Western Europe’s largest country France

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Western Europe’s largest country France

By Mark on August 4, 2008

France is the second largest country in Europe behind Russia. The country is situated on the eastern side of west Europe surrounded by, English channel, Atlantic ocean, Pyrenees, Mediterranean and to the east of France you have, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Italy. I have been to France five times and on each occasion, I found the French people very polite and friendly, I have visited Boulogne-sur-Mer, Chinon, Calais, Dieppe and Strasbourg and all of the visits were very interesting and fun. Never been to the capital Paris.

This is a picture taken from Google Earth of the second largest country in Europe France.

France’s history goes back to prehistoric times with prehistoric remains, cave paintings and megalithic monuments shows a long history of human settlement, Also going back to the Roman times when the area known as Gaul was invaded by the Romans and Julius Caesar. The country as been invaded many times from the likes of the Goths, Franks and Burgundians through to the Vikings and the Saracens( a capetian dynasty emerged in 987), through to the hundred years war with the English and then onto the World War One and World War Two. France always managed to pull through some how and become as today a very strong force and also members of the European Union. The country is also in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the United Nations.

This is a satellite image of the capital city of France, Paris.
The climate in the country is temperate with warm summers and cool winters, over seventy percent of the population lives within towns and cities, while almost a sixth of the population lives in Paris. The French economy is substantial and a varied agricultural base. And the major producer of both fresh and processed food. The country has very few minerals, coal reserves, some oil and natural gas, but mainly the country relies on heavy on nuclear and hydroelectric power and imported fuels. France is one of the major players in industry, food processing, iron, steels, aluminum production, chemicals, cars, electronics and oil refining. The major exports are plastic’s, chemicals and transport equipment. Tourism plays a major part in the countries economy and France trades mainly with European Union countries.