LOIRE
Pour l'amour de l'art contemporain, deux musées entreprennent de livrer une oeuvre en empruntant le dernier fleuve sauvage d'Europe.
For the love of contemporary art, two museums transport a work of art on the last wild river of Europe. A work of radical conceptualists Art & Language copied on a USB key will leave the Castle of Montsoreau-Museum of Contemporary Art and will be delivered by boat to the CCC OD in Tours (France).
France From Above HD - High Definition Views of the Chateaux de la Loire
Get ready for some stunning flyover views along the Loire River in France. Some of the finest castles and palaces in the country. Unmissable European architectural masterpieces.
This Episode was requested especially by a subscriber who saw it on TV and wished that they could see it again - now you can all enjoy it!
Conférence de Michaël CORRIS
Michaël CORRIS : Leaving Skull City : Penser l'art comme conversation et collaboration
À partir des essais de Leaving Skull City : Selected Writings on Art (Dijon, les Presses du réel, 2016) Michael Corris proposera une réflexion à propos de pratiques et attitudes inventées il y a presque quarante ans à l’époque de l’art conceptuel.
Michael Corris (Professeur en art, université SMU de Dallas) est un artiste, écrivain et enseignant.
Au début de sa carrière, Corris a participé au collectif d’art conceptuel Art & Language et a été le fondateur de deux revues significatives, initiées par des artistes : The Fox (1975-1976) et Red-Herring (1977-1979). Depuis, Corris a exposé et publié au niveau international.
Les œuvres de Corris se trouvent dans des collections privées et publiques dont le Museum of Modern Art (New York), le Whitney Museum of American Art (New York), Le Consortium (Dijon), Victoria and Albert Museum (London), la TateModern et TateBritain (London), la Staatsgalerie (Stuttgart), le Musée des Beaux-Arts (La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland), la Progressive Insurance Art Collection (Cleveland and Tampa), et la collection Philippe Méaille (Château de Montsoreau, France).
Le Getty Research Institute de Los Angeles possède des archives et des œuvres de Corris en lien avec son travail d’artiste conceptuel, de critique et d’historien de l’art.
Les écrits théoriques sur l’art de Corris ont largement été publiés dans des journaux et revues comme Art in America, Journal of Contemporary Painting, Art Monthly, Art Journal (NY), Artforum, Art History (UK), et art+text (Australia & US). On trouve des rééditions de ses textes dans Alex Alberro & Blake Stimson (eds), Conceptual Art: A Critical Anthology (MIT Press, 1999) et Terry R Myers (ed.), Painting (Documents of Contemporary Art) (MIT Press and Whitechapel, London, 2011).
Parmi ses écrits monographiques et publications collectives récentes on peut citer Conceptual Art: Theory, Myth and Practice (Cambridge University Press, 2004), Ad Reinhardt (Reaktion Books, London, 2008), Art, Word & Image: 2,000 Years of Textual/Visual Interaction (Reaktion Books, London, 2010) (with John Dixon Hunt and David Lomas), et Leaving Skull City: Selected Writings on Art (Les Presses du Réel, Dijon, 2016).
Places to see in ( Nantes - France ) Chateau des Ducs de Bretagne
Places to see in ( Nantes - France ) Chateau des Ducs de Bretagne
The Château des ducs de Bretagne is a large castle located in the city of Nantes in the Loire-Atlantique département of France; it served as the centre of the historical province of Brittany until its separation in 1941.
It is located on the right bank of the Loire, which formerly fed its ditches. It was the residence of the Dukes of Brittany between the 13th and 16th centuries, subsequently becoming the Breton residence of the French Monarchy. The castle has been listed as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture since 1862. Today the castle houses the Nantes History Museum.
Starting in the 1990s, the town of Nantes undertook a massive programme of restoration and repairs to return the site to its former glory as an emblem of the history of Nantes and Brittany. Following 15 years of works and three years of closure to the public, it was reopened on 9 February 2007 and is now a popular tourist attraction.
The restored edifice now includes the new Nantes History Museum, installed in 32 of the castle rooms. The museum presents more than 850 objects of collection with the aid of multimedia devices. The castle and the museum try to offer a modern vision of the heritage by presenting the past, the present and the future of the city. Night-time illuminations at the castle further reinforce the revival of the site. The 500-metre round walk on the fortified ramparts provides views not just of the castle buildings and courtyards but also of the town.
