MedicoPlexus
Social Medicine
Demographic of France
Raghib Siddiqui
Group 19E. 2nd Year Medicine
2019
History:
France is an independent nation in Western Europe and the center of a large overseas administration. It is the third-largest European nation (after Russia and Ukraine).
In ancient times France was part of the Celtic territory known as Gaul or Gallia. Its present name is derived from the Latin term Francia, meaning “country of the Franks,” by Germanic people who conquered the area during the 5th century, at the time of the fall of the Western Roman Empire. It became a separate country in the 9th century.
Today, the term metropolitan France refers to the mainland departments and Corsica, a large island located in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Italy that has been a part of France since 1768.
French Culture: Customs and Traditions
Languages
French is the official language and the first language of 88 percent of the population. It is the dominant language of the country’s 70 million residents, but there are a number of variants based on region. About 3 percent of the population speaks German dialects, and there is a small group of Flemish speakers in the northeast. Arabic is the third-largest minority language.
Other dialects and languages include Catalan, Breton (the Celtic language), Occitan dialects, and languages from the former French colonies, including Kabyle and Antillean Creole.
Religion
Catholicism is the predominant religion of France. The other religions in France include Islam, Buddhism and Judaism. From 23 to 28 percent of people in France do not subscribe to a religion.
French art
Art is everywhere in France — particularly in Paris and other major cities — and Gothic, Romanesque Rococo and Neoclassic influences can be seen in many churches and other public buildings.
Many of history’s most renowned artists, including Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Camille Pissarro, sought inspiration in Paris, and they gave rise to the Impressionism movement.
The Louvre Museum in Paris is among the world’s largest museums and is home to many famous works of art, including the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo.
Holidays and celebrations
The French celebrate the traditional Christian holidays of Christmas and Easter. They mark May Day, also known as Labor Day, on May 1. Victory in Europe Day on May 8 commemorates the end of hostilities in Europe in World War II. Bastille Day is celebrated on July 14. This is the day the Bastille fortress in Paris was stormed by revolutionaries to start the French Revolution.
Open resource