France

• France is a country in West Europe. It is washed by the Atlantic Ocean in the west and north and by the Mediterranean Sea in the south. It borders on many countries: Italy, Switzerland, Luxemburg and Belgium.

• The area of it is 551 500 sq km.

• There are 5 climatic belts in France. In the mountains the t° is usually 5°C lower than on the territory of the country. In the east of the country the t° varies from 0°C to +30°C.

• The mediterranean coasts are in subtropical climate. And in the central parts of the country there is Atlantic climate. The amount of rainfalls is 600-1000 mm a year, and 2000 mm a year in the mountains.

• 24% of the territory of France is occupied by forests. There you can find nut-trees, birches, oaks, chestnut-trees, lime-trees and fur-trees. Foxes, wolves, bears, deer, hares, squirrels. There are a lot of different birds as pheasants, wild ducks, magpies, sparrows, pigeons, blackbirds, hawks and others.

• France is a republic. The head of the state is the president elected for 5 years. The government consists of the Senate and the Parliament. The state language is French. The population of the country is 59 million 551 thousand people.

• The capital of France is Paris, the population of the city is over 10 million people. Other big cities are Marseille, Lyons, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Toulon and others.