The Hexagon

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Geography

	France is the largest country in western Europe and is often called the hexagon because of its six sided shape. The country can be drawn inside a hexagon which has a diameter of 1 000 km. Children in France learn to draw the map of their country through first constructing a hexagon. Source: http://www.ambafrance-au.org/kids/pages

• France has an area of 547 000 sq km.

• From north to south the country is approximately 1100 km in length. From East to West, it measures about 500 km.

• No place in France is more than 500 km from the sea.

France shares her border with eight countries. Here is the list, with the length of the shared frontiers:

Population

• In 2005 - estimated Population of France was about 61 million.
• Life expectancy at birth for the total population is 79.6 years
• Life expectancy at birth for men 76 years,
• Life expectancy at birthfor women, 83 years.
• Population density 105 persons per sq km
• In 1997 the unemployment rate was 10.1 % . (CIA Fact Book).

Adminstrative areas.

France is divided into 22 Adminstrative regions which are further subdivided into 96 departments. Each region has its own personality, history, traditions, wines and food.

The Regions of France.	Alsace, Aquitaine Auvergne Basse-Normandie Bourgogne Bretagne Centre Champagne-Ardenne Corse Franche-Comte Haute-Normandie Ile-de-France Languedoc-Roussillon	Limousin, Lorraine Midi-Pyrenees Nord-Pas-de-Calais Pays de la Loire Picardie Poitou-Charentes Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur Rhone-Alpes Back to the top
	As you can see, each region is divided into at least two, and sometimes as many as eight départements. The départements are organised alphabetically and numbered. The numbers of the département are used for post codes and car registration number plates.

Overseas Territories

France also has 4 Dependent Overseas territories or (DOMTOMS). French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna Islands, the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (comprising Adelie Land), the Crozet and Kerguelen archipelagos and the islands of Amsterdam and Saint-Paul and two possessions with the status of Territories: Mayotte and Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon

These include 4 Overseas departments: Guadalupe, Martinique, French Guyana, Reunion
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The French abroad

1.7 million French people live outside France (1995) Of these:
52% live in Europe
25.2% in North America
10.8% in Africa
5% in the Middle East
4.5% in Oceania
2.5% in Asia

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Economy

GDP $28, 700 per person(world's fourth economic power)

Tourism

65 million foreign tourists come to France each year. It is the world's most popular tourist destination.

Useful links:

The CIA factbook

French Embassy, Canberra.

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