France has an important aerospace industry (lead by Airbus Industrie) and is the only European power to have its own national space centre. France is also the most energy independent Western country due to heavy investment in nuclear power, which also makes France the smallest producer of carbon dioxide among the seven most industrialised countries in the world. Large tracts of fertile land, the application of modern technology, and EU subsidies have combined to make France the leading agricultural producer in Western Europe.
The midpoint of the Third Republic was known as the belle époque in France, a golden time of beauty, innovation, and peace with its European neighbors. New inventions made life easier at all social levels, the cultural scene thrived, cabaret, cancan, and the cinema were born, and art took new forms with Impressionism and Art Nouveau. The glory of this turn-of-the-century period came to an end with the outbreak of World War I.
Current President Jacques Chirac assumed office May 17, 1995, after a campaign focused on the need to combat France's stubbornly high unemployment rate. The center of domestic attention soon shifted, however, to the economic reform and belt-tightening measures required for France to meet the criteria for Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) laid out by the Maastricht Treaty. In late 1995, France experienced its worst labor unrest in at least a decade, as employees protested government cutbacks.
France has a system of civil law, but jurisprudence plays an important role similar to that of case law. France uses a civil law system; that is, law arises primarly from written statutes; judges are supposed not to make law, but to merely interpret it (though the amount of judge interpretation in certain areas makes it equivalent to case law). Many fundamental principles of French Law were laid in the Napoleonic Codes. Basic principles of the rule of law were laid in the Napoleonic Code: laws can only address the future and not the past (ex post facto laws are prohibited); to be applicable, laws must have been officially published (see Journal Officiel).
France is a democracy organised as a unitary semi-presidential republic. It is a developed nation whose modern economy is the fifth-largest in the world in 2003. Its main values are expressed in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
The May 1958 seizure of power in Algiers by French army units and French settlers opposed to concessions in the face of Arab nationalist insurrection led to the fall of the French government and a presidential invitation to de Gaulle to form an emergency government to forestall the threat of civil war. Swiftly replacing the existing constitution with one strengthening the powers of the presidency, he became the elected president in December of that year, inaugurating France's Fifth Republic.
The National Assembly may cause the resignation of the executive cabinet by voting a motion of censure. For this reason, the prime minister and his cabinet are necessarily from the dominant party or coalition in the assembly. In the case of a president and assembly from opposing parties, this leads to the situation known as cohabitation. While motions of censure are periodically proposed by the opposition following government actions that it deems highly inappropriate, they are purely rhetorical; party discipline ensures that, throughout a parliamentary term, the government is never overthrown by the Assembly.
Following the seizure of the (then separate) English, Irish and Scottish thrones by the Dutch prince William of Orange in 1688, the anti-French "Grand Alliance" of 1689 inaugurated more than a century of intermittent European conflict in which Britain would play an ever more important role, seeking in particular to keep France out of the Netherlands (the Dutch provinces and the future Belgium, then under Spanish rule).
Membership in France's labour unions accounts for less than 10% of the private sector workforce (in 2003, 8.2% of the workforce) and is concentrated in the education, manufacturing, transportation, and heavy industry sectors. Most unions are affiliated with one of the competing national federations, the largest and most powerful of which are the CGT, FO, and CFDT.
While the main territory of France (la métropole) is located in Western Europe, France is also constituted from territories in North America, the Caribbean, South America, the western and southern Indian Ocean, the northern and southern Pacific Ocean, and Antarctica (sovereignty claims in Antarctica are not recognised by most countries).
France possesses a large variety of landscapes, ranging from coastal plains in the north and west, where France borders the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, to the mountain ranges in the south (the Pyrenees) and the southeast (the Alps), of which the latter contains the highest point of Europe, the Mont Blanc at 4810 m.
As France is the most popular touristic country in the world, tourism is a significant contributor to the French Economy. In the 1960s the government heavily promoted the development of skiing in the French Alps through the development of new high level resorts including some of the World's most extensive.