Seven sequences of the museum:
The Castle, Nantes and Brittany back to the 17th century
Nantes, daughter of the river and the ocean
Commerce and the black gold in the 18th century
Nantes in Revolution
A colonial and industrial port (1815–1940)
A new city takes shape (1940–1990)
A great Atlantic city, today and tomorrow
The exhibition ends with a vision of the city, a multimedia creation by a contemporary artist, occupying the entire area of the 32nd room. Pierrick Sorin is the first guest artist. The night-lighting brings out the architectural complexity of the site within an urban context. The illumination was designed by Sylvie Sieg and Pierre Nègre of the Atelier Lumière and won the Light Originator Price of the Lumiville Trophy 2007.
( Nantes - France ) is well know as a tourist destination because of the variety of places you can enjoy while you are visiting Nantes . Through a series of videos we will try to show you recommended places to visit in Nantes - France
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CAPC Museum
The Modern museum of art of Bordeaux, CAPC
Le musée des abattoirs à Toulouse expose des oeuvres du Nouveau Réalisme
A l'occasion des 40 ans du Centre pompidou, le musée des abattoirs à Toulouse expose des oeuvres du Nouveau Réalisme. Un parcours exceptionnel pour découvrir ou redécouvrir des artistes comme Arman, Ben, César ou Niki de Saint Phalle.
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Exposition Se souvenir des Belles Choses Musée régional d'art contemporain Sérignan
Exposition Se souvenir des Belles Choses
Un sélection d’œuvres du FRAC Languedoc-Roussillon:
Matthew Antezzo. Cécile Bart. Abdelkader Benchamma. Benoit Broisat. Julien Crépieux. Simone Decker. Philippe Decrauzat. Erik Dietman. Fred Eerdekens. Emmanuelle Etienne. Omer Fast. Joan Fontcuberta. Ross Hansen. Pierre Joseph. Véronique Joumard. Zilvinas Kempinas. Suzanne Lafont. Perrine Lievens. Rafael Navarro. Douglas Gordon/Rirkrit Tiravanija. Walid Raad. Man Ray. Samuel Richardot. Christian Robert-Tissot. Yvan Salomone. August Sander. Patrick Van Caeckenbergh.
Du 17 janvier 2016 au 17 avril 2016
Sandra Patron, commissaire de l'exposition
Au printemps 2016, le Mrac entame une nouvelle et enthousiasmante phase de son développement avec la création de nouvelles réserves qui permettront d'accueillir un dépôt exceptionnel du Cnap (Centre national des arts plastiques), une extension de 25% de ses surfaces d'expositions, une œuvre pérenne de Bruno Peinado sur la façade du nouveau bâtiment et un espace librairie repensé par le designer Erwan Mevel.
L'exposition Se souvenir des Belles Choses tente de matérialiser de manière métaphorique ce moment de transformation du musée en jouant autour de l'idée de mémoire active, celle du spectateur comme celle des œuvres elles-mêmes et des artistes qui les créent. Que reste-t-il dans nos mémoires de nos expériences passées, qu'elles soient collectives ou individuelles, et comment notre mémoire peut-elle s'activer dans le futur? Comment notre relation au présent se forge-t-elle en partie de l'expérience ou de la connaissance d'un passé révolu? Par quels moyens l'histoire de l'art active-t-elle des strates successives du passé pour se constituer et se renouveler? Comment le musée, en tant qu'espace identifié et construit, organise-t-il dans le temps et l’espace cet accès au voir et au savoir?
À travers la sélection d’une quarantaine d’œuvres du Frac LR, l’exposition Se souvenir des Belles Choses envisage l’art sous l’angle de la mémoire. De nombreux artistes de l’exposition manipulent ainsi d’autres temps et d’autres œuvres, cinématographiques ou plastiques, où s’observe un jeu de négociation entre la mémoire d’un passé reconnu comme une autorité et l’ouverture d’un futur, d’un espace de création.
Vidéo Cédrick et Guillaume Eymenier.
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Cathedrals of France
Cathedrals of France
Paris, Reims, Laon, Strasbourg, Lyon, Clermont-Ferrand, Marseille, Nice, Nimes, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Nantes, Quimper, Tours, Le Mans, Chartres, Rouen and Amiens
France, officially the French Republic, is a sovereign state whose territory consists of metropolitan France in Western Europe, as well as several overseas regions and territories. The country's 18 integral regions span a combined area of 643,801 square kilometres (248,573 sq mi) and a total population of 67.25 million (as of June 2018). Paris is the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse and Strasbourg.
