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France is a country in Western Europe, about 3,500 miles from the [[United States]].  At its height it rivalled the British Empire with colonies in every corner of the world. It continued to be a strong presence in Acadamia and has been the birthplace of countless reknowned scholars. It remains a powerhouse in the [[European Union]], and is consistently at odds with the [[United Kingdom]] on issues of EU policy.  The capital city is Paris, often called the "City of Lights" due to its reknown for a center of learning and philosophy.

France is a country in Western Europe, about 3,500 miles from the [[United States]].  At its height it rivaled the British Empire with colonies in every corner of the world. It continued to be a strong presence in academia and has been the birthplace of countless renowned scholars. It remains a powerhouse in the [[European Union]], and is consistently at odds with the [[United Kingdom]] on issues of EU policy.  The capital city is Paris, often called the "City of Lights" due to its renown for a center of learning and philosophy.

[[Image:map_of_france.jpg]]

[[Image:map_of_france.jpg]]

It was a founder member of the European Coal and Steel treaty which was lead to the EEC and EU. Its contributions to western culture have been immense if contraversial. It greatly assisted the colonies via military and financing to gain their independence from England, established universal legal codes in much of the non anglo saxon west. It made a number of philosophical contributions to the world, including Descartes and Sartre, existentialism and post modernism. Its own colonial behaviour and the treatment of non French soldiers has been criticised of late. It maintains the CFA (African France) in much of west and central Africa. It gifted the statue of liberty to the USA in celebration of its independence, echoeing the French aid given to the colonies during their revolutionary war.

It was a founding member of the European Coal and Steel treaty which led to the EEC and EU. Its contributions to western culture have been immense if controversial. It greatly assisted England's North American colonies both militarily and financially in their effort to gain independence, and established universal legal codes in much of the non-Anglo-Saxon west. It has made a number of philosophical contributions to the world, including Descartes and Sartre, existentialism and postmodernism. Its own colonial behavior and the treatment of non-French soldiers has been criticized of late. It maintains the CFA (African France) in much of west and central Africa. It gifted the statue of liberty to the USA in celebration of its independence, echoing the French aid given to the colonies during the American Revolutionary War.

==Politics==

==Politics==