Area of 640, 000 square km.
Includes Corsica, an island off the Mediterranean coast.  Mainland France is also known as The Hexagon because of its geometric shape.

Bordering countries are Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco and Spain.
Sea borders: North Sea, English Channel to the north, long Atlantic Ocean coast to the west, Mediterranean coast to the south from border with Spain to border with Italy.   Linked to the UK by the Channel Tunnel.

Largest cities – Paris (capital, population 2.24 million), Marseille (851 thousand), Lyon (484 thousand), Toulouse (442 thousand)  (official INSEE data at 2010).

Terrain – a great variety of landscapes, coastal plains in the north and west, mountain ranges of the Alps in the south-east, the Massif Central is south-central, and the Pyrénées lie to the south-west.  The highest point in western Europe is Mont Blanc, 4810 metres, on the border between France and Italy.

Rivers - extensive river systems are the Seine, Loire, Garonne and Rhône.

Overseas territories
*  Five overseas Départements DOMs - French Guiana (South America), Guadeloupe and Martinique (Caribbean), Mayotte and Réunion (Indian Ocean) are an integral part of France and the EU and the €urozone.
*  A variety of overseas territories and collectivities, TOMs, are part of the French Republic but do not form part of the EU.