Guide of France

France, officially the French Republic, is a member state of the European Union located in Western Europe.

Facts about France 

France is the second largest state after Russia and the third most populous state in Europe. It is one of the most ancient European states and one of the founders of the European Union and Schengen area. France is one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and is part of the G8 world, the OECD, NATO, the Francophone and the Latin Union. After Russia and the United States it is the world's third nuclear power. The capital, Paris, is a tourist hub with over 45 million visitors per year. For the past 37 years France and specifically the Eiffel Tower, are among the most visited places on earth.  UNESCO ranks France as the fourth in the world in terms of artistic heritage.

The French Economy 

France has the fifth largest economy in the world after the United States, China, Japan and Germany. France is culturally rich, varied and ancient. Paris has always been a cultural hub, welcoming artists of every kind. Today Paris has one of the largest number of cultural sites such as museums and architecture in the world. During the 17th and 18th, during the Enlightenment, many medical and scientific philosophers, humanists and luminaries were French, and we owe the invention of the cinema in to France, in the city of Lyon.  France also has a large and thriving film industry. 

French Literature

Literature in France flourished between the 18th and 19th centuries, when extraordinary work was  produced by philosophers including Voltaire, Montesquieu, Denis Diderot and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The themes of realism, romance, symbolism and naturalism influenced the French literary scene, making it lively and influential. At the same time French novels as Les Misérables by Victor Hugo, The Three Musketeers and The Count of Montecristo by Alexandre Dumas, Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas, by Jules Verne earned world fame.