During the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. Rome annexed the area in 51 BC, holding it until the arrival of Germanic Franks in 476, who formed the Kingdom of France. France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages following its victory in the Hundred Years' War (1337 to 1453). In the late 18th century, the French Revolution overthrew the absolute monarchy, established one of modern history's earliest republics, and saw the drafting of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
In the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire. His subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a tumultuous succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. France was a major participant in World War I, from which it emerged victorious, and was one of the Allies in World War II, but came under occupation by the Axis powers in 1940. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War. The Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains today.
France has long been a global centre of art, science, and philosophy. It hosts world's fourth-largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and leads the world in tourism, receiving around 83 million foreign visitors annually.
With 83 million foreign tourists in 2012, France is ranked as the first tourist destination in the world, ahead of the United States (67 million) and China (58 million). It is third in income from tourism due to shorter duration of visits. The most popular tourist sites include (annual visitors): Eiffel Tower (6.2 million), Château de Versailles (2.8 million), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (2 million), Pont du Gard (1.5 million), Arc de Triomphe (1.2 million), Mont Saint-Michel (1 million), Sainte-Chapelle (683,000), Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg (549,000), Puy de Dôme (500,000), Musée Picasso (441,000), Carcassonne (362,000).
France, especially Paris, has some of the world's largest and renowned museums, including the Louvre, which is the most visited art museum in the world (5.7 million), the Musée d'Orsay (2.1 million), mostly devoted to Impressionism, and Centre Georges Pompidou (1.2 million), dedicated to contemporary art. Disneyland Paris is Europe's most popular theme park, with 15 million combined visitors to the resort's Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park in 2009.
France has 37 sites inscribed in UNESCO's World Heritage List and features cities of high cultural interest, beaches and seaside resorts, ski resorts, and rural regions that many enjoy for their beauty and tranquillity (green tourism). Small and picturesque French villages are promoted through the association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (literally The Most Beautiful Villages of France). The Remarkable Gardens label is a list of the over 200 gardens classified by the French Ministry of Culture. This label is intended to protect and promote remarkable gardens and parks. France attracts many religious pilgrims on their way to St. James, or to Lourdes, a town in the Hautes-Pyrénées that hosts several million visitors a year. Another major destination are the castles (French: châteaux) of the Loire Valley; this World Heritage Site is noteworthy for its architectural heritage, in its historic towns but in particular its castles, such as the Châteaux d'Amboise, de Chambord, d'Ussé, de Villandry, Chenonceau and Montsoreau. The Château de Chantilly and Vaux-le-Vicomte, both located near Paris, are also visitor attractions.
With more than 10 millions tourists a year, the French Riviera (French: Côte d'Azur), in Southeast France, is the second leading tourist destination in the country, after the Paris region. It benefits from 300 days of sunshine per year, 115 kilometres (71 mi) of coastline and beaches, 18 golf courses, 14 ski resorts and 3,000 restaurants.
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Musée d'art contemporain de Nice
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A History of America's Disastrous Relationship with France (2004)
With 83 million foreign tourists in 2012,[13] France is ranked as the first tourist destination in the world, ahead of the United States (67 million) and China (58 million). This 83 million figure excludes people staying less than 24 hours, such as North Europeans crossing France on their way to Spain or Italy. It is third in income from tourism due to shorter duration of visits.[182] The most popular tourist sites include (annual visitors): Eiffel Tower (6.2 million), Château de Versailles (2.8 million), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (2 million), Pont du Gard (1.5 million), Arc de Triomphe (1.2 million), Mont Saint-Michel (1 million), Sainte-Chapelle (683,000), Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg (549,000), Puy de Dôme (500,000), Musée Picasso (441,000), Carcassonne (362,000).[183]
France, especially Paris, has some of the world's largest and renowned museums, including the Louvre, which is the most visited art museum in the world (5.7 million), the Musée d'Orsay (2.1 million), mostly devoted to Impressionism, and Centre Georges Pompidou (1.2 million), dedicated to contemporary art. Disneyland Paris is Europe's most popular theme park, with 15 million combined visitors to the resort's Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park in 2009.[184]
France has 37 sites inscribed in UNESCO's World Heritage List and features cities of high cultural interest, beaches and seaside resorts, ski resorts, and rural regions that many enjoy for their beauty and tranquillity (green tourism). Small and picturesque French villages are promoted through the association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (literally The Most Beautiful Villages of France). The Remarkable Gardens label is a list of the over 200 gardens classified by the French Ministry of Culture. This label is intended to protect and promote remarkable gardens and parks. France attracts many religious pilgrims on their way to St. James, or to Lourdes, a town in the Hautes-Pyrénées that hosts several million visitors a year. Another major destination are the castles (French: châteaux) of the Loire Valley; this World Heritage Site is noteworthy for its architectural heritage, in its historic towns but in particular its castles, such as the Châteaux d'Amboise, de Chambord, d'Ussé, de Villandry, Chenonceau and Montsoreau. The Château de Chantilly and Vaux-le-Vicomte, both located near Paris, are also visitor attractions.
