While Metropolitan France is located in Western
Europe, France also has a number of territories in North America,
the Caribbean, South America, the southern Indian Ocean, the Pacific
Ocean, and Antarctica. These territories have varying forms of
government ranging from overseas department to overseas collectivity.
Metropolitan France covers 547,030 square kilometres (211,209 sq
mi), having the largest area among European Union members and
slightly larger than Spain. France possesses a wide variety of
landscapes, from coastal plains in the north and west to mountain
ranges of the Alps in the south-east, the Massif Central in the
south-central and Pyrenees in the south-west. At 4,807 metres
(15,770 ft) above sea-level, the highest point in Western Europe,
Mont Blanc, is situated in the Alps on the border between France and
Italy. Metropolitan France also has extensive river systems such as
the Loire, the Garonne, the Seine and the Rhône, which divides the
Massif Central from the Alps and flows into the Mediterranean sea at
the Camargue, the lowest point in France (2 m / 6.5 ft below sea
level). Corsica lies off the Mediterranean coast.
|
