France, one of the foremost countries of Europe, occupies a most advantageous position between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. The civilisation developed on the coasts of the Mediterranean eventually found an easy passage towards the Atlantic and the North Sea by the broad valley of the Rhone and Saône, which communicates with the drainage areas of the Seine, the Loire, and the Garonne. The territory now occupied by France thus became the ground upon which Roman civilisation met and melted with the civilisation of the Celts and Teutons; and it gave birth to a race which assimilated a variety of ethnographical elements—Gaulish, Italian, Spanish, German, and Flemish—and developed into a powerful nationality, the French.
In its present limits, diminished in 1871 by the loss of Alsace and part of Lorraine (5590 sq. m., 1,600,000 inhabitants), France covers an area of 204,092 sq. m.—i.e. one-nineteenth part of Europe, and had in 1891 a population of 38,343,192 (one-eighth of the population of Europe). It is bounded on the N. by the Channel and the Strait of Dover, which separate it from England; on the NE. by Belgium and the grand-duchy of Luxemburg; on the E. by Lorraine, Alsace, Switzerland, and Italy; on the S. by the Mediterranean Sea and Spain, from which it is separated by the Pyrenees; and on the W. by the Atlantic Ocean. Its utmost extremities are comprised between 51° 5' and 42° 20' N. lat., and the longitudes of 4° 42' W. and 7° 39' E. In shape it is a compact hexagonal mass, symmetrically distributed on both sides of the meridian of Paris, its greatest dimensions being 606 miles from N. to S., 556 miles from W. to E., and 675 miles from NW. to SE.
The areas of the different administrative subdivisions of France, and their populations, as well as the former divisions into provinces, are given in the table on the next page.
Coasts, Seaports, and Islands.—The coasts of France possess great advantages for maritime intercourse with the world. The eastern part of the Mediterranean coast, owing to its crescent-shaped indentations, has several excellent harbours which combine the advantage of being situated at, or close by, the terminus of the great commercial route connecting north-west Europe with the Mediterranean (Golfe de St Tropez, Hyères roads, Toulon, Marseilles); on the other hand, the western portion of the same coast, which describes a broad curve in the Gulf of the Lion, is flat and difficult of access, as are also the shores of the Bay of Biscay in the Atlantic. The deep estuary of the Garonne has a good port in Bordeaux; for Nantes, at the head of the estuary of the Loire, owing to the shallowness of its entrance, a deeper port has been found in St Nazaire; whilst the port of La Palisse, three miles west of La Rochelle, is steadily rising in importance. Farther north the rocky coasts of Brittany are indented with numerous narrow gulfs, and dotted with small islands; and Brest, situated on one of the gulfs, is among the best ports in Europe. On the northern coast, facing towards England, France has but few natural harbours. Cherbourg, at the extremity of the Cotentin peninsula, has been made a naval port at a heavy outlay. Le Havre, at the mouth of the Seine, also is an artificial port, whose maritime intercourse with distant lands