With more than 10 millions tourists a year, the French Riviera (French: Côte d'Azur), in Southeast France, is the second leading tourist destination in the country, after the Paris region.[185] It benefits from 300 days of sunshine per year, 115 kilometres (71 mi) of coastline and beaches, 18 golf courses, 14 ski resorts and 3,000 restaurants.[186]:31 Each year the Côte d'Azur hosts 50% of the world's superyacht fleet.
French art | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
French art
00:01:04 1 Historic overview
00:01:13 1.1 Prehistory
00:04:31 1.2 Celtic and Roman periods
00:06:42 1.3 Medieval period
00:06:50 1.3.1 Merovingian art
00:08:02 1.3.2 Carolingian art
00:10:48 1.3.3 Romanesque art
00:13:29 1.3.4 Gothic
00:17:26 1.4 Early Modern period
00:18:57 1.4.1 Baroque and Classicism
00:22:54 1.4.2 Rococo and Neoclassicism
00:28:16 1.5 Modern period
00:28:25 1.5.1 19th century
00:32:36 1.5.2 20th century
00:36:24 2 French and Western Art museums of France
00:36:35 2.1 In Paris
00:37:33 2.2 Near Paris
00:38:08 2.3 Outside Paris
00:38:17 2.3.1 Major museums
00:41:27 2.3.2 Other museums
00:42:28 2.4 Textile and tapestry museums
00:43:05 3 Vocabulary
00:43:57 4 See also
00:44:21 5 References and further reading
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The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
French art consists of the visual and plastic arts (including architecture, woodwork, textiles, and ceramics) originating from the geographical area of France. Modern France was the main centre for the European art of the Upper Paleolithic, then left many megalithic monuments, and in the Iron Age many of the most impressive finds of early Celtic art. The Gallo-Roman period left a distinctive provincial style of sculpture, and the region around the modern Franco-German border led the empire in the mass production of finely decorated Ancient Roman pottery, which was exported to Italy and elsewhere on a large scale. With Merovingian art the story of French styles as a distinct and influential element in the wider development of the art of Christian Europe begins.
France can fairly be said to have been a leader in the development of Romanesque art and Gothic art, before the Renaissance led to Italy becoming the main source of stylistic developments until France matched Italy's influence during the Rococo and Neoclassicism periods and then regained the leading role in the Arts from the 19th to the mid-20th century.
MAMAC Nice, verlorene Körper
Französisch Gruppe 6AI im Musée d'art Moderne et d'art Contemporain!
Tourism in France | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Tourism in France
00:01:32 1 Statistics
00:01:47 1.1 Number of stays
00:02:01 2 Tourist attractions
00:02:10 2.1 Paris
00:03:11 2.2 French Riviera
00:04:11 2.3 Provence
00:04:53 2.4 Loire Valley
00:05:57 2.5 French Alps
00:06:29 2.6 Corsica
00:07:38 3 Notable places
00:07:47 3.1 Cities
00:08:10 3.2 Villages
00:09:01 4 Specific attractions
00:09:10 4.1 Religious pilgrimage
00:09:43 4.2 Theme parks
00:10:18 5 Most popular sites
00:10:32 6 Gallery
00:10:41 7 See also
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain
Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
You can find other Wikipedia audio articles too at:
You can upload your own Wikipedia articles through:
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
Tourism in France directly contributed 77.7 billion euros to gross domestic product, 30% of which comes from international visitors and 70% from domestic tourism spending. The total contribution of travel and tourism represents 9.7% of GDP and supports 2.9 million jobs (10.9% of employment) in the country. Tourism contributes significantly to the balance of payments.
