The Eiffel Tower is perhaps one of the most famous symbols of this country's City of Lights. Not only is the bustling city there, but the gently rolling plains and extraordinary mountain ranges also offer breathtaking views. GeographyFrance is located in Western Europe and is bordered by Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium. The Bay of Biscay, the English Channel and the Mediterranean Sea also border it. Because these bodies of water border France, the climate along the coast features mild winters and warm summers, while the rest of the country experiences generally cool winters and mild summers. The south, near the Mediterranean, also attracts forest fires. Other natural hazards include floods, avalanches, windstorms and droughts (“France”, 2). With the exception of the northernmost part of the country, France can be described as having four river basins and a plateau ("France", 1). This means that the majority of France has very calm terrain consisting mainly of flat plains or gently rolling hills. The rest of the country consists of the Pyrenees mountains to the south and the Alps to the east. Paris, the capital of France, is home to approximately 10,410,000 citizens (“France”, 1). The country's other major cities are Lyon, Nice, Lille, Nantes, Strasbourg and Bordeaux. Just as the United States is divided into fifty states, France is divided into twenty-seven regions (“France”, 2). Each of these regions has its own individual contribution to the country. One of these major contributions includes agriculture. After the United States, France is the world's leading agricultural producer. In fact, France accounts for around a third of all agricultural land in the European Union...... middle of paper ......tion here. The sacred ground of the Celts was located here, the Romans built a temple to worship Jupiter, a Christian basilica was built in the 6th century, and a Romanesque church was built before construction of Notre-Dame began. In 1163, Mgr Maurice de Sully undertook the construction of Notre-Dame. He wanted the cathedral to reflect Paris's status as the capital of France and to be built in the new Gothic style. It was not until 1345 that the cathedral was finally completed. However, during the Revolution, a large part of the cathedral was damaged. Finally, in the 19th century, the cathedral was restored, thanks to author Victor Hugo's book Notre Dame de Paris, which made it clear that it deserved to be repaired ("Notre Dame").LiteratureDue to the Roman occupation of Western Europe, the French were one of the five main Romance languages ​​to develop from Vulgar Latin.