2. France is a country in West Europe. It is washed by the Atlantic Ocean in the west and north and by the Mediterranean Sea in the south. It borders on many countries: Italy, Switzerland, Luxemburg and Belgium. The area of it is 551 500 sq km.

3. There are 5 climatic belts in France. In the mountains the t° is usually 5°C lower than on the territory of the country. In the east of the country the t° varies from 0°C to +30°C. The mediterranean coasts are in subtropical climate. And in the central parts of the country there is Atlantic climate. The amount of rainfalls is 600-1000 mm a year, and 2000 mm a year in the mountains.

4. 24% of the territory of France is occupied by forests. There you can find nut-trees, birches, oaks, chestnut-trees, lime-trees and fur- trees. Foxes, wolves, bears, deer, hares, squirrels. There are a lot of different birds as pheasants, wild ducks, magpies, sparrows, pigeons, blackbirds, hawks and others.

5. France is a republic. The head of the state is the president elected for 5 years. The government consists of the Senate and the Parliament. The state language is French. The population of the country is 59 million 551 thousand people.

6. The capital of France is Paris, the population of the city is over 10 million people. Other big cities are Marseille, Lyons, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Toulon and others.