France was visited by 85.7 million foreign tourists in 2013, making it the most popular tourist destination in the world. France ranks fifth in tourist spending behind the United Kingdom, United States, China and Spain.France has 37 sites inscribed in the UNESCO's World Heritage List and features cities or sites of high cultural interest (Paris being the foremost, but also Loire Valley, Toulouse, Strasbourg, Bordeaux, Lyon, and others), beaches and seaside resorts, ski resorts, and rural regions that many enjoy for their beauty and tranquillity (green tourism). Small and picturesque French villages of quality heritage (such as Collonges-la-Rouge, Locronan, or Montsoreau) are promoted through the association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (literally The Most Beautiful Villages of France). The Remarkable Gardens label is a list of the over two hundred gardens classified by the French Ministry of Culture. This label is intended to protect and promote remarkable gardens and parks.
France | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
France
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written
language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain
Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through
audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio
while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using
a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
You can find other Wikipedia audio articles too at:
In case you don't find one that you were looking for, put a comment.
This video uses Google TTS en-US-Standard-D voice.
SUMMARY
=======
France (French: [fʁɑ̃s]), officially the French Republic (French: République française; French pronunciation: [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a country whose territory consists of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The metropolitan area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered by Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany to the northeast, Switzerland and Italy to the east, and Andorra and Spain to the south. The overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. The country's 18 integral regions (five of which are situated overseas) span a combined area of 643,801 square kilometres (248,573 sq mi) and a total population of 67.3 million (as of October 2018). France, a sovereign state, is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Other major urban areas include Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lille and Nice.
During the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. Rome annexed the area in 51 BC, holding it until the arrival of Germanic Franks in 476, who formed the Kingdom of France. France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages following its victory in the Hundred Years' War (1337 to 1453). During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a global colonial empire was established, which by the 20th century would become the second largest in the world. The 16th century was dominated by religious civil wars between Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots). France became Europe's dominant cultural, political, and military power in the 17th century under Louis XIV. In the late 18th century, the French Revolution overthrew the absolute monarchy, established one of modern history's earliest republics, and saw the drafting of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which expresses the nation's ideals to this day.
In the 19th century, Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire. His subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a tumultuous succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. France was a major participant in World War I, from which it emerged victorious, and was one of the Allies in World War II, but came under occupation by the Axis powers in 1940. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War. The Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains today. Algeria and nearly all the other colonies became independent in the 1960s and typically retained close economic and military connections with France.
France has long been a global centre of art, science, and philosophy. It hosts the world's fourth-largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and is the leading tourist destination, receiving around 83 million foreign visitors annually. France is a developed country with the world's seventh-largest economy by nominal GDP, and tenth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of aggregate household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, and human development. France is considered a great power in global affairs, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a leading member state of the European Union and the Eurozone, and a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and La Francophonie.
France | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
France
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain
Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
You can find other Wikipedia audio articles too at:
You can upload your own Wikipedia articles through:
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
France (French: [fʁɑ̃s]), officially the French Republic (French: République française; French pronunciation: [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a country whose territory consists of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The metropolitan area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered by Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany to the northeast, Switzerland and Italy to the east, and Andorra and Spain to the south. The overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. The country's 18 integral regions (five of which are situated overseas) span a combined area of 643,801 square kilometres (248,573 sq mi) and a total population of 67.3 million (as of October 2018). France, a sovereign state, is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Other major urban areas include Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lille and Nice.
During the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. Rome annexed the area in 51 BC, holding it until the arrival of Germanic Franks in 476, who formed the Kingdom of France. France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages following its victory in the Hundred Years' War (1337 to 1453). During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a global colonial empire was established, which by the 20th century would become the second largest in the world. The 16th century was dominated by religious civil wars between Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots). France became Europe's dominant cultural, political, and military power in the 17th century under Louis XIV. In the late 18th century, the French Revolution overthrew the absolute monarchy, established one of modern history's earliest republics, and saw the drafting of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which expresses the nation's ideals to this day.
In the 19th century, Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire. His subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a tumultuous succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. France was a major participant in World War I, from which it emerged victorious, and was one of the Allies in World War II, but came under occupation by the Axis powers in 1940. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War. The Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains today. Algeria and nearly all the other colonies became independent in the 1960s and typically retained close economic and military connections with France.
France has long been a global centre of art, science, and philosophy. It hosts the world's fourth-largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and is the leading tourist destination, receiving around 83 million foreign visitors annually. France is a developed country with the world's seventh-largest economy by nominal GDP, and tenth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of aggregate household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, and human development. France is considered a great power in global affairs, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a leading member state of the European Union and the Eurozone, and a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Wo ...