France is the largest country in Western Europe, covering 550,000 square kilometers of land (340,000 square miles). It is bordered by 4 large bodies of water (North Sea, Channel, Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean) and is blessed with 5,500 km of coastline. France also covers 3 fully differentiated climate zones. The west is characterized by an Oceanic climate of high rainfall and little temperature difference between winter and summer. The Mediterranean south is hot and dry in the summer, and mild and wet in the winter. In the interior and eastern portions of France (including Paris), summers can be warm, and winters cold.
Plains cover two thirds of the total area, yet France also boasts the highest peak in Western Europe: the Mont Blanc, which reaches 4,807 meters. Principal mountain ranges and massifs include the Alps, the Pyrénées, the Ardennes, the Jura, the Vosges and the Massif Central.
France's population is close to 60 million. In addition, approximately 2 million French people live outside France proper, in the other departments and territories of the French Republic. Over 50% of Franceís population live in towns with more than 50,000 residents. Paris, together with its metropolitan area, has a population of close to 10 million, or 17% of France's population.
The French Republic is divided into 22 regions, and is further subdivided into 100 departments, including its 5 overseas departments: Saint Pierre et Miquelon, Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guyana and Réunion. The French Republic also includes the overseas territories of French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna, and Mayotte, one of the islands of the Comoros archipelago, is included in the Republic as a territorial community with special status. All of these factors contribute in making France a country of contrasts, with diverse peoples, landscapes, and a rich culture.
The institutional basis for the current Republic, the Fifth, is the Constitution of October 4, 1958. It has been amended several times, most notably in 1962, to include the election of the President of the French Republic by direct universal suffrage. The President appoints the Prime Minister who charters the course of the Government, initiates new policies and oversees the work of the other ministers. The Prime Minister is traditionally the leader of the party with the highest representation in the Chamber of Deputies.
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