France

Bordered by seas and mountains and containing the precious world capital of Paris, France has diverse geography but some soil that grows excellent champagne and wine. Increasingly important in the Middle Ages, by the Renaissance period France began creating what became the world’s second-largest global empire. The later history of the French Kings and the French Revolution paved the way for the Republic and the wars of the 19th and 20th centuries which have each left indelible marks upon this proud nation.