France

France

State in Western Europe. The motto of the Republic is "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity", its principle is the rule of the people, by the people and for the people. Capital is the city of Paris. Country's name comes from the ethnonym of the Germanic tribe - francs, despite the fact that the majority of the French population has a mixed Gallo-Roman origin and speaks the language of the Romance group. France has a nuclear power and one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. Since the 1950s France is one of the states participating in the creation of the European Union.

Tourism in France is a very important segment of the economy. France is quite a long time the first in the list of tourist destinations in the world. Attractiveness of the country explains the wealth of historical and artistic heritage, lots of attractions for all tastes, a variety of landscapes, as well as proper maintenance of tourists. The main types of tourism in France are the excursion tourism, beach holidays and SPA-resorts and, of course, leisure and ski resorts.

General information

The location, grounds and landscape

Much of France is located in Western Europe, the mainland in the north-east borders with Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany, in the east - with Switzerland, in the south-east - with Monaco and Italy, south-west - with Spain and Andorra. France is washed by four water space (the Channel, the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea). In the west and north the country is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (Bay of Biscay and English Channel), in the south - the Mediterranean Sea (Gulf of Lion and the Ligurian Sea). France is the largest country on the territory of Western Europe: it takes almost one fifth of the territory of the European Union and has extensive marine space.

Population: over 65 million 950 thousand people.

Capital: Paris (population 2.2 million).

Biggest cities: Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lille.

Languages: French.

Religion: 51% Catholic, 31% are atheists or agnostics, 10% belong to other religious groups, 6-8% - Muslims.

Time zone: UTC +1.

Telephone code: +33.

Currency: Euro (EUR), 1 euro is equal to 100 cents. In circulation are banknotes in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500, as well as coins in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cents.

Credit card payment systems: Visa, MasterCard, American Express.

The climate and the average temperature

The country's climate is characterized by sufficient gentleness and moderation without any sudden changes in temperature. Eastern regions of the mountains and upland areas are under the authority of the continental climate. In the southern part of the country, which is located in the Mediterranean area, subtropical climate prevails. It is characterized by relatively hot summers with little rainfall and mild winters with high humidity.

The north of the country and its central area is characterized by very different climatic characteristics. Areas that are adjacent to Paris, have peculiar low temperature, but at the same time a high level of humidity. Traditionally it is quite hot in summer, the average temperature is at the level of 25 + - 30 ° C, and the canopy is warm enough. Somewhere in November it rains heavy, fogs appear. Winter precipitation is very low, the average temperature is -2 to +5 ° C. When compared with the north-eastern regions of France, the winter is frosty and quite humid.

Flora and fauna

There are not very many forests in France and almost all the plains plowed. Preserved are broadleaf forests of oak, beech and chestnut trees. When raising the height of the mountains, they will be replaced by coniferous forests of spruce and pine, larch, fir and then higher already alpine meadows begin. In the Mediterranean grow shrubs, trees of the most typical olive and cork oak.

In the forests of the country live such wild animals as deer, foxes, hares, badgers, wild boars, beavers. Incredibly diverse world of birds, there are even eagles and sea eagles.

How best to get

"Ukraine International Airlines" and Air France operates daily direct flights Kiev - Paris - Kiev (travel time is about 3 hours 20 minutes).

The Company "Aeroflot" and Air France carry out regular daily flights from the "Sheremetyevo-2" in the "Roissy - Charles de Gaulle" (about 4 hours flight). From St. Petersburg to Paris fly Air France and "Russia" (departure from "Pulkovo"). Also in Paris fly dozens of foreign airlines, including KLM, Lufthansa, British Airways, etc., with connecting flights through the official country carrier.

From Almaty to Paris daily flights are carried out by airlines KLM, Lufthansa, British Airways and Turkish Airlines (travel time from 9 hours considering connections).

Airline Belavia performs three times a week flights from Minsk to Paris.

Best time to visit

Climate of France is temperate maritime, in the east it is transition to continental, in Mediterranean - subtropical. The summer is rather hot (July-August +20 .. +25 ° C). The best time to visit Paris is the month of May and September-October, and for the French Riviera will be a favorable time June and Semtember. On Corsica it is traditionally very long and hot summer from May to October +21 .. +27 ° C, so the best months for rest periods will be from May to June and from September to October.

In the French Alps the first snow falls in late November and is almost the middle of May. Thanks to the mild climate in winter at an altitude of about 1500 m the temperature does not drop below -10 ° C. The best time for skiing is from mid-February, when stable sunny weatheris settled. Snow depth depends on the altitude and can range from 0.7 to 4 meters.