Covering large parts of modern day France, Belgium, and northwest Germany, Gaul was inhabited by many Celtic tribes whom the Romans referred to as Gauls and who spoke the Gaulish language. On the lower Garonne the people spoke Aquitanian, an

archaic language related to Basque. The Celts founded cities such as Lutetia Parisiorum (Paris) and Burdigala (Bordeaux) while the Aquitanians founded Tolosa

(Toulouse).Long before any Roman settlements, Greek navigators settled in what would become Provence. The Phoceans founded important cities such as Massalia (Marseille) and

Nikaia (Nice), bringing them in to conflict with the neighboring Celts and Ligurians. The Phoceans were great navigators such as Pytheas who was born in Marseille. The

Celts themselves often fought with Aquitanians and Germans, and a Gaulish war band led by Brennus invaded Rome circa 393 or 388 BC following the Battle of the Allia. However Gaulish tactics would not evolve and the Romans would learn to counter

them, the Gauls would from then be defeated in battles such as Sentinum and Telamon.

When Carthaginian commander Hannibal Barca fought the Romans, he recruited several Gaulish mercenaries which fought on his side at Cannae. It was this Gaulish

participation that caused Provence to be annexed in 122 BC by the Roman Republic.[citation needed] Later, the Consul of Gaul—Julius Caesar—conquered all of Gaul.

Despite Gaulish opposition led by Vercingetorix, the Overking of the Warriors, Gauls succumbed to the Roman onslaught; the Gauls had some success at first at Gergovia, but were ultimately defeated at Alesia. The Romans founded cities such as Lugdunum

(Lyon) and Narbonensis

How kids dress in France

France is a country where freedom of thought and of religion are preserved, in virtue of the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. The Republic is based on the principle of laïcité (or "freedom of conscience," including the lack thereof) enforced by the 1880s Jules Ferry laws and the 1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State. Roman Catholicism, the religion of a majority of French people, is no longer considered a state religion, as it was before the 1789 Revolution and throughout the various, non-republican regimes of the 19th century (the Restoration, the July Monarchy and the Second Empire).

• The major landforms of France are: mountains, hills, plains and rivers.

France lies on the western edge of the European continent and shares borders with six neighbors: Belgium and Luxembourg to the north,

Germany and Switzerland to the east, Italy to the southeast and Spain to the southwest. Thus it forms a bridge linking northern and southern Europe and joining the countries in the central part of the continent to those in the east. Its extensive coastline gives France a natural outlet

toward America and Africa. The territory of France is compact and is often represented as a

hexagon of which each axis measures just under 1,000 km. With a total area of 550,000 sq. km., France ranks as a medium-sized country on the world scale. However, it is the largest country in

Western Europe, bigger than Spain, Germany or the United Kingdom. Because of its extensive network of modern communications, France is a real hub in Europe. The eastern reaches of the country abut the

great industrial and urban area stretching from the mouth of the Rhine to the plains of the Po River. It is also within easy reach of the

industrial centers of the United Kingdom and the other countries lying on the North Sea. To the south it is an integral part of the Mediterranean arc running from Catalonia to central Italy.

Date English name Local nameRemarks1 January New Year's DayJour de l'AnmoveableEasterPâques Sunday, date variesmoveableEaster MondayLundi de PâquesMonday after Easter1 MayLabour Day Fete du Travail8 MayV-E DayVictoire 1945End of World War 2moveableAscension DayAscensionThursday, 40 days after EastermoveablePentecostPentecôteSeventh Sunday after EastermoveableWhit MondayLundi de PentecôteMonday after Pentecost14 July Bastille Day Fête National National Day15 August Assumption of MaryAssomption1 November All Saints DayToussaint11 NovemberVeterans DayArmistice DayRemembrance Day Armistice 1918End of WW I

Bodies of water

• The major bodies of water that surround France are:

• The English Channel,

• The Atlantic Ocean,

• The Bay of Biscay,

• and The Mediterranean Sea