AREA & POPULATION

Total Area : 547,030 sq km
Population: 60,424,213

France has a surface area of 550,000 km2, which makes it the largest country in Western Europe - bigger than Spain, Germany and Sweden.  It lies on the western edge of the continent of Europe and shares borders with six neigh-bouring countries: Belgium and Luxembourg to the north; Germany and Switzerland to the east;  Italy to the south-east;  and Spain to the south-west.  This geographical position gives France two salient advantages. 

On the one hand, partly due to its excellent communications network, it is a sort of crossroads at the heart of the European Union, linked to the east with the vast industrial and urban area stretching from the mouth of the Rhine to the plains of the Po River; to the north-west, it is within easy reach of the industrial centres of the United Kingdom and to the south it forms an integral part of the Mediterranean arc running from Catalonia to central Italy.

The French coastline provides access by sea to Northern Europe, America and Africa via the North Sea, the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean, which are amongst the world's busiest waters.  Mainland France is compact and forms a hexagon of which no side is longer than 1,000 km.  Within these boundaries, France has exceptionally varied scenery; this, together with its rich cultural heritage, helps make it popular with tourists. You can use your international cell phone rentals in France to navigate this beautiful landscape.