National name République Française
Area (including Corsica) 543,965 sq km/209,970 sq mi
Capital Paris
Major towns/cities Lyon, Lille, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Nantes, Strasbourg
Major ports Marseille, Nice, Le Havre
Physical features rivers Seine, Loire, Garonne, Rhône; mountain ranges Alps, Massif Central, Pyrenees, Jura, Vosges, Cévennes; Auvergne mountain region; Mont Blanc (4,810 m/15,781 ft); Ardennes forest; Riviera; caves of Dordogne with relics of early humans; the island of Corsica
Territories Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Réunion, St Pierre and Miquelon, Southern and Antarctic Territories, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna, Mayotte

5th century BC Celtic peoples invaded the region.
58-51 BC Romans conquered the Celts and formed province of Gaul.
5th century AD Gaul overrun by Franks and other Germanic tribes.
481-511 Frankish chief, Clovis, accepted Christianity and formed a kingdom based at Paris; under his successors, the Merovingian dynasty, the kingdom disintegrated.
751-68 Pepin the Short usurped the Frankish throne, reunified the kingdom, and founded the Carolingian dynasty.
768-814 Charlemagne conquered much of W Europe and created the Holy Roman Empire.
843 Treaty of Verdun divided the Holy Roman Empire into three, with the western portion corresponding to modern France.
9th-10th centuries Weak central government allowed the great nobles to become virtually independent.
987 Frankish crown passed to House of Capet; the Capets ruled the district around Paris, but were surrounded by vassals more powerful than themselves.
1180-1223 Philip II doubled the royal domain and tightened control over the nobles; the power of the Capets gradually extended with support of church and towns.
1328 When Charles IV died without an heir, Philip VI established the House of Valois.
1337 Start of the Hundred Years' War: Edward III of England disputed the Valois succession and claimed the throne. English won victories at Crécy 1346 and Agincourt 1415.
1429 Joan of Arc raised the siege of Orléans; Hundred Years' War ended with Charles VII expelling the English 1453.
1483 France annexed Burgundy and Brittany after Louis XI had restored royal power.
16th-17th centuries French kings fought the Habsburgs (of Holy Roman Empire and Spain) for supremacy in W Europe.
1562-98 Civil wars between nobles were fought under religious slogans, Catholic versus Protestant (or Huguenot).
1589-1610 Henry IV, first king of Bourbon dynasty, established peace, religious tolerance, and absolute monarchy.
1634-48 The ministers Richelieu and Mazarin, by intervention in the Thirty Years' War, secured Alsace and made France the leading power in Europe.
1701-14 War of the Spanish Succession: England, Austria, and allies checked expansionism of France under Louis XIV.
1756-63 Seven Years' War: France lost most of its colonies in India and Canada to Britain.

Address 5 rue de Garancière 75006 Paris    www.garanciere.com

 Number of dentists in the country 42 192

 Number of dental schools in France 16

 Exchange Visiting Program established with Quebec