France Land

France’s geography is as varied as its wine and cheese selections. A roughly hexagonal territory about 80% the size of Texas, France’s 547,030 sq. km are marked by breathtaking coastlines, idyllic islands, gently rolling hills and majestic mountains. Laden with waterfalls, the Pyrenees mountains form France’s southwestern border with Spain, while the snow-capped peaks of the Alps and Jura separate France from Italy and Switzerland to the east. North of the Jura, the history-steeped waters of the Rhine River divide France and Germany. France shares its only artificial boundary with Belgium in the northeast.

The English Channel (known in France as La Manche, meaning “the sleeve”) separates France’s chalky northwestern cliffs from England’s stony shoreline. The Atlantic Ocean meets the fine sand beaches in the west, while the sparkling Mediterranean laps onto the shores of the south. Seemingly boundless plains and river valleys comprise most of France’s interior with the exception of the rugged Massif Central —an expansive plateau of mountains, crater lakes, caves, deep gorges, hot springs, and extinct volcanoes—in the country’s center. Corsica, France’s Mediterranean island, sits 170km off the French coast—the Côte d’Azur. Corsica’s geography mirrors the topographic diversity of the mainland; white sand beaches neighbor granite bluffs on its coast, while rushing streams and pine forests dot the mountainous interior.

For information about French national parks, check out www.parcsnationaux-fr.com, and for more on French environmental concerns see the French Institute for the Environment’s website, www.ifen.fr.