France Natural Environment

France, with an area of 547,000 sq km, is the largest country in Europe. 

Parts of the southern regions of the country are mountainous.  Along its south-western border with Spain and Andorra, and south-eastern border with Italy and Switzerland are the Pyrenees and the Alps, respectively.  Mont Blanc, at 4,819 m, in the Alps, is the highest peak in western Europe.

Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany are located to the north and northeast of the country.  Its territory also includes the island of Corsica, which is off the Mediterranean coast to the southeast of Nice.  The principality of Monaco is located in the south along the Mediterranean

In the centre, north and west of the country are the plains, river basins and rolling hills through which four main rivers flow.  These rivers are the Rhone, which flows into the Mediterranean, the Loire, which flows into the Atlantic, the Seine, which flows into the English Channel and the Garonne, which flows into the Bay of Biscay.

France lies in the temperate climatic zone as it is located at an altitude of between 41° and 50° North.  However, there are regional climatic variations as the country is subject to the influence of the Atlantic coast to the west and the Mediterranean to the south, and different elevations of its terrain.

The regions in the north and northwest have a temperate climate. 

Along the Mediterranean region in the south-east, the summer is hot and dry and the winter is mild and wet.

The western region facing the Atlantic has more rainfall, cooler summers and milder winters. 

The centre of the country has hot summers and colder winters, with less precipitation.

The climate of the Pyrenees, the Alps and other mountainous regions are colder, with the temperature falling below freezing and snow-cover for a large part of the year.