FRANCE
by
Michelle Schwalm
General Information about France
Capital: Paris
Official Language: French
Official Name: Rebulique Francaise (French Republic)
National Anthem: “La Marseillaise”
National Motto: Liberte, Eqalite, Fraternite
Liberty, Equality, Fraternity
National Flag: tri-color, in 1789 King Louis xvi first used its three colors—blue,
white, and red—to represent France, they have no official coat of arms.
GOVERNMENT AND ECONOMIC SYSTEM
France has a very unique economic system, in that it is a capitalist system operating
however, the socialist government owns businesses. Socialists gains controls of the
presidency and parliament in 1981 and increased government ownership of
businesses. nesses. Controlling interest in several manufactures of technical and
military equipment, financial institutions. Although in 1986, conservatives gained
control of the parliament and began to sell the government-owned businesses to
private owners. But a short two years later in 1988, the government became more
heavily socialist again. This caused the conservatives to loose much of their
effectiveness in reserving socialist policies. France, in the 18th century, was one of the
world’s wealthiest nations.
THE CLIMATE AND GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE
France, bordered by Spain, Italy, Switzerland, W. Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg
and coastlines on the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, lies in Western Europe
across the English Channel from Great Britain. The Pyrenees Mountains Separate
France from Spain.
France is flat or has rolling hills in the northern, north central and western areas. The
major rivers running through France are the Loire; which runs through the center of
France beginning on the western coast by a city called St. Nazaire and ending in
south-eastern France by a city called Le Puy. The
Seine river is also another major river running through France. This river runs through
the upper portion of France. It's beginning is at the English Channel by a city called Le
Ilavre, and ends in the north-eastern section by a city called Chatillon.
The Seine also runs directly through France's capital, Paris. The third major river that
runs through France is the Rhone river. This rivers beginning is in the Gulf of Lions off
of the Mediterranean Sea and runs through the south-eastern corner of France to Lake
Geneva, which is shared with Switzerland. Including mainland France and Corsica,
France's area is 210,026 square miles. Frances coastline is 2,300 miles long, 590 miles
north to south, and 605 miles east to west
Frances highest elevated area is Mont Blanc which is located by the city of Geneva in
the south-eastern corner of France which borders Italy. The height of this mountain is
15,771 feet. The lowest elevated area, which is below sea level, is the Rhone River
Delta which leads into Lake Geneva.
France has large differences in it's geography. While the northern and western regions
consist of flat or rolling plains, hills and mountains rise in the eastern, central and
southern areas of France. Frances 10 main land regions consist of (1) the
Britany-Normandy Hills, (2) the Northern France Plains, (3) Northeastern Platues, (4)
the Rhine Valley, (5) the Aquitanian
Lowlands, (6) the Central highlands, C7) the French Alps and Jura Mountains, (8) the
Pyrenees Mountains, (9) the Mediterranean Lowlands and Rhone-Saone Valley, and
(10) Corsica.
Apple orchards, dairy farms, and grass-lands crisscross the land of France. Many bays
also indent the rigged coast and have important fishing harbors along them, the northern
France Platues, which are flat or rolling and broken up by forest covered hills and
platues, have highly fertile soils and productive industries, this area is also heavily
populated. The Paris Basin here is drained by the Seine river and other major rivers.
Coal is also mined near the Belgian border. This area has great deposits of iron ore and
produces iron and steel.
Farmers raise livestock and a variety of crops on the lower slopes and in the valleys of
France rich farmlands also lie along the Rhine river, this is also the German boundary
and is the main inland may vary in Europe.
Sandy beaches lie along the Aquitanian Lowland Coast.
Inland, this region has pine forests, rolling plains and sand dunes. This area also has
many vineyards that supply grapes for France's import in the industry. Oil and natural
gas fields are in the Landes area, south of the major seaport of Bordeaux.
The central highlands are thinly populated. The soils in this region are also poor. Cattle
and sheep graze on the lover grasslands and forest cover the higher slopes.
Onto a different subject of France, the climate. France pretty much has the perfect
climate, warm summers and cool winters, the Mediterranean coast is usually warmer
all year round. A typical daytime temperature during the summer is a bout 75 degrees
in the north and 82 degrees on the Mediterranean coast. Winter daytime highs in France
are about 43 degrees and 54 on the coast. There is also a moderate precipitation the
year round, except along the Mediterranean. Along this coast the summers are dry.
DEMOGRAPHICS AND HUMAN GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE
France population in 1982 was approximately 54,334,871 people. In 1991, the estimate was
56,375,000 people and in 1996 the estimated population is to be 57, 388,000.
Seventy-four percent of France's distribution is urban and 26% is rural distribution.
