France is a transcontinental nation with territories and regions in the Americas, as well as the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area stretches from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean, as well as from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea; its overseas territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the North Atlantic, the French West Indies, and numerous islands in Oceania and the Indian Ocean. France has the world's biggest exclusive economic zone due to its many coastline areas. France has borders with Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Monaco, Italy, Andorra, and Spain in Europe, as well as the Netherlands, Suriname, and Brazil in the Americas through French Guiana and Saint Martin. Its eighteen integral areas (five of which are abroad) have a total area of 643,801 km2 (248,573 sq mi) and have a population of nearly 67 million people (as of May 2021). France is a unitary semi-presidential republic, with Paris as its capital and primary cultural and economic center; other significant cities include Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Lille, Bordeaux, and Nice.
Metropolitan France has been inhabited since the Palaeolithic age and was occupied by Celtic tribes known as Gauls during the Iron Age. In 51 BC, Rome acquired the region, resulting in a unique Gallo-Roman civilization that created the groundwork for the French language. The Germanic Franks established the Kingdom of Francia, which became the Carolingian Empire's core. The empire was partitioned by the Treaty of Verdun in 843, with West Francia becoming the Kingdom of France in 987. France was a strong but largely decentralized feudal state in the High Middle Ages. Philip II effectively consolidated royal authority and overcame his competitors in order to treble the extent of the crown territories; by the conclusion of his reign, France had emerged as Europe's most powerful kingdom. From the mid-14th through the mid-15th centuries, France was engulfed in a series of dynastic battles including England, known collectively as the Hundred Years' War, and as a consequence, a unique French identity formed. The French Renaissance witnessed the flourishing of art and culture, the struggle with the House of Habsburg, and the formation of a worldwide colonial empire that would become the world's second-largest by the twentieth century. Religious civil conflicts between Catholics and Huguenots dominated the second half of the 16th century, severely weakening the realm. Following the Thirty Years' War, France re-emerged as Europe's dominating power in the 17th century under Louis XIV. Inadequate economic strategies, inequitable taxation, and recurrent battles (particularly a loss in the Seven Years' War and expensive participation in the American War of Independence) placed the kingdom in a dangerous economic position by the end of the 18th century. This sparked the French Revolution of 1789, which toppled the Ancien Régime and resulted in the Declaration of the Rights of Man, which still embodies the nation's beliefs today.
Napoleon Bonaparte led France to its political and military apex in the early nineteenth century, subjugating most of continental Europe and creating the First French Empire. The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars affected European and global history. The fall of the empire marked the beginning of a period of relative decline for France, which saw a chaotic succession of rulers until the establishment of the French Third Republic during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. Following decades witnessed the Belle Époque, an era of optimism, artistic and scientific growth, and economic success. France was a key participant in World War I, emerging victorious at a considerable human and economic cost. It was one of the Allied powers during World War II, but it was quickly seized by the Axis in 1940. Following independence in 1944, the short-lived Fourth Republic was created, only to be disbanded during the Algerian War. Charles de Gaulle established the present Fifth Republic in 1958. Algeria and the bulk of French colonies gained independence in the 1960s, while the majority maintained strong economic and military links with France.
France maintains its centuries-old position as a worldwide center of art, science, and philosophy. It is the world's biggest tourist attraction, with over 89 million international visitors in 2018. It has the fifth-highest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. France is a developed nation with the world's seventh-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by PPP; it ranks fourth in terms of aggregate household wealth. In worldwide rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, and human development, France ranks well. It is still a major player in global affairs, as one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and a state with nuclear weapons. France is a founder and leading member of the European Union and the Eurozone, as well as a prominent member of the Group of Seven, NATO, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and La Francophonie.