PHYSICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY

1. France is mostly level, with high mountains on the east and south. In the east are Mt. Blanc, the highest mountain in Europe, and Mt. Cenis (seh-ne), through which is a tunnel nearly eight miles in length, connecting France and Italy.



Its climate, except in the northeast, is mild. Its southeastern coast is a favorite winter resort for vacationers from Europe and the United States.
The leading agricultural products are grain and grapes, besides olives, oranges, and lemons in the south. Around Lyons, the second city, in size, in France, mulberry trees are extensively cultivated for the support of the silk-worm.

Among the exports are machinery and computers, aircraft, spacecraft, cars, pharmaceuticals, plastics, perfumes, cosmetics, beverages, and mineral fuels.

Paris is one of the best-known cities in the world, with its iconic Eiffel Tower, the Louvre museum, and the Notre-Dame Cathedral. The most important seaport in France is the Port of Marseilles.

HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY

1. France with Holland (Netherlands), Belgium, and Western Germany, was formerly called Gaul; the inhabitants were called Gauls or Celts.
2. France was conquered by Julius Caesar and annexed to the Roman Empire (51 B. C).
3. France received its name from the Franks, the German invaders who afterward conquered it.
4. Charlemagne was the greatest monarch of his time (8th century). By his conquests, his empire included France, Belgium, Holland (Netherlands), Germany, and Switzerland, with parts of Italy and Spain.
5. The most well-known French general and monarch was Napoleon Bonaparte, who became emperor of France and king of Italy in 1804. He was overthrown at Waterloo (1815), and died in banishment in St. Helena. His nephew, Louis Napoleon, became president of France in 1848, and soon afterwards, emperor.





6. Louis Napoleon, in the war with Germany in 1870 and 1871, lost his throne. France also lost that part of its territory which bordered on the Rhine. (France lost Alsace and a part of Lorraine.)

MAPWORK

1. Which parallels of latitude pass over France in this map?
2. Which bay is west of France?
3. Which sea is southeast?
4. Which channel is northwest?
5. Which country is separated from France by the Strait of Dover?
6. Which countries border on the northeast?
7. Which countries border on the East?
8. Mention the four large rivers of France.
9. Into what does each of the four rivers of France empty?
10. Which large island in the Mediterranean Sea belongs to France?