France

France is a Western European country on the Atlantic façade of the continent. It shares borders with Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Italy and Spain. It is the largest country in Europe (excluding Russia) by size. 

The country of wine, European beavers, and nuclear reactors has long been a political unit fairly well delimitated by natural borders such as the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Rhine and the Atlantic ocean

France has produced great thinkers and writers. In 1789, the country put into practice the ideas developed by the thinkers of the siècle des lumières (century of lights) like Voltaire, Rousseau (actually Swiss) or De Tocqueville. The French Revolution initiated a large societal change from the old monarchic regime to the advent of representative democracy in Europe. 

The country became a colonial empire from the onset of the age of explorations. At its height, the colonial empire stretched over roughly half of Africa, the Indochinese peninsula, parts of North and South America and Pacific islands. This empire progressively dislocated during the decolonisation period, after the country had finished deadly and ruinous wars with its rival and neighbour Germany.

France’s economy is diversified and specialises in various activities from high-end luxury products to public work infrastructures and agricultural goods. It is Europe’s second largest economy, first grain producer, and also the most visited country in the world, with 83 million visitors per year - making tourism one of the great motors of its activity. 

The French people are extremely attached to the terroir (the countryside land and the products from where one comes from). With climate change, an entire part of the French identity is menaced, not least of which the wine. With such high stakes, we must do everything in our power to help.