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French culture is most commonly associated with Paris , which is a center of fashion , cuisine , nontextual matter and architecture , but life out of doors of the City of Lights is very different and varies by region .
France does n’t just have refinement ; the word " culture " is in reality French . " ' Culture ' derives from the same French terminus , which in turning derives from the Latin ' colere , ' meaning to tend to the earth and mature , civilize and nurture , " Cristina De Rossi , an anthropologist at Barnet and Southgate College in London , assure Live Science .
Paris is seen as the center of French culture.
Historically , French culture was influenced by Celtic and Gallo - Roman cultures as well as the Franks , a Germanic tribe . France was initially defined as the western area of Germany known as Rhineland but it later came to refer to a territory that was known as Gaul during the Iron Age andAncient Romanera .
In the centuries that follow it was the home of some of the most hefty majestic family line of the medieval and early modern catamenia and went on to be the center of theEnlightenmentwith theFrench Revolution . The rise ofNapoleonsaw Gallic influence spread through Europe and beyond , becoming one of the major world powers through the 19th and 20th century , at the heart of the First and Second World Wars , all of which has shaped the France we know today .
Population of France
TheNational Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies(INSEE ) locate the population of France at 67.81 million hoi polloi as of January 1 , 2022 . Of that population , 87.8 % are believed to be French - born citizens with a further 4.8 % acquiring French citizenship after giving birth , according toStatista . The most common nationalities of foreign - born residents in France , according to 2020 number fromThe Institut National d’Études Démographiques(INED ) are Algerian , Maroc , Lusitanian , Tunisian , Italian , Turkish and Spanish .
The INED calculates that around 48.35 % of the universe of France is Male and 51.65 % is distaff , as of February 2021 . Just under a twenty-five percent of the universe is under the age of 20 and a little over 20 % is eld 65 and above .
The vast majority of Gallic citizenry exist in urban region , with Statista saying that 80.69 % of the population lived in cities as of 2020 . This is a big growth from the 61.88 % that survive in urban center back in 1960 .
The French have some of the most iconic and popular food in the world, from baguettes to coq au vin.
French language
French is the official language and the first language of 88 % of the universe , according to theBBC . It is the dominant language of France , but there are a number of variants based on area .
French is the 2d most widely learned foreign terminology in the domain , with almost 2 million students learning it as a second language across 50 nation , according to theFrench Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development . French is also the seventh most - spoken spoken communication in the creation accord toStatista , with around 267 million native speakers .
About 3 % of the universe speak German dialects , and there is a small group of Flemish speaker system in the northeastward , according to the BBC . Arabic is the third - largest nonage language .
Those living near the mete of Italy may speak Italian as a second language , and Basque is verbalise by citizenry living along the French - Spanish border .
Other idiom and terminology include Catalan , Breton ( the Celtic voice communication ) , Occitan dialects , and languages from the former French colonies , including Kabyle and Antillean Creole .
Religion in France
Catholicism is the predominant religion of France . In a sight by theFrench Institute of Public Opinion(IFOP ) , 64 % of the population ( about 41.6 million people ) identified themselves as Roman Catholic . The other religions in France let in Islam , Buddhism and Judaism . From 33 % to 42 % of people in France do not take to a religion , according to theCIA , although it target out that , " France maintain a custom of secularism and has not officially garner data on religious affiliation since the 1872 national nosecount , which complicates assessments of France ’s religious composition . "
French values
" From around the sixteenth one C , in Europe , culture became a terminal figure for the cultivation of the mind , the intellect , knowledge , eruditeness , creative faculties and acceptable ways of behaving , " say De Rossi . The French embrace style and worldliness and take pridefulness in the fact that even their public spaces strike a royal quality .
The French consider inégalité , which think equality , and is part of the country ’s catchword : " Liberté , Egalité , Fraternité . " Many say they place a high importance on equivalence than liberty and fraternity , the other two words in the motto .
