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	'''France''' is a country in western ]. It regularly gets its ass kicked in wars, but always gets bailed out, typically by the ]. France is known for having great food and art, hot women and terrible cars, including the ] Alliance which nearly made an enemy out of America in the ].
			'''The French Republic''', or '''France''', is a ] located in western ].

			The roots of France as a separate entity started with ] dividing his ] empire into an eastern and a western part. The eastern part can be regarded the beginnings of what is now ], the western part that of France. A variety of descendants of Charlemagne ruled France until ], when ], a duke, was crowned King of France. His descendants, the ] dynasty, ruled France until ], when the French overthrew their monarchy during the ].
	Frenchmen are sometimes known as ]. In addition to being terrible fighters, as the ] proved in ], they are also deficient in other areas of manhood. This is a big reason why the sexy women tend to gravitate toward American tourists, and greatly helps tourism to France, especially to its capital of ]. However, even Frenchmen do have some redeeming qualities--in 1998, a group of them made France the ] champions of the sport of ]. This victory helped alleviate some of France's national shame for its many shortcomings.

			Although ultimately a victor in World Wars ] and ], France suffered extensive losses in its empire, wealth, manpower, and rank as a dominant nation-state. Since ], it has constructed a presidential democracy (known as the ]) resistant to the instabilities experienced in earlier parliamentary democracies. In recent years, France's reconciliation and cooperation with ] have proved central to the economic integration of ], including the advent of the ] in January ]. Today, France is at the forefront of European states seeking to exploit the momentum of monetary union to advance the creation of a more unified and capable European defense and security apparatus.
	France has had many great leaders in its past. The greatest was ], who became the first of the ] in ]. However, he wasn't really a Frenchman in the modern sense of the word. He was a ], a ] if you will, and although his people lend their name to the modern name of France, he was far from the degenerate soccer-playing, escargot-eating Froggies of today. In fact, Charlemagne had his capital at the German city of ] rather than Paris.

			<b>Economy - overview:</b>
	Another great hero of France is ]. Like Charlemagne, whose empire he briefly reunited in ] and lasting until ], Napoleon wasn't really French. He was an ] from the island of ], born with the name Napoleone Buonaparte. He made the Froggies all high and mighties...but then he got whooped by the ] in ], and his empire soon crumbled. Even though he isn't really a Froggie, he and his half-wop, half-Kraut son are entombed in a great Paris mausoleum known as the ]. Froggies have come there for more than 150 years to worship Napoleon and wish for another just like him.
			France's economy combines modern capitalistic methods with extensive, but declining, government intervention. The government retains considerable influence over key segments of each sector, with majority ownership of railway, electricity, aircraft, and telecommunication firms. It has been gradually relaxing its control over these sectors since the early ]. The government is slowly selling off holdings in ], in ], and in the insurance, banking, and defense industries. Meanwhile, large tracts of fertile land, the application of modern technology, and subsidies have combined to make France the leading agricultural producer in Western Europe. Persistently high ] continues to pose a major problem for the government; a 35-hour work week is being introduced. France has shied away from cutting exceptionally generous social welfare benefits or the enormous state bureaucracy, preferring to pare defense spending and raise taxes to keep the deficit down. France joined 10 other ] members to launch the ] on ] ].

			The French anthem, <i>]</i>, concerns the overthrow of tyranny. The national motto is ''liberty, equality, fraternity''.
	France's greatest hero who was really French was probably the King ], known as "The Victorious". He was the victor one of the very few wars that France ever won under a ruler other than Napoleon or Charlemagne. It was known as the ], and it actually took France 116 years, from ] to ], to win it. It marked the only time in history that France, as France, ever beat the ]. But even Charles was no exception to the rule. He didn't win his wars; ], one of those wonderful French women, did it for him! To show his gratitude, Charles betrayed her to his enemies and they burned her at the stake.

			The capital city, ], is home to the ], a tower of girdered steel constructed in 1889. The language is primarily ], with several local languages (breton, basque, catalan, ...), but french government made speaking these dialects illegal, until a very recent time.
	] was another great native hero of France. He won the ] in ], during the height of ]. Two years later, when France was getting its butt kicked so badly that it was on the verge of becoming the medieval German province of ] once more, the ] showed up to save their asses. Petain was given credit for winning the war, and became the greatest Froggie hero since Napoleon.

			Cities and major towns include:
	Twenty-two years later, ] and his ] ] showed up in Paris after kicking the Froggies' butts all the way from the ] to the ]. Petain surrendered to Dolph and became president of fascist ]. However, there is no truth to the rumor that his new country's motto was "Kiss ass, kiss ass, we are Vichy France". Anyhow, when another great Froggie hero named ] hitched a ride along with the Yankees (thank God for the Yankees!) when they again rode to France's rescue in ], that was the end of Vichy France, and Petain wasn't a hero anymore. In fact, many Froggies wanted to ] him, or at least ] him, but de Gaulle said no. Many of France's beautiful women later were carried off to America by their deliverers, but France being France, they produced more.

