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France, officially theFrench Republic, is a country primarily located inWestern Europe.Its overseas regions and territories includeFrench Guiana inSouth America,Saint Pierre and Miquelon in theNorth Atlantic, theFrench West Indies, andmany islands inOceania and theIndian Ocean.Metropolitan France shares borders withBelgium andLuxembourg to the north;Germany to the northeast;Switzerland to the east;Italy andMonaco to the southeast;Andorra andSpain to the south; and a maritime border with theUnited Kingdom to the northwest. Its metropolitan area extends from theRhine to theAtlantic Ocean and from theMediterranean Sea to theEnglish Channel and theNorth Sea. Its 18integral regions—five of which are overseas—span a combined area of 632,702 km2 (244,288 sq mi), witha total population estimated at 69.1 million in 2026. Its capital,largest city and main cultural and economic centre isParis.
Metropolitan France was settled during theIron Age byCeltic tribes known asGauls beforeRome annexed the area in 51 BC, leading to a distinctGallo-Roman culture. In theEarly Middle Ages, theFranks formed the kingdom ofFrancia, which became the heartland of theCarolingian Empire. TheTreaty of Verdun of 843 partitioned the empire, withWest Francia evolving into theKingdom of France. In theHigh Middle Ages, France was a powerful but decentralisedfeudal kingdom, but from the mid-14th to the mid-15th centuries, France was plunged into a dynastic conflict withEngland known as theHundred Years' War. In the 16th centuryFrench culture flourished during theFrench Renaissance, and aFrench colonial empire emerged. Internally, France was dominated by the conflict with theHouse of Habsburg and theFrench Wars of Religion betweenCatholics andHuguenots. France was successful in theThirty Years' War and further increased its influence during the reign ofLouis XIV.
TheFrench Revolution of 1789 overthrew theAncien Régime and produced theDeclaration of the Rights of Man, which expresses the nation's ideals to this day. France reached its political and military zenith in the early 19th century underNapoleon Bonaparte, subjugating much of continental Europe and establishing theFirst French Empire. Its collapse initiated a period of relative decline in which France endured theBourbon Restoration until the founding of theFrench Second Republic which was succeeded by theSecond French Empire uponNapoleon III's takeover. His empire collapsed during theFranco-Prussian War in 1870. This led to the establishment of theFrench Third Republic, and a period of economic prosperity and cultural and scientific flourishing known as theBelle Époque. France was one of themajor participants ofWorld War I, from whichit emerged victorious at great human and economic cost. It was among theAllies of World War II, but it surrendered andwas occupied byGermany in 1940. Followingits liberation in 1944, the short-livedFourth Republic was established and later dissolved over the course of theAlgerian War. The currentFifth Republic, asemi-presidential system, was formed in 1958 byCharles de Gaulle.Algeria and most French colonies became independent in the 1960s, with the majority retainingclose economic and military ties with France.
France retains its centuries-long status as a global centreof art,science, andphilosophy.It hosts thefourth-largest number of UNESCOWorld Heritage Sites and is theworld's leading tourist destination, having received over 100 million foreignvisitors in 2024. Adeveloped country, France has ahigh nominal per capita income globally, andits economy ranks among the largest in the worldby both nominal GDP andPPP-adjusted GDP. It is agreat power, being one of the fivepermanent members of the United Nations Security Council and an officialnuclear-weapon state. The country is part ofmultiple international organisations and forums. (Full article...)
Featured article –show anotherHotel Chevalier is a 2007short film written and directed byWes Anderson. StarringJason Schwartzman andNatalie Portman as former lovers who reunite in aParis hotel room, the 13-minute film acts as aprologue to Anderson's 2007 featureThe Darjeeling Limited. It was shot on location in a Parisian hotel by a small crew and self-financed by Anderson, who initially intended it to be a stand-alone work. Its first showing was at theVenice Film Festival premiere of the feature film on September 2, 2007, and it made its own debut later that month atApple Stores in four U.S. cities.
The day after the film's premiere, it was made freely available from theiTunes Store for one month, during which time it was downloaded more than 500,000 times. The film garnered acclaim from reviewers, who compared it favorably toThe Darjeeling Limited and praised its richness, poignancy, and careful construction. (Full article...)
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Henry emerged as Arsenal's top goal-scorer for almost every season of his tenure there. Under long-time mentor and coachArsène Wenger, Henry became a prolific striker and Arsenal's all-time leading scorer with 228 goals in all competitions. The Frenchman won two league titles and threeFA Cups with the Gunners; he was nominated for theFIFA World Player of the Year twice, was named thePFA Players' Player of the Year twice, and theFWA Footballer of the Year three times. Henry spent his final two seasons with Arsenal as clubcaptain, leading them to the2006 UEFA Champions League Final.
In June 2007, after eight years with Arsenal, he transferred toBarcelona for a fee of €24 million. His first honours with theCatalan club came in 2009 when they won theLa Liga,Copa del Rey and Champions League treble. In 2010, he joined the New York Red Bulls of theMajor League Soccer, and won the Eastern Conference title with them in 2010.
Henry enjoyed similar success with theFrench national team, having won the1998 FIFA World Cup,UEFA Euro 2000 and2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. Henry retired from international football after the2010 FIFA World Cup. Off the pitch, Henry is an active spokesperson againstracism in football, partially due to his own experiences.
Anamuse-bouche (/əˌmuːzˈbuːʃ/;French:[a.myz.buʃ]) oramuse-gueule (UK:/əˌmuːzˈɡɜːl/,US:/-ˈɡʌl/;French:[a.myz.ɡœl]) is a single, bite-sizedhors d'œuvre. Amuse-bouches are different fromappetizers in that they are not ordered from a menu by patrons but are served free and according to the chef's selection alone. These are served both to prepare the guest for the meal and to offer a glimpse of the chef's style.
The term isFrench and literally means "mouth amuser". The plural form may beamuse-bouche oramuse-bouches.In France,amuse-gueule is traditionally used in conversation and literary writing, whileamuse-bouche is not even listed in most dictionaries, being aeuphemistichypercorrection that appeared in the 1980s on restaurant menus and used almost only there. (In French,bouche refers to the human mouth, whilegueule means the wider mouth of an animal, e.g. dog, though commonly used formouth and derogatory only in certain expressions, e.g. "ferme ta gueule".) (Full article...)
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Although no precise estimates exist, the number of French soldiers captured byNazi Germany during theBattle of France between May and June 1940 is generally recognised around 1.8 million, equivalent to around 10 percent of the total adult male population of France at the time. After a brief period of captivity in France, most of the prisoners were deported to Germany. In Germany, prisoners were incarcerated inStalag orOflag prison camps, according torank, but the vast majority were soon transferred to work details (Kommandos) working in German agriculture or industry. Prisoners from theFrench colonial empire, however, remained in camps in France with poor living conditions as a result ofNazi racial ideologies.
During negotiations for theArmistice of 22 June 1940, theVichy French government adopted a policy ofcollaboration in hopes for German concessions allowing repatriation. The Germans nevertheless deferred the return of prisoners until the negotiation of a final peace treaty, which never occurred due to theUnited Kingdom's refusal to surrender and Germany's defeat in theBattle of Britain. The absence of a large proportion of the male population of France also had important consequences on the position of women inoccupied France and charity fundraising on behalf of the prisoners played an important role in French daily life until late in the occupation. Limitedrepatriation of certain classes of POWs did occur from 1940 and the government was keen to encourage the return of prisoners, even launching the unpopularrelève system in order to exchange prisoners of war for French labourers going to work in Germany. Nevertheless, many prisoners remained in German captivity until the defeat of Germany in 1945. Prisoners who returned to France, either by repatriation or through escaping, generally found themselves stigmatised by the French civilian population and received little official recognition. (Full article...)
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