Interesting facts about France

france flag

France is officially known as the French Republic.

The name France comes from the Latin word Francia, which means ‘country of the Franks‘.

France, in Western Europe, encompasses medieval and port cities, tranquil villages, mountains and Mediterranean beaches.

France is the largest country in the EU – with an area of 551,000 square km.

Bordering countries are Andorra, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Spain, and Switzerland.

The official language is French.

French is the second most studied language in the world after English.

In 2015, France was estimated to have a population of 64,982,894.

Paris, is the capital of France, is known worldwide for its couture fashion houses, classical art museums including the Louvre and monuments like the Eiffel Tower.

Paris france

Other major cities include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, and Nice-Cannes.

About 85 percent of the French population live in urban areas.

France is the most visited country in the world 83.7 million tourists in 2014.

The Alps mountain range on the border of France and Italy is home to France’s highest mountain, Mont Blanc, which stands at 4,807m high (15,771 ft).

mont blanc france

With its overseas territories, France uses 12 different time zones, the most of any country in the world.

The motto of the French Republic is “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” (Liberté, Equalité, Fraternité)

Traditional French culture places a high priority on the enjoyment of food. The French view eating as not just a neutral act, but as culture.

Traditionally, there are from 350 to 450 distinct types of French cheese grouped into eight categories ‘les huit familles de fromage’. There can be many varieties within each type of cheese, leading some to claim closer to 1,000 different types of French cheese.

cheese

Each new day in France sees about two new cooking books published.

The average French person eat 500 snails each year.

French consume 11.2 billion glasses of wine each year.

All champagne is produced in the Champagne region in France. Otherwise it is called sparkling wine.

champagne

Some claims that French toast isn’t French. Allegedly Joseph French advertised the modern toast but forgot to add the apostrophe.

France has won the most Nobel Prizes for literature of any country.

The French government gives medals to citizens who have “successfully raised several children with dignity.”

The most famous road bicycle race in the world, the Tour de France zig zags through the French landscape.

tour de france

One of the four grand slam tennis events, the French Open, is held in Paris every year.

There’s a Coffee Shop in France where not saying “hello” and “please” makes your coffee more expensive.

France was the first country to introduce the licence plate with the passage of the Paris Police Ordinance on August 14, 1893.

France once controlled more than 8% of the world’s land.

There are more people speaking French in Africa than in France.

Ther are about 40,000 château in France.

château in france

Napoleon wasn’t short. He was actually above the average Frenchman.

Louis XIX was King of France for just 20 minutes.

Potatoes were illegal in France for 24 years. In 1748 the French Parliament forbade the cultivation of the potato on the grounds that it was thought to cause leprosy. This law remained in effect until 1772.

For 214 years until 2012, it was illegal in Paris, France, for women to wear trousers.

A 1910 law in France forbids couples from kissing on train platforms to avoid delayed departures.

Paris taxi drivers have to pay nearly 200,000 euros for their licenses. That’s why there are so few.