CultureInformation on France

France is a country with a little over sixty million people; it is divided up into ninety-six departments. Each department has its own name and number. For example, I live in the Bas-Rhin, department number sixty-seven. All car license plates end with the department number where they are registered Our car, registered in the Bas-Rhin, has a license plate that ends with 67.

The official language of France is French. There are many other languages spoken, as France is very much of a melting pot with people from all over the world. France also has regions where local languages are spoken: Alsatian in Alsace, Breton in Brittany, Corsican in Corsica, and Euskara in Basque country.

The French flag, referred to as the Le Drapeau Tricolore (The Three Colors Flag), is blue, white and red. The blue was the color of the republican army uniform just after the French revolution, white the color of French royalty, and red the color of the royal army uniform before the French revolution.

The French national anthem is the "La Marseilles," a rousing song that calls all citizens to arms to fight the tyranny at France's doorstep, then to water France's fields with enemy blood.