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France, officially the French Republic (French: République française),
is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in Western Europe
and that also comprises a collection of overseas islands and territories
located in other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the
Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and North Sea, and from the
Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. French people often refer to Metropolitan
France as L'Hexagone (The "Hexagon") because of the geometric
shape of its territory.
France is bordered by Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy,
Monaco, Andorra, and Spain. In some of its overseas departments, France
also shares land borders with Brazil, Suriname, and the Netherlands Antilles.
France is also linked to the United Kingdom via the Channel Tunnel, which
passes underneath the English Channel (La Manche in French).
The French Republic is a democracy which is organised as a unitary semi-presidential
republic. It is a developed country with the seventh-largest economy in the world.[2]
Its main ideals are expressed in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the
Citizen. France is one of the founding members of the European Union, and has the
largest land area of all members. France is also a founding member of the United
Nations, and a member of La Francophonie, the G8, and the Latin Union. It is one
of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council wielding
veto power, and it is also one of eight acknowledged nuclear powers. With almost
75 million foreign tourists each year, France is the most popular international tourist
destination in the world above Spain (52 million) and USA (41 million).
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