Parliament meets for one 9-month session each year: under special circumstances the president can call an additional session. Although parliamentary powers have diminished from those existing under the Fourth Republic, the National Assembly can still cause a government to fall if an absolute majority of the total Assembly membership votes to censure.
The official language spoken in France is French. Several regional languages (including Basque, Breton, Catalan, Corsican, Dutch (Flemish), Alsatian, Occitan and Oïl languages) are also occasionally understood and spoken, mostly by elderly people, but the French government and public school system discouraged the use of any of them until recently. The regional languages are now taught at some schools, though French remains the only official language in use by the government, local or national.
1.
France Road Maps on eBay.co.ukeBay.co.uk offers great deals on items related to France Road Maps. ... AA Road Map France Belguim & Netherlands New, ends Nov-17 20:56 GMT. ...
2.
Southern France Road Map - Travel Accessories - SHOP.COMBuy Southern France Road Map - £5.95. Big savings on your favourite brands, for great value visit SHOP.COM. Dispatch:Allow 10 working days :
3.
road map france; compare prices on Kelkoo.co.ukLooking for road map france? Go to Kelkoo to compare and shop from thousands of choices online
4.
France road map - Multimapbasic maps. Road map of France. This Road map of France is provided by Multimap. ... Ile-de-France. Languedoc-Roussillon. Limousin. Lorraine. Lower-Normandy ...
5.
AbeBooks | Philip's Road Map Of France And BelgiumBook Information for Philip's Road Map Of France And Belgium by at AbeBooks
6.
france touring maps, france road maps - france map guideFrance touring maps and road maps, plan touring holidays. ... IGN produce a series of French road maps for each individual department. France Touring Maps ...
7.
Worldwide map search, route finder and travel directions - powered by ...Welcome to Multimap - the online mapping company. ... get even more mileage from our maps with a new business finder, an updated route ...
8.
Collins Road Atlas France | Tesco BooksBuy Collins Road Atlas France for only £5.24 at Tesco.com. Tesco's has thousands of other books for you to get stuck into, all at great prices
9.
France Road Maps buy onlineExcellent road maps of France divided by region. ... Maps are the best selling local road maps of ... AA Road Map France: 10 Languedoc Roussillon. £4.49 >> 8 ...
10.
Memory Map Memory-Map - France Full Country - UK GadgetsBuy Memory Map Memory-Map - France Full Country at Global Gizmos from only £127.44. Get the latest GPS map card from Memory Map and other top gadgets and gizmos ...
11.
France Maps and Travel Books from StanfordsWorld's largest selection of maps and travel book for France including Accommodation, Digital Mapping, Guide Books, Maps & Atlases, Road Maps & Atlases, Sports ...
12.
maps france - touring maps of france, travel maps franceYour guide to maps of France, touring maps - online France map guide. ... Most of these road maps will show the whole of France at scale of 1:1,000,000 ...
13.
France Road Map, Detailed Maps of France, Travel, Tourist, StreetFrance Road and Tourist Maps and Atlases (see below) b. ... France Reversible Road and Shaded Relief Tourist Map. Scale 1:1,000,000. Size 20"x61" ...
14.
Road maps and route planner for France. Route planning and driving ...Road maps France and French route planner. ... Road map of France and interactive route planning for France. ... France has a superb road network. ...
15.
France Road Maps & Atlases from Stanfords Maps and Travel BooksWorld's largest stock of Road Maps & Atlases for France including Digital ... Search Results for France', Road Maps & Atlases' - 73 matches found. Top rated results ...
16.
Search Results for 'road map france'Your search for 'road map france' returned the following results... You may also be interested in 'road map france' products in these other categories. ...
17.
Road map of France. Route planner France. European journey planning ...Road maps France and French route planner. Journey planner, times, ... Buy Michelin road maps of France and the rest of Europe to help you on your journey. ...
18.
www.roadmap.ch - HomeMichael Hahn tested Road Map outdoor wear to the extremes and puts his name ... RoadMap France. RoadMap is now available in France !! Read more... RoadMap in ...
