Many of us began our travel life with a journey to Europe, and a journey to Europe without France is like a visit to a candy store without having a sweet bite. Its food, culture, and melodic countrysides are tops, of course, and then there's always Paris; as Hemingway said, "It stays with you forever."

• TOTAL AREA: 547,030 sq km

• LAND AREA: 545,630 sq km

• WATER AREA: 1,400 sq km

• POPULATION: 60,876,136 (July 2006 est.)

• RELIGIONS: Roman Catholic 83%-88%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 5%-10%, unaffiliated 4%

• LANGUAGES: French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish)

• GOVERNMENT TYPE: Republic

• CAPITAL CITY: Paris

• OFFICIAL CURRENCY: euro (EUR)

• TIME ZONE: GMT/UTC +1