France (French IPA: [fʁɑ̃s]), officially the French Republic (French: République

française [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a country whose territory consists of metropolitan

France in western Europe, as well as several overseas regions and territories.[XIII] The
metropolitan area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and
the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. The overseas territories include French
Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. The
country's 18 integral regions (five of which are situated overseas) span a combined area of
643,801 square kilometres (248,573 sq mi) which, as of October 2017, has a population of 67.15
million people.[10] France is a unitary semi-presidential republicwith its capital in Paris, the
country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Other major urban
centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse and Bordeaux.
During the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls,
a Celtic people. Rome annexed the area in 51 BC, and held the region until 486, when
the Germanic Franks conquered the region and formed the Kingdom of France. France emerged
as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages following its victory in the Hundred Years'
War (1337 to 1453). During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a global colonial
empire was established, which by the 20th century would be the second largest in the
world.[11] The 16th century was dominated by religious civil
wars between Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots). France became Europe's dominant
cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV.[12] In the late 18th century, the French
Revolutionoverthrew the absolute monarchy, established one of modern history's
earliest republics, and saw the drafting of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen,
which expresses the nation's ideals to this day.