19.
Amazon.co.uk: Normandy (AA Road Map France Series): AA Publishing: BooksNormandy (AA Road Map France Series) £4.04. 11% buy ... Maps > Special Interests > Road ... Travel / Europe / France. Atlases and Maps. Road Atlases & Maps ...
20.
2008 Map of France (International Road Map): Amazon.co.uk: Booksfrance (2) map (2) atlas (1) camping (1) driving (1) michelin (1) road (1) rough guide (1) ... Travel & Holiday > Atlases & Maps > Countries A-Z > France ...
21.
Road Map Of France... to the roads of France, France Road Map makes your travel a lot easier.Find ... Road Map Of France. Home > Road Map Of France ...
22.
Corsica (France) Road Maps buy onlineBuy Corsica (France) - Road Maps road maps, walking maps, street maps and atlases - from Maps Worldwide ... guides. Corsica (France) Road Maps buy online ...
23.
france road maps from Cordee travel and outdoor sports book shopBuy ign france road maps from Cordee travel and outdoor sports book shop ... 11 Jacknall Road · Dodwells Bridge Industrial Estate · Hinckley · LE10 3BS · UK ...
24.
Paris Backs Israeli Withdrawal From Gaza Under "Road Map... | Article31-AUG-04 - France supports Israel's plan of withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, in condition that it is in keeping with the road map peace plan, French... | Free With Signup
25.
Map of France - France - IndigoGuideThe map of France is divided up into 22 <em>régions </em> and 96 <em> ... You can buy road and city maps of France in one of the many national Maisons de ...
26.
Collins road atlas France : including Belgium and Luxembourg. [WorldCat.org]Author: [William Collins Sons & Co.] -- Related Subjects: [France Road maps. Belgium Road Maps. ... Subjects: Road Maps, France, Road maps, Luxembourg, Belgium ...
27.
1950'S Road Maps on eBayShop at eBay for great deals on 1950'S Road Maps items. ... Vintage Road Map Of France and Paris 1950's, ends Nov-12 7:00 pm PST. ...
28.
France Country MapsA good selection of road maps of France, ranging from the best-selling standard Michelin routeplanner to the Rough guide waterproof map
29.
The Map Shop France Road & Touring Maps... Maps (Originally known as Green Series) IGN Regional Map ... Other Road & Tourist Maps. Sectional Maps of France. Road Atlases - France. Historic Event Maps ...
30.
Unbiased Travel Reviews: Hotel France Albion, Paris - TripAdvisorHotel France Albion, Paris, Ile-de-France: A wonderful find - Visit TripAdvisor for 139 unbiased traveler reviews of Hotel France Albion.
31.
Dataviz Pda - ShopzillaCheck prices on Dataviz Pda and other Computers and Electronics offers at Shopzilla UK. Shop for new releases and compare product ratings.
32.
AA Road Maps and AtlasesHarper Collins Road Maps and Atlases. Harper Collins ... AA Road Map - France, Belgium ... updated touring map from the AA and IGN, France's Official Mapping ...
33.
Nord-Pas-de-Calais road map: France - MultimapThis Road map of Nord-Pas-de-Calais is provided by Multimap. ... [toggle]favourite routes & places. Map Location: World / France / Nord-Pas-de-Calais. quick links ...
34.
Road Map of France, France AtlasMap of Croatia contains many maps of Croatia and city maps to help you plan your holiday to Croatia. ... map of Zagreb, map of Split and Dubrovnik and a road ...
35.
Memory-Map : Maps : FranceHome Page ...
36.
EVO Distribution Limited Maps France 250 Road AtlasIGN Top 25 maps of France for your PC, Pocket PC and Smartpone. ... Home Page ...
37.
France Maps - Michelin Road Maps of FranceMichelin road maps of France to purchase for your travel while driving in France. ... road maps. If you're going to France, a good map is quite valuable. ...
Road Map France and France online resources.