France, in Western Europe, is a beautiful country known for dishes in the whole world.
France can be divided into eight or natural regions, but we do not need to go into quite so much detail, take a look at the map of France. You will notice that to the north-east there is a small country called Luxembourg, which adjoins Belgium. Find the place where the boundaries of the three countries meet and mark it with a pencil point. Next, in the South-west of France, find the port of Bordeaux and mark that in the same way. Us your ruler and join the two points with a lightly drawn pencil line.
If you now examine the map, after looking at the key, you will find that, roughly speaking, all the land to the north and west of your line is low lying, while all that to the south and east is either hilly or mountainous. The west and the North of France form the part of North European plain; and the Southern Europe. Rather more than half of France is lowland country under 180 metres above sea-level, and nearly all of this area is very fertile.
The North-west coast of France is on the English Channel, while the west and south-west face the Atlantic Ocean. The much shorter south coast is on the Mediterranean, and except for the Rhone valley is cut off from the rest of the country by beautiful mountains. The greater part of France has what is called an insular climate, which means that the summers are cool, with temperatures seldom rising much above 24 degree Celsius, and the winters are mild, averaging perhaps 4 degree Celsius, but sometimes falling to below freezing point, which is ) degree Celsius. Rainfall may average from 50 to 125 degree centimetres, and rain may fall at any time of the year. The south coast has a Mediterranean climate, that is hot and dry summers and mild winters, during which the greater part of the rainfall occurs. This coast of France attracts many visitors on account of its pleasant climate. The mountains on the eastern border of France have a continental climate, namely fairly hot summers and cold winters. During the winters the land here is for the most part covered in snow.
The chief physical feature in France which also add beauty to France is the fine system of rivers with which the nature has endowed her. Many of these are navigable for long distances from the coast. The principal rivers are the Rhone and Saone, the latter joining the Rhone then flows down the Rhone at the great industrial city of Lyon. The Rhone then flows down the Rhone valley to enter the Mediterranean through a delta west of Marseilles. To the west are the rivers Garonne and Dordogne, which both empty into the Gironde estuary by Bordeaux. Farther north the Loire and its many tributaries, passing through Nantes, enter the Atlantic at St Nazaire.
East of this is Seine, the river on which Paris stands. This enters the English Channel through the great port of Le Harve, and Rouen, several kilometres from its mouth, is also emptying into the English Channel.
The whole of the magnificent system of French waterways is also connected to that of Belgium and Germany.
In south of France and in the Rhone valley the climate favours the growth of mulberry trees, the leaves of the leaves of which are the favourite food of the silkworm.
Lyon, at the head of the Rhone valley, is the largest silk-spinning town in the world, and uses not only the local supply of cocoons but also imports large quantities from China and Japan. French silk is the best in the world for fineness of texture and for the quality of its many colourings.
Facing the Atlantic as she does, and with her coastal peoples trained in the ways of the sea, France was very favourably placed for overseas expansion when the old trade routes to the East were closed and the New world discovered.