France is often compared to the U.S. State of
France is larger / smaller than this state covering
because of its similarity in land area. Actually,
square miles.
Major Mountain Ranges
1. Les
this mountain range.
2. Les
3. Les
4. Le
5. Le
separate France from Spain. The small country of
is contained entirely in
separate France from Ital
Swit erland and contain France s tallest mountain
, a popular ski destination that is 4,808 meters tall.
separate France from Germany.
separates France from Switzerland along the northwestern border of Switzerland.
is located in South Central France and is the remnants of volcanoes.
Nom:
Date:
Major Rivers
1. La
begins near Dijon and flows through
to Normandy and empties into
the English Channel; the most important river in terms of commercial transportation and the most easily navigable of
France s major rivers
2. La
is France s longest river and is most famous for the chateaux (castles) found along its banks.
It is not as navigable as the Seine because of all of its twists and turns.
3. Le
begins in Switzerland and merges with the Saone River at
. It then flows
south to the Mediterranean Sea near Marseille It is France s largest source of h droelectric power with
different
hydroelectric complexes along its banks.
4. La
rises in the Pyrenées and travels through the city of Bordeaux on its way to the Atlantic
Ocean.
5. Le
forms part of the border between France and
.
Transportation
1. The TGV or
travels at speeds up to
.
2. The French subway system is called le
3. Travelling between London and Paris takes
the train spends 35 minutes in a tunnel under the
.
and
.
Language
1. French students begin studying a 2nd language at age
2. The most commonly studied foreign language is
are the next most studied foreign languages.
and a 3rd language at age
.
and
.
Recreation
1. The most popular team sport in France is
while some of the most popular individual sports are
,
,
,
,
and
.
2. Most French businesses and shops are closed during the month of
while
most
French
people take vacation.
3. France s national holida is called
and celebrates the
at the beginning of the
.