Introducing France...

Putting France on the Map

FRANCE, ONE OF THE LARGEST countries in Europe, has airline connections with most cities in the world. Paris is the major transport hub with two international airports: others include Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Nice and Toulouse. There are good, high-speed rail links with the rest of Europe, and a network of efficient motorways. A number of ferry routes cross the Mediterrancean to Corisica and beyond. Cross-Channel ferries serve several ports, with the Channel Tunnel providing an alternative link by rail.

France, known as the 'Hexagon' due to its six-sided shape, is bothered by six countries: Spain across the Pyrenees to the south; Italy and Switzerland beyond the Alps; Luxembourg and Belgium to the north; and Germany on the other side of the Rhine. The United Kingdom lies across the English Channel (La Manche).Greater ParisThe capital of France, Paris is situated in Ile de France. Greater Paris has over 9 million inhabitants. 2.1 million of which live in Ville de Paris within the Peripherique (ring road).