Europe · Western Europe
France
Photo: Pierre Blaché from Paris, France · CC0 1.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Capital
- Paris
- Currency
- EUR
- Euro
- Local time
- Central European Summer TimeUTC+02:00
- Calling code
- +33
- Driving
- On the right
- Plugs
- Type C and E
Facts
France in figures
- Capital
- Paris
- Currency
- Euro EURToday's indicative rate: EUR 1 ≈ USD 1.12Indicative, from the day's reference rates; a bank or card will charge its own.
- Languages
- Official: FrenchSpoken: French, Arpitan, Breton, Corsican, Catalan and Basque
- Time zones
- Central European Summer TimeUTC+02:00
- Calling code
- +33
- Driving
- On the right
- Plugs
- Type C and E230 V · 50 HzAs recorded in Wikidata.
- Emergency numbers
- 112general emergency114for deaf callers15ambulance17police18fireAs recorded in Wikidata. Check them locally on arrival; they are not the only safety information you need.
- Population
- 68,720,337 (2025, World Bank)
- Area
- 547,030 km²
- Internet domain
- .fr
When to go
Climate across France
- Mild to warm and dry
- Mild to warm, humid or showery
- Hot
- Cool
- Wet
- Cold
| City | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paris | 6° | 7° | 12° | 16° | 19° | 23° | 25° | 25° | 21° | 16° | 10° | 6° |
| Lyon | 5° | 7° | 11° | 16° | 19° | 24° | 27° | 26° | 22° | 17° | 10° | 6° |
| Strasbourg | 4° | 6° | 11° | 16° | 20° | 24° | 26° | 25° | 21° | 16° | 9° | 5° |
| Marseille | 9° | 10° | 14° | 18° | 22° | 28° | 31° | 31° | 25° | 20° | 14° | 10° |
| Bordeaux | 9° | 11° | 14° | 18° | 21° | 25° | 27° | 27° | 25° | 20° | 14° | 10° |
| Nice | 12° | 12° | 13° | 15° | 19° | 23° | 25° | 25° | 23° | 19° | 16° | 13° |
| Toulouse | 9° | 10° | 14° | 17° | 21° | 26° | 29° | 30° | 25° | 21° | 13° | 10° |
| Nantes | 8° | 9° | 13° | 16° | 19° | 23° | 25° | 24° | 22° | 17° | 12° | 9° |
| Montpellier | 10° | 11° | 14° | 18° | 22° | 27° | 30° | 29° | 25° | 20° | 15° | 11° |
| Grenoble | 3° | 4° | 9° | 13° | 16° | 21° | 23° | 23° | 19° | 15° | 8° | 4° |
| Cities good for going, of 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 28 | 34 | 32 | 34 | 34 | 17 | 0 | 0 |
Mostly sea in the model's grid cell: the highs shown run lower than on land.
Mean daily highs, modelled for an area about 50 km across: NASA POWER climatology, 2001–2020. A cell's swatch says what the month is like (key above).
On the map
Where France is
The dashed box is the extent of the country's main landmass, from Natural Earth; outlying islands fall outside it. The dots are the cities with pages of their own.
Land borders
Cities
Cities in France
- ParisCapitalGuideÎle-de-France Region2,138,551
- MarseilleProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region877,215
- LyonAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes520,774
- ToulouseOccitanie511,684
- NiceProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region342,669
- NantesPays de la Loire Region325,070
- Marne La ValléeÎle-de-France Region318,325
- StrasbourgGrand Est274,845
- BordeauxNew Aquitaine265,328
- MontpellierOccitanie248,252
- RennesBrittany Region227,830
- Le HavreNormandy185,972
- GrenobleAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes158,552
- NîmesOccitanie148,236
- Clermont-FerrandAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes147,865
- BrestBrittany Region144,899
- ToursCentre-Val de Loire141,621
- LimogesNew Aquitaine141,176
- MulhouseGrand Est111,430
- PerpignanOccitanie110,706
- CaenNormandy110,624
- AvignonProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region89,769
- PoitiersNew Aquitaine85,960
- PauNew Aquitaine82,697
- La RochelleNew Aquitaine76,810
- BéziersOccitanie74,081
- ChambéryAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes61,640
- AjaccioCorsica54,364
- Brive-la-GaillardeNew Aquitaine53,466
- CarcassonneOccitanie49,600
Smaller places with an airport · 11
Airports
Airports in France
Large airports
- CDGCharles de Gaulle International AirportParis
- ORYParis-Orly AirportParis
- LYSLyon Saint-Exupéry AirportLyon
- TLSToulouse-Blagnac AirportToulouse
- NCENice-Côte d'Azur AirportNice
- NTENantes Atlantique AirportNantes
- SXBStrasbourg AirportStrasbourg
- BODBordeaux–Mérignac AirportBordeaux
- MPLMontpellier-Méditerranée AirportMontpellier
- CFEClermont-Ferrand Auvergne airportClermont-Ferrand
- BESBrest Bretagne airportBrest
- BSLEuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–FreiburgMulhouse
- FSCFigari Sud-Corse AirportAjaccio
- BVABeauvais-Tillé airportBeauvais
- BIABastia-Poretta International airportBastia
- MRSMarseille Provence AirportMarignane
- LILLille AirportFaches-Thumesnil
Medium airports · 29
- RNS · Rennes
- DOL · Le Havre
- GNB · Grenoble
- FNI · Nîmes
- TUF · Tours
- LIG · Limoges
- PGF · Perpignan
- CFR · Caen
- AVN · Avignon
- PIS · Poitiers
- PUF · Pau
- LRH · La Rochelle
- BZR · Béziers
- CMF · Chambéry
- AJA · Ajaccio
- BVE · Brive-la-Gaillarde
- LDE · Tarbes
- XCR · Châlons-en-Champagne
- TLN · Hyères
- CCF · Carcassonne
- NCY · Annecy
- DCM · Castres
- CLY · Bastia
- AUR · Aurillac
- BIQ · Biarritz
- RDZ · Rodez
- EGC · Bergerac
- ETZ · Montigny-lès-Metz
- DLE · Dole
Photographs
France in pictures
ParisPhoto: Yann Caradec from Paris, France · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
LyonPhoto: David.Monniaux · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
StrasbourgPhoto: Radek Kucharski · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
MarseilleMarseille-Saint-Charles station · Photo: Falk2 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
BordeauxPhoto: Patrick Despoix · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
NicePhoto: Moody Dreiza · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
Guides
Our guides in France
From the journal
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Visas and entry
Visas and entry
Entry rules depend on your passport and change often, so this page does not state them. Check the destination government's official immigration website, or ask our visa desk to check your case for you.
Plan it
Plan a trip to France
Tell us where in France, when and who is travelling, and a person puts the flights, the stays and the rest into one quote.