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Location:
Western Europe, bordering the Bay of Biscay and English Channel,
between Belgium and Spain, southeast of the UK; bordering the
Mediterranean Sea, between Italy and Spain
Geographic coordinates:
46 00 N, 2 00 E
Area:
total: 547,030 sq km
land: 545,630 sq km
water: 1,400 sq km
note: includes only metropolitan France; excludes the overseas
administrative divisions
Land boundaries:
total: 2,889 km
border countries: Andorra 56.6 km, Belgium 620 km, Germany 451 km,
Italy 488 km, Luxembourg 73 km, Monaco 4.4 km, Spain 623 km,
Switzerland 573 km
Coastline:
3,427 km
Climate:
generally cool winters and mild summers, but mild winters and hot
summers along the Mediterranean; occasional strong, cold, dry,
north-to-northwesterly wind known as mistral
Terrain:
mostly flat plains or gently rolling hills in north and west;
remainder is mountainous, especially Pyrenees in south, Alps in
east
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Rhone River delta -2 m
highest point: Mont Blanc 4,807 m
Natural resources:
coal, iron ore, bauxite, zinc, uranium, antimony, arsenic, potash,
feldspar, fluorospar, gypsum, timber, fish
Land use:
arable land: 33.46%
permanent crops: 2.03%
other: 64.51% (2005)
Irrigated land:
26,000 sq km (2003)
Natural hazards:
flooding; avalanches; midwinter windstorms; drought; forest fires
in south near the Mediterranean
Environment - current issues:
some forest damage from acid rain; air pollution from industrial
and vehicle emissions; water pollution from urban wastes,
agricultural runoff
© Images:
Nasa
World Wind 1.3 under
Nasa Open Source Agreement Version 1.3
© Texts:
World Factbook. See the
Copyright Information for further information |
