<!–^~^70|right|^~^–>National R & D expenditure amounts to 190 billion francs ($38 billion) i.e. 2.5% of GDP. The public sector finances 51% of it and is responsible for operating (building maintenance, salaries, laboratory equipment) the major national research centres, which include the CNRS (all fields), INSERM (medicine), […]
0 Read MoreThe 18th century’s Enlightment brought thinkers such as Voltaire and Rousseau to struggle against the principles of the old regime and absolutism…
0 Read More<!–^~^69|right|^~^–>Leading industrial sectors in France : Construction and civil engineering. Annual production : 797 billion francs ($159.4 billion). Four French groups (Bouygues, SGE, Eiffage and GTM-Entrepose) rank among the top ten in European construction, with an annual turnover of 158 billion francs ($31.6 billion). Agri-foodstuffs. Annual […]
0 Read MoreThe Revolution ends in 1799 when Napoleon Bonaparte entered Paris and was crowned First Consul at the age of thirty…
0 Read More<!–^~^68|right|^~^–>Farms: 730,000Farmers/farm workers: 910,000Utilized agricultural area: 30,139,000 hectares Principal agricultural products in France: Sugar beet: 1st in the EU, 2nd in the world (29 million tonnes) Wine: 2nd in the world, 2nd in the EU (5.3 million tonnes) Milk: 2nd in the EU, 5th in the […]
0 Read MoreThe industrial expansion was not slowed by the war and continued at a fast pace. To commemorate the centenial of the French Revolution, the Eiffel Tower was constructed during the Universal Exhibition of 1889…
0 Read MoreShareholders in France Telecom have approved plans to raise up to 30bn euros to help the company deal with its crippling debt…
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Notre-Dame de Reims is the Reims Cathedral, where the kings of France used to be crowned. It replaced an older church (burned in 1211) built on the site of the basilica where Clovis was baptized by Saint Remi, bishop of Reims, in A.D. 496. The cathedral was completed by the end of the 13th century, with the exception of the west front (illustration, right).
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Marianne is a national emblem of France. She is present in many places in France and holds a place of honor in town halls and law courts. She symbolizes the “Triumph of the Republic”, a bronze sculpture overlooking the Place de la Nation in Paris. Her profile stands out on the official seal of the country, is engraved on French euro coins, and appears on French postage stamps; it was also featured on the former French franc coins and banknotes.
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The Battle of Normandy in 1944, codenamed Operation Overlord, was the invasion of Nazi occupied Western Europe by the western allies. With almost three million troops crossing the English Channel from England to Normandy in France, it still ranks as the world’s largest seaborne invasion.
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