The French embody romance and passionateness , and there is an open attitude toward sexuality outside of marriage , according to a sketch by France ’s National Research Agency on AIDS cite by " Time . " Even the country ’s top politicians have been known to carry out extracurricular affairs without make an effort to conceal them . As a reflection of the country ’s secular nature , it is not uncommon for children are born to single couples .
In addition to traditional marriage , French couples also have the choice of getting apacte civil de solidarité(PACS ) . This is a union that has many of the same benefits of marriage , like revenue enhancement break , but can be dissolved with a notice or by marrying someone else or alternatively of a divorcement . Two - thirds as many Gallic couples are in a PACS as are married , according to " The Economist . "
French food
Food and wine are central to aliveness at all socioeconomic levels , and much socialising is done around protracted dinner in French households .
While cooking styles have change to stress lighter fare , many still associate French cookery with grievous sauces and complicated preparation . Some classic Gallic ravisher include boeuf bourguignon — a lather made of kick braised in crimson vino , beef broth and season with garlic , onion and mushrooms — and coq au vin , a beauty made with chicken , Burgundy wine-colored , lardons ( small strips or cubes of pork barrel fat ) , button mushrooms , onionsand optional Allium sativum .
Gallic food is also associate worldwide with haute cuisine ( which read to " high preparation " ) , but its crime syndicate repast custom is equally authoritative . " Authentic French cuisine represent by the sept repast belongs to the people , and rhetorically to the provinces . Nostalgic ' cuisine Diamond State grandmère ' competition Gallic haute cuisine for the crown of identifiably French food , " save Maryann Tebben , professor of linguistic communication and literature at Bard College , in her Koran " Savoir - Faire : A story of Food in France " ( Reaktion Books , 2020 ) .
French Fry , interestingly enough , may not be Gallic . According to " National Geographic , " they may in reality be from Spain or Belgium . The reason why Americans call deep-fried potatoes Gallic fries is because Thomas Jefferson discovered the kickshaw while in France while serving there as American Minister from 1784 to 1789 . He brought the estimation back to the States .
French fashion
Paris is known as the home to many high - end style house , such as Dior , Hermes , Louis Vuitton and Chanel . Many French people dress in a sophisticated , professional and fashionable stylus , but it is not overly finical . Typical outfits include nice frock , suit , recollective coat , scarves and berets .
The term " haute couture " is associate with Gallic fashion and loosely entail fancier garments that are handmade or made to order . In France , the term is protect by law and is defined by the Paris Chamber of Commerce , harmonize to Eva Domjian , a London - based manner writer and editor , write on " Dressful . " Domjian writes on her blog :
" To pull in the right to call itself a couture house and to apply the term haute couture in its advertising and any other way , a fashion house must follow these rules :
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 notable artists , include Claude Monet , Edgar Degas and Camille Pissarro , seek inspiration in Paris , and they gave rise to the Impressionism movement . This was follow by the Art Nouveau drive . " Based on asymmetrical , constituent forms and influenced by Japanese art , the Art Nouveau style emerges in painting and the lifelike art as well as in computer architecture and the blueprint of everyday objective , " according toThe Metropolitan Museum of Art .
TheLouvre Museumin Paris is among the world ’s largest museums and is dwelling house to many famous whole caboodle of art , include the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo . Paris is also home to some over-the-top examples of architecture , such as the Louvre itself , theEiffel Towerand more .
Holidays and celebrations
The French keep the traditional Christian vacation of Christmas and Easter . They distinguish May Day , also know 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 storm by revolutionaries to commence the French Revolution .
Additional reporting by Alina Bradford , Live Science Contributor .
Additional resources and reading:
For more about the French Revolution and , more specifically , the period that immediately come after you should take about theReign of Terrorfrom 1793 to 1794 .
One of the common questions about Gallic history isdid Marie Antoinette really say ' let them eat cake'?We can give you the answer .
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