France is located along a river in Paris which served as an important trade and transportation route. French is the primary language spoken by 88% of the population, though other languages like Italian and Turkish are also present. Most French citizens are Catholic or practice Islam and have French citizenship. France has physical boundaries like the Alps and maintains a high literacy rate of 99% as a compact, unified state under a republic government involved in organizations like NATO, the UN, and the EU.

1. France
Molly Burns

2. Site and Situation
Situation: France’s focus of roads goes throughout the majority of Paris, which
is also the center of the European Rail Network. International Airports also
provide global links.
Site: Paris was established around a river, which is good for trading, fishing,
transportation and defense.

3. Language
The overwhelming majority of the
population of France speaks French
(88%). Keeping that in mind, the map
to the right of this slide shows a
distribution of languages/dialects in
France. Though the majority of people
use French as a first language, other
languages such as the following are also spoken.

4. Major Religious and Ethnic Groups
The majority of the population of France have earned or were given French
Citizenship (94%). Most French citizens practice Catholicism. These two ideas
being put together tells us that most French citizens are Catholic. Other major
religions include Islam and Judaism. Other major ethnicities include Turks and
Italians.

5. Former Colonial Rulers
The very first president of France was
Napoleon Bonaparte. He underwent leadership
under the French Second Republic. Elected in
1848, he was a very famous French figure.

6. Basic Shapes and Boundary Types
France would be considered a compact state because it
has been easy to manage and keep together. France’s
boundaries are considered to be physical. An example of
this would be that the boundary of Italy and France is the
Alps.

7. Literacy Rates
The calculated literacy rate of France is 99%
with a rank of 37 out of 194.

8. Government and Membership in
cooperative groups
France has organized itself
into a government under
the name of “French
Republic”, a unitary
sovereign state.
The three most common
international organizations
that France is a part of are
NATO, the United Nations
and the European Union.