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• 
  

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  Ain
  Ain (French pronunciation: [ɛ̃]; Arpitan: En) is a department named after the Ain River on the eastern edge of France. Being part of the region Rhône-Alpes and bordered by the rivers Saône and Rhône, the department of Ain enjoys a privileged geographic situation. It has an excellