France - Geography
Geography - People - Economy - Government - Communications - Transportation - Military - Transnational IssuesFrance is located . The climate is . The terrain is .
Location
This entry identifies the country's regional location, neighboring countries, and adjacent bodies of water.Location - metropolitan France : Western Europe, bordering the Bay of Biscay and English Channel, between Belgium and Spain, southeast of the UK; bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Italy and Spain
Location - French Guiana : Northern South America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Brazil and Suriname
Location - Guadeloupe : Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, southeast of Puerto Rico
Location - Martinique : Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, north of Trinidad and Tobago
Location - Reunion : Southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar
Geographic coordinates
This entry includes rounded latitude and longitude figures for the purpose of finding the approximate geographic center of an entity and is based on the locations provided in the Geographic Names Server (GNS), maintained by the National Geospatial- Intelligence Agency on behalf of the US Board on Geographic Names.Geographic coordinates - metropolitan France : 46 00 N, 2 00 E
Geographic coordinates - French Guiana : 4 00 N, 53 00 W
Geographic coordinates - Guadeloupe : 16 15 N, 61 35 W
Geographic coordinates - Martinique : 14 40 N, 61 00 W
Geographic coordinates - Reunion : 21 06 S, 55 36 E
Map references
This entry includes the name of the Factbook reference map on which a country may be found. Note that boundary representations on these maps are not necessarily authoritative. The entry on Geographic coordinates may be helpful in finding some smaller countries.Map references - metropolitan France : Europe
Map references - French Guiana : South America
Map references - Guadeloupe : Central America and the Caribbean
Map references - Martinique : Central America and the Caribbean
Map references - Reunion : World
Area
This entry includes three subfields. Total area is the sum of all land and water areas delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines. Land area is the aggregate of all surfaces delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines, excluding inland water bodies (lakes, reservoirs, rivers). Water area is the sum of the surfaces of all inland water bodies, such as lakes, reservoirs, or rivers, as delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines.Area - total : 643,427 sq km; 547,030 sq km (metropolitan France)
Area - land : 640,053 sq km; 545,630 sq km (metropolitan France)
Area - water : 3,374 sq km; 1,400 sq km (metropolitan France)
Area - note : the first numbers include the overseas regions of French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Reunion
Area - comparative
This entry provides an area comparison based on total area equivalents. Most entities are compared with the entire US or one of the 50 states based on area measurements (1990 revised) provided by the US Bureau of the Census. The smaller entities are compared with Washington, DC (178 sq km, 69 sq mi) or The Mall in Washington, DC (0.59 sq km, 0.23 sq mi, 146 acres).Area - comparative : slightly less than the size of Texas
Land boundaries
This entry contains the total length of all land boundaries and the individual lengths for each of the contiguous border countries. When available, official lengths published by national statistical agencies are used. Because surveying methods may differ, country border lengths reported by contiguous countries may differ.Land boundaries - metropolitan France - total : 2,889 km
Land boundaries - border countries : Andorra 56.6 km, Belgium 620 km, Germany 451 km, Italy 488 km, Luxembourg 73 km, Monaco 4.4 km, Spain 623 km, Switzerland 573 km
Land boundaries - French Guiana - total : 1,183 km
Land boundaries - border countries : Brazil 673 km, Suriname 510 km
Coastline
This entry gives the total length of the boundary between the land area (including islands) and the sea.Coastline - total : 4,668 km
Coastline - metropolitan France : 3,427 km
Maritime claims
This entry includes the following claims, the definitions of which are excerpted from the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which alone contains the full and definitive descriptionsMaritime claims - territorial sea : 12 nm
Maritime claims - contiguous zone : 24 nm
Maritime claims - exclusive economic zone : 200 nm (does not apply to the Mediterranean)
Maritime claims - continental shelf : 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
Climate
This entry includes a brief description of typical weather regimes throughout the year.Climate - metropolitan France : generally cool winters and mild summers, but mild winters and hot summers along the Mediterranean; occasional strong, cold, dry, north-to-northwesterly wind known as mistral
Climate - French Guiana : tropical; hot, humid; little seasonal temperature variation
Climate - Guadeloupe and Martinique : subtropical tempered by trade winds; moderately high humidity; rainy season (June to October); vulnerable to devastating cyclones (hurricanes) every eight years on average
Climate - Reunion : tropical, but temperature moderates with elevation; cool and dry (May to November), hot and rainy (November to April)
Terrain
This entry contains a brief description of the topography.Terrain - metropolitan France : mostly flat plains or gently rolling hills in north and west; remainder is mountainous, especially Pyrenees in south, Alps in east
Terrain - French Guiana : low-lying coastal plains rising to hills and small mountains
Terrain - Guadeloupe : Basse-Terre is volcanic in origin with interior mountains; Grande-Terre is low limestone formation; most of the seven other islands are volcanic in origin
Terrain - Martinique : mountainous with indented coastline; dormant volcano
Terrain - Reunion : mostly rugged and mountainous; fertile lowlands along coast
Elevation extremes
This entry includes both the highest point and the lowest point.Elevation extremes - lowest point : Rhone River delta -2 m
Elevation extremes - highest point : Mont Blanc 4,807 m
Natural resources
This entry lists a country's mineral, petroleum, hydropower, and other resources of commercial importance.Natural resources - metropolitan France : coal, iron ore, bauxite, zinc, uranium, antimony, arsenic, potash, feldspar, fluorspar, gypsum, timber, fish
Natural resources - French Guiana : gold deposits, petroleum, kaolin, niobium, tantalum, clay
Land use
This entry contains the percentage shares of total land area for three different types of land useLand use - arable land : 33.46%
Land use - permanent crops : 2.03%
Land use - other : 64.51%
Land use - note : French Guiana - arable land 0.13%, permanent crops 0.04%, other 99.83% (90% forest, 10% other); Guadeloupe - arable land 11.70%, permanent crops 2.92%, other 85.38%; Martinique - arable land 9.09%, permanent crops 10.0%, other 80.91%; Reunion - arable land 13.94%, permanent crops 1.59%, other 84.47% (2005)
Irrigated land
This entry gives the number of square kilometers of land area that is artificially supplied with water.Irrigated land - total : 26,190 sq km;
Irrigated land - metropolitan France : 26,000 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources
This entry provides the long-term average water availability for a country in cubic kilometers of precipitation, recharged ground water, and surface inflows from surrounding countries. The values have been adjusted to account for overlap resulting from surface flow recharge of groundwater sources. Total renewable water resources provides the water total available to a country but does not include water resource totals that have been reserved for upstream or downstream countries through international agreements. Note that these values are averages and do not accurately reflect the total available in any given year. Annual available resources can vary greatly due to short-term and long-term climatic and weather variations.Total renewable water resources : 189 cu km (2005)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)
This entry provides the annual quantity of water in cubic kilometers removed from available sources for use in any purpose. Water drawn-off is not necessarily entirely consumed and some portion may be returned for further use downstream. Domestic sector use refers to water supplied by public distribution systems. Note that some of this total may be used for small industrial and/or limited agricultural purposes. Industrial sector use is the quantity of water used by self-supplied industries not connected to a public distribution system. Agricultural sector use includes water used for irrigation and livestock watering, and does not account for agriculture directly dependent on rainfall. Included are figures for total annual water withdrawal and per capita water withdrawal.Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural) - total : 33.16 cu km/yr (16%/74%/10%)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural) - per capita : 548 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards
This entry lists potential natural disasters.Natural hazards - metropolitan France : flooding; avalanches; midwinter windstorms; drought; forest fires in south near the Mediterranean
Natural hazards - overseas departments : hurricanes (cyclones), flooding, volcanic activity (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Reunion)
Environment - current issues
This entry lists the most pressing and important environmental problems. The following terms and abbreviations are used throughout the entryEnvironment - current issues : some forest damage from acid rain; air pollution from industrial and vehicle emissions; water pollution from urban wastes, agricultural runoff
Environment
Environment - international agreements - party to : Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
Environment - international agreements - signed, but not ratified : none of the selected agreements
Geography - note
This entry includes miscellaneous geographic information of significance not included elsewhere.Geography - note : largest West European nation
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