About seven percent of the French population are recent immigrant. and their descendants. This
part of the population mostly can from Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Italy, Portugal, Spain, turkey
and Indochina. About 93% of the French population is, of course, French. This includes the
Basques, the Britons and others who have long lived in France.
The major religions of France are 75% Roman Catholic, 3% Muslim, 2% Protestant and 1%
Jewish.
The largest population centers in France are Paris, the French capital, with a population of
2,176,243 people; the next largest is Lyon, located in south-eastern France on the Rhone River,
has a count of 1,236,096 people; Marseille has 1,115,697 people living on it's coast on the
Mediterranean sea; Lille, on the Belgian border is populated with 945,572 people; and last but
not least Bordeaux in south-western France near the Bay of Biscay, is populated with 650,123
people.
FRANCE'S ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY
The chief agricultural products in France are beef cattle, raised mainly in western France
because of the grasslands, milk of course is made where the beef cattle are raised since you need
cows to get milk. Also grown and raised in the western portion of France are hogs and wheat,
again because of the fertile soil and grasslands. In the southern portion of France grapes and
wine are manufactured. Sugar beets and potatoes are grown in the northern and north-cistern
part of France. Chickens and eggs are raised in the eastern and a small portion of the
south-eastern section of France.
Iron, steel, textiles, automobiles, aerospace equipment, iron ore, coal and cement are
manufactured in the northern and north-eastern portions of France, mainly the whole northern
part of France. Electronic goods, aluminum, machinery, hydroelectric power and gas petroleum
are mainly manufactured in the southern portions of France.
France's major exported goods are chemicals, machinery, electrical and electronic equipment,
automobiles, aircraft, weapons, wine, grains, iron and steel. The value of exported goods and
services is $219,645,000,000 in 1987. Major imported goods in France are petroleum,
machinery, chemicals, and automobiles. The value of goods and nrv1cs for Imports is
$233,722,000,000 in 1987.
France's main trading partners are West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Great Britain, The United
States, Netherlands and Spain.
Paris, France's capital is heavily populated. A major reason that it is so heavily populated is
because Paris is a large manufacturer of France's agricultural products. France's airport is
located in Paris. They also farm cattle and hogs, they have dairy farms, machinery, auto's
potatoes, iron ore and many of the above mentioned resources.
The northern portion of France is more heavily populated because there is more manufacturing;
therefore, that means more jobs for people. Southern France is scarcely populated because it is
mostly farm lands, which means that there are fever jobs and fever places to live.
Summary
Overall, I was very happy with the project and the students performance. There were a lot of
reasons, objectives and goals for the project, and I believe most of them were met. I also learned
a great deal from the project. I had never developed a project of this type or size before, and
found several things I might try to change the next time. I hope to learn something and find ways
to improve on it each time I use the project.
At this point, none of the changes are major. I still think the basic concept is a good way to teach
economics and its affects on society. It also allows for a variety of paths that can be taken. These
are the things I hope to develop over time and have a few ideas already. Other areas I want to
improve are in its structure.
The first thing I want to do is begin the project a little sooner in the semester. The reason for this
is to be able to check the students for longer term retention. I could also use the extra time to get
a little more in-depth on the economic concepts, especially supply and demand. I would like to
develop more application exercises for this area to make the these ideas a little more concrete,
instead of waiting for the studies on societies. I want them to see how it affects them more
personally.
Still in the area of structure, I would like to get the students more involved with helping each
other. They will get more exposure to examples from other students' work and this can be a good
source of support and ideas.
There are also a few avenues I would like to expand in the future. I wold like to expand the
study of the Native Americans. A bit more of an anthropological study in how they lived, with
the main emphasis still on economics. I would also like to expand the section
on the comparative advantages of urban and rural living. The discussions we had on
this subject were very good and I think it will help the students to better understand
American politics and the dilemmas we face as a nation.
Even with these changes, the core of the project will remain the same. I still think the
main theme of "Environment Determining Subsistence" is a great way to teach basic
economic concepts and make the students see the relevance of them. They get to see
these concepts on a smaller scale, as with nations. It also allows them to see the role
technology plays on this theme. This, in turn, gives them some insight into the global
picture, in that, they can understand the differences between advanced nations and
lesser developed countries.
Much of this new knowledge was shown in the work we did outside of the project as a part of
our regular class work. Which brings up my final point, this project fits in very well with the
class curriculum as designed by the school. A class that I entered into with a bit of apprehension,
is now exciting and challenging. I will now look forward to it as a chance to better my teaching
and the students learning.
World Book INFORMATION FINDER, copyright (c) 1991,1990 by World Book? Inc.
The University Society Encyclopedia, Funk & Wagnall, copyright (c) 1972 by Grolier
Rand McNally World Atlas/Signature Edition, copyright (c)1984 by Rand McNally & Company