French Republic Research Paper

The French Republic

Introduction

France, officially the French Republic, is a modern country in the world and is a leader among other European nations. The capital of France is Paris. The other major cities of France are Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nice, Nantes, Strasbourg, Toulon, Toulouse.

Size and Location

France is in Western Europe, bordering the Bay of Biscay and the English Channel, between Belgium and Spain, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, and is between Italy and Spain. Countries that France borders include Andorra, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Spain, and Switzerland. The geographical terrain mostly consists of flat plains. France is the largest country in the Western Europe, with the fifth largest population in Europe. France's area is 211,209 square miles. (1) Texas' area is 268,820 square miles. France is roughly the same size as Texas if you include oversea territories.

Population

Metropolitan France is expected to see its population grow by another 9 million people over the next 40 years, placing the country's population around 72 million by 2050. (2) During the eighteenth century, the population of France swelled to almost 30 million people. The increase in population put enormous strain on their society which relied on small farms and outdated farming methods. Paris is the largest city and capital of France. Paris has just 40 square miles of land with a population of around 2.24 million. After World War II, modernization of agriculture caused many people to leave the countryside and move to cities, now France has most of its population living in cities