Situated on the western fringes of continental Europe, France has three coastlines—on the English Channel and North Sea, on the Atlantic, and on the Mediterranean—and has continental borders, stretching from north to south, with Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. France also has borders with Spain and the Principality of Andorra in the southwest and is linked to the United Kingdom by the Channel Tunnel in the northeast. With a total surface area of 549,000 square kilometers (211,914 square miles), metropolitan France is the largest country in the European Union (EU). In addition, France has a number of overseas departments and territories—vestiges of the former French colonial empire created after the discovery of the Americas.

In 2005 France had 60.7 million inhabitants, which represents an increase of 44 percent since 1940. The origins of the French population are very diverse. The strong influence of the Gallo-Romans and Francs has been accompanied...