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France: A Brief History and Geographical Description
Western civilization was profoundly influenced by the rapid rise in the expansion of Islam after the death of prophet Mohammed. This was the period during the 7th Century to the 15th century. By 732, 10 years after his death, Islam expanded from western Asia to Spain, France and reaching halfway from the pyre ness to Paris.
When he claimed the throne of France in 1337, the English king Edward III began a long war between the two countries. The historians called it
Hundred Years War. To the ferry troops to France, Englands king Edward III needed to control the English Channel. The French fleet was destroyed. Inevitably, Scholarship in the adjacent Frankish and salesquent French kingdom was influenced, leading to a revitalization of the western Christian scholarship, which has long been dormant as a result of barbarians migrations.
The French invasion of Italy marked the beginning of a new phase of European politics, during which the
valois rings of France and the Habsburgs of Germany fought each other, with the Italian conquest was pursued by every French King, none of them learnt anything from Charles VIII misadventure except that the road southward was open and paved with easy victories. In 1494, king Charles VIII of France led an army southward over the Alps, seeking the Napoleon crown and Gory. He found the kingdom of Niles easy to take and impossible to hold; frightened by the local uprisings.
French artillery was already the best in Europe by 1494, Whereas the Spaniards developed the Terico, an infantry unit that combined the most effective field fortifications and weaponry of the Italians and Swiss pevedance all was a legalistic concern for focus, precedence, and the customs that according to French jurist gay, guy coquille, were the true civil laws. The aristocratic spirit transcended frontiers. For the noblemen Europe was the homeland.
Italians plasterers and painters, French cabinetmakers traveled long for large commissions. There were variations reflecting local traditions. It was especially for France that the two of most powerful rulers of Eastern Europe, Fredrik II and Catherine II. Looked for mentors in thought and style. The French Language, deliberately purified from the time of Richelieu to the foundation of Academy, was well adapted to the dear expressions of ideas, other major change was due to the
de-colonization of the two countries during the World War II that look out 50 new sovereigns. Before the World War II the countries of Europe had ruled. Their colonies was conflicted during World War I. Otherwise Britain, France, Portugal would have remained as powerful empires. French
de-colonization proved it to be trouble some. France had given the name Indo-China to the million square miles in South East Asia. France also had to face the same type of problem during the independence of Moracco and Tunusia in 1956.
The French revolution in France from 1789 to 1793 made France, once a grand Monarchy, a republic. The French people guillotined the Aristocrats of the British. The people were not allowed to move out any where from the country without proper papers. This marks the history of France a great way in the republication of the country.
The country of France has Paris as its capital city. The other large cities in France are
Marseilles, Lyons, and Strasbourg. The area of the country is 543 965 square km. The population of the country is 59.5m. The main languages are French and Regional dialects. The Literacy rate of the country is 99%. The main Religion is Christianity. The currency of the country is Euro. France, the largest country in Western Europe lies between three big nations Spain, Germany and Italy, The Island of Corsica-the birthplace of Napoleon-forms an integral part of France. Since then republican and imperial forms of government followed one after another until the Fifth Republic. The French Community came into being in 1958 under President Charles de Gaulle.
French companies dominate the worlds water industry. The two biggest are Generale des Eaux, now owned by Veolia, with 25m. Domestic Customers; and Lyonnaise des Eaux, now owned by Suez, which supplies 14m. The two companies dominate not lonely France but the water industry worldwide. Only RWE/Thames comes anywhere near them. An American attempt to beat the French at this game failed when Azurix, part of the failed energy-trading giant Enron, went into oblivion.
The country is the largest food producer and exporter in Western Europe. Main-crops are: Grains, maize, rice, fruits, vegetables wine, potatoes, livestock and daily products. Among manufactured products, the most important are chemicals, silk,, cotton textiles, automobiles, aircraft, ships, precision instruments, electronic equipment, perfumes and wines. Over the last 20 years urban development and technological progress have changed the peoples every day life profoundly. Life expectancy rates are: for Males 75 and Females: 83.
France exploded a nuclear device at Mururoa atoll on Sept. 6, 1995. In January 96, France announced the end of the series of tests. France, which had 75.5 m. foreign visitors in 2000, reinforced its position as the worlds most visited country. The Eiffel Tower, Frances most visited monument, has 15,000 tourists daily.
Overseas Departments: French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Reunion. Overseas Territories: French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, New Caledonia and dependencies, Walls and Futuna Islands. Overseas departments elect representatives to the National Assembly and the administrative organization of mainland France applies to them. The administrative organization of overseas territories includes a locally elected Government.
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