Erica

= ** France ﻿   ﻿ **  =

= = =**Country Statistics:** = France has an area of 211,208 sq miles (547,026 sq km). Its population (recorded in 2011) is 65,821,885 people. That equals 0.95% of the whole world's population. One very famous landmark in France is the Eiffel Tower. France contains many cities too. The most important city would be Paris because it is the capital of France. Another famous city is Ajaccio because it is a city on the island of Corsica. There are also many things that were probably made in France that we have here because France's trade is one of the largest in the world. Some exports would be machinery, aircraft, chemicals and pharmaceutical products. They also export other things that we probably use every day like iron, steel, and beverages. = = =**Culture:** = One thing that France is known for all over the world is it’s food. Some of the famous foods are french fries, crepes, and escargot. Some other things they eat are fruit tart, sweet chestnuts and garbure. Most of the people are Roman Catholic in France. The Roman Catholic people take up about 85% of France's population. France is also 2% Protestant, 1% Jewish, 8% Muslim, and 4% unaffiliated. Everyone in France speaks French. People in France have many traditions. One tradition would be beheading bottles of champagne. At weddings, people cut of the top of their champagne bottles with a saber. Another tradition would be puppet shows. People in France usually hold puppet shows on holidays like Christmas Eve. On Easter they have an event when instead of hiding plastic eggs willed with candy like what we do here, they hide little chocolate eggs for children to find. = = =** Physical Geography: ** = France also has a variety of physical features. One type of feature they are mountains. France has many mountains and some mountains shared with other countries. Some of the mountains are called the Alps, the Mont Blanc, and the Massif Central. They have a mountain range called the Pyrenees too. France has many rivers. Some of the Rivers are called the Loire, the Seine, the Garonne, and the Rhone rivers. They also have one big island called Corsica. France is located between two major bodies of water. One is the Atlantic Ocean. The other is the Mediterranean Sea. =<span style="color: black; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0in;"> = =<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">** Paris: ** = <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 110%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Paris is the capital of France. It is located in the North Central part of France. Its population, away from the rest of the country, is 2,167,994. It is said to have existed for over 2000 years. Paris is located on the Seine River. It has a flat terrain and an oval structure with an area of 105.39 square kilometers. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 110%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Paris has a simple climate. In the winter, temperatures only get as cold as 3-8 C (37-46 F). Summer gets as hot as 15-25 C (59-77 F). You can expect rain at anytime of the year there. But it rains very lightly and only for short periods of time. It snows very rarely. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 110%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Paris is home to the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower stands 324 meters tall. It weighs 7300 tons. It's very popular because it is the second tallest structure in the entire world. Paris gets visited by 42 million people each year.