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:''For the impact on left-wing policies on France and the rest of Europe, see [[European migrant crisis]]''
'''France''' is a major country in Western [[Europe]]. In ancient times, the area that is today France was included in the Roman province of Gaul. Together with Germany and Northern Italy, it was part of the Carolinian Empire. The French nation can be traced back to 481the Treaty of Verdun in 843, when Clovis I ascended as which divided the country's first kingCarolinian Empire. France has played a significant role in world events since the era of Cardinal Richelieu in the mid-seventeenth century. The monarchy founded by Clovis lasted until the [[French Revolution]] of 1789-1799. Since 1870 (with the exception of a four-year period from 1940 to 1944 during which it was controlled by [[Nazi Germany]]), France has been a republic with the motto "liberty, equality, fraternity."
France is a leading member of the [[European Union]], an economic and political union founded in 1952 as the European Coal and Steel Community. France's current constitutional structure, called the Fifth Republic, was introduced in 1958. It features a strong president elected to a five-year term of office. The French national currency, or franc, was phased out in 1999-2002 and replaced by the euro. France is the world's most popular tourist destination with 80 million visitors in 2011.<ref>[http://geography.about.com/od/economic-geography/a/20-Most-Popular-Countries-As-Tourist-Destinations.htm 20 Most Popular Countries as Tourist Destinations]".</ref>