France

1
France

• Caitlin Kalda and Carly Miller

2
Facts

• French Republic (conventional long form)
• Republique Francaise (local long form)
• Capital Paris
• Language 100 French
• 99 Literacy rate
• National Holiday Bastille Day July 14
• Flag French Tricouleur (Tricolor)

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Geography

• Located in Western Europe, bordering Bay of
  Biscay, English Channel, and Mediterranean Sea
• Neighboring countries
• Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium,
  Luxembourg, Andorra, Monaco
• Land area- 545,630 sq km
• Slightly less than twice the size of Colorado
• Largest West European nation

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Geography

• Elevation
• Highest point- Mont Blanc 4,807 m
• Lowest point- Rhone River delta 2 m
• Terrain
• 2/3 of area is plains
• Remainder is mountainous, most notably Pyrenees
  in the south and Alps in the east
• Land use
• Arable land- 33.3
• Permanent crops- 2.11

6
Climate

• Varies with location
• Maritime in west, Mediterranean in south,
  continental in center and east
• Generally cool winters and mild summers, but mild
  winters and hot summers along Mediterranean

7
History

• 486 independence by Clovis, king of the Franks
• Defeats Gallo-Romans, Burgundians, and Visigoths
• Establishes Frankish control over France
• First Christian king of France
• 800- Charlemagne crowned Holy Roman Emperor
• Conquered most of Germany and Italy to reunite
  most of the former Roman Emperor
• 1337- Hundred Years War

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History

• 1589- increased tensions between Huguenots
  (Protestants) and Catholics led to the Wars of
  Religion
• Catherine de Medici ordered the St. Bartholomews
  Day Massacre of hundreds of Protestants
• Henri IV, a target of the massacre, become the
  first Bourbon king of France and converts to
  Catholism
• He ended the Wars of Religion by enacting the
  Edict of Nantest, which guaranteed religious and
  political rights to Protestants.

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History

• 1600s- King Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu
  transform fuedal French Monarchy to an Absolute
  Monarchy
• 1789- the state's financial crisis brings about
  social turmoil, triggering the Revolution
• Declaration of the Rights of Man enacted- the
  principles of Liberté, Egalité, and Fraternité
  (Freedom, Equality, Fraternity)
• 1799- Revolution ends when Napoleon crowned First
  Consul
• 1804- Napoleon crowns himself Emperor and starts
  military campaigns for control of most of Europe

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History

• 1870- Franko-Prussian War, marks end of centuries
  of monarchy
• 1889- Eiffel Tower built to commemorate centenial
  of the French Revolution
• 1914- World War I, emerges victorious but
  industry in ruins and 1.4 million men dead
• 1940- Surrenders to Germany in World War II
• 1944- Liberated by Allied forces, General de
  Gaulle head of provisional government
• 1968- Student riots and strikes signal discontent
  with de Gualles rule, he resigns one year later

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Politics

• Presidential Republic 5th Republic
• President Jacques Chirac
• Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin
• Parliament Senate and National Assembly
• Supreme Court of Appeals, Constitutional Council,
  Council of State
• 22 political parties

12
Economy

• GDP ppp 1.54 trillion
• GDP ppp per capita 25,700
• Unemployment rate 9.1
• Transition from government controlled economy to
  more market oriented economy.
• Transition from French franc to euro

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Population

• Population 59,765,983 (July 2002)
• Growth rate .35
• Ethnic groups Celtic Latin with Teutonic,
  Slavic, North African, Indochinese, Basque
  minorities
• Life expectancy Women 83.14yrs
• Men 75.17 yrs

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Social Life

• Family is principal unit of social life but main
  centers of social life are cafés
• French used to frequent cafés to escape cramped
  apartments
• Leisure activities on the increase
• Do-it-yourself home maintenance, gardening
• Vacations- 5 weeks minimum, usually within France
• Second homes
• Skiing, sailing, fishing, tennis, horseback
  riding
• Spectator sports- soccer matches, Tour de France

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Second Homes

• Usually an old family dwelling, either inherited
  or bought, villas, or seaside dwellings
• One family in nine owns second home, highest rate
  in world
• Used to escape stress of city life, time to relax
  with family

16
Food

• 1533- Catherine de Medici married future King
  Henry II
• She was a noted gourmet and tired of permanent
  indigestion as well as homesickness for her
  native Italy
• She transformed the French courts attitude
  towards food by the skilled chefs she brought
  with her
• 1671- first culinary martyr, Vatel, chef to
  prince of Condé
• Failed to provide enough fish at banquet for king
  of France, retired to his chamber and fell on his
  sword

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Food

• Nouvelle cuisine- new cooking, healthier way of
  cooking, flavors are daringly blended,
  imagination more important knowledge of
  traditional ways of cooking
• Demand quality of food in cafeterias unheard of
  in other nations
• Along with good food is good wine
• French wine laws are the oldest and most thorough
  in world

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Family

• Family is principal unit of social life
• Decline in churchgoing- 86 of population
  baptized in church but only 14 regularly attend
  Mass
• Divorce rate increasing- now one in five
  marriages end in divorce
• Financial interdependence among extended family
  decreasing as younger members of family move to
  cities and suburbs

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Values Culture
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Values Religion

• Religion

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Education

• Schooling can begin as early as age 2 in
  state-sponsored nursery schools, école
  maternelle in the last year of school at age 5,
  children start to learn to read, write, and count
• Primary education, école élémentaire, children
  have to reach certain standards before moving on
• Only half get through elementary school without
  having to repeat at least one year
• At age 11 child moves on to collège, assessments
  of the childs personality, interests, and
  academic ability are used to determine which
  diplomas should be taken, often settles what
  child will do for the rest of their life

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Education

• Trade schools attended at age 14 for two years
  leading to CAP qualification, certificat
  daptitude professionnelle
• At age 16, pupils start to prepare for
  baccalaureat, rigorous exam taken at 18, passport
  to higher education, cannot attend university
  unless pass exam
• Dropout rate at university is high due to large
  expense and lack of serious commitment

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Youth
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Generalizations

• Dress has understated elegance
• Conversation - well phrased, articulate arguments
• Meat of presentation should speak for itself
• Many French feel everyone else should aspire to
  speak French
• A little natural body odor is not necessarily
  objectionable
• Idea of using a deodorant to mask normal body
  odor is still not widely accepted.

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Cont

• French society values thoughts and ideas for
  their own sake
• Great French masterpiece is Rodins The Thinker
• Thinking versus doing orientation
• American society values hard work
• American Gothic by Grant Wood shows stern faced
  farmer and daughter in front of their farmhouse,
  they are serious about work.