			: ], ], ], ], ], Angoulême, ],
	France's greatest hero since de Gaulle (they always say America won the war and all France got was de Gaulle), is a man named ]. He scored two goals for the victorious Froggies in the championship game of the World Cup in 1998. Like many great men of France, however, he is not really French. His heritage is ]. The French hope Zinedine will again be great in the upcoming World Cup, so that France will not lose its lone source of pride.
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			<i>From the ] 2000.</i>
	France's best-known company is ], which manufactures cars, or at least something resembling cars. They did business in the United States between ] and ], producing some of the worst cars ever seen in America. The Dauphine, made in the 1950s, and the aforementioned Alliance, in the 1980s, were so bad they nearly created international incidents. In fact, many purchasers of the Alliance suggested that America should apologize for liberating France in the two World Wars, on the grounds that Renault would now be a division of Mercedes had the Germans won.

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	Renault is also known for using the billions of dollars it makes off its awful passenger cars and investing it in ], where it occasionally wins the championship.
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			----
	Recent political developments in France suggest that the people may be wistful for the days of Vichy France once again. In the recent presidential election, a ] named ] finished second in the voting.
			See also:
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Revision as of 16:27, 18 May 2002

The French Republic, or France, is a country located in western Europe.

The roots of France as a separate entity started with Charlemagne dividing his Frankish empire into an eastern and a western part. The eastern part can be regarded the beginnings of what is now Germany, the western part that of France. A variety of descendants of Charlemagne ruled France until 987, when Hugh Capet, a duke, was crowned King of France. His descendants, the Capetian dynasty, ruled France until 1789, when the French overthrew their monarchy during the French Revolution.

Although ultimately a victor in World Wars I and II, France suffered extensive losses in its empire, wealth, manpower, and rank as a dominant nation-state. Since 1958, it has constructed a presidential democracy (known as the Fifth Republic) resistant to the instabilities experienced in earlier parliamentary democracies. In recent years, France's reconciliation and cooperation with Germany have proved central to the economic integration of Europe, including the advent of the euro in January 1999. Today, France is at the forefront of European states seeking to exploit the momentum of monetary union to advance the creation of a more unified and capable European defense and security apparatus.

Economy - overview: France's economy combines modern capitalistic methods with extensive, but declining, government intervention. The government retains considerable influence over key segments of each sector, with majority ownership of railway, electricity, aircraft, and telecommunication firms. It has been gradually relaxing its control over these sectors since the early 1990s. The government is slowly selling off holdings in France Telecom, in Air France, and in the insurance, banking, and defense industries. Meanwhile, large tracts of fertile land, the application of modern technology, and subsidies have combined to make France the leading agricultural producer in Western Europe. Persistently high unemployment continues to pose a major problem for the government; a 35-hour work week is being introduced. France has shied away from cutting exceptionally generous social welfare benefits or the enormous state bureaucracy, preferring to pare defense spending and raise taxes to keep the deficit down. France joined 10 other EU members to launch the euro on 1 January 1999.

The French anthem, La Marseillaise, concerns the overthrow of tyranny. The national motto is liberty, equality, fraternity.

The capital city, Paris, is home to the Eiffel Tower, a tower of girdered steel constructed in 1889. The language is primarily French, with several local languages (breton, basque, catalan, ...), but french government made speaking these dialects illegal, until a very recent time.

Cities and major towns include:

Abbeville, Ajaccio, Albertville, Albi, Amiens, Angoulême, Aurillac,

Bastia, Besancon, Bordeaux, Barcelonnette, Bayonne, Belfort, Brest,

Brive,

Caen, Cahors, Calais, Cannes, Carcassonne, Chamonix, Charlesville-Mezieres,

Clermont-Ferrand, Colmar,

Deauville,Dieppe, Dignes-les-Bains, Dijon, Dole, Dreux, Dunkerque,

Evreux, Firmini,Foix, Grenoble,

La Baule, La Rochelle Le Havre, Lille,Lyon,

Marseille, Mende, Metz, Mont-de-Marsan, Montauban, Montpellier,

Nantes, Nice, Nimes, Orleans,

Paris, Paux, Perigueux, Perpignan, Poitiers, Quimper,

Reims,Rennes, Rochefort, Rodez,Roubaix,

Saint-Gaudens, Saint-Etienne, Saint-Giron, Saint-Nazaire, Saint-Raphael,

Saint-Tropez, Sete, Strasbourg,

Tarbes,Tavaux, Toulon, Toulouse, Tourcoing, Valence

From the CIA World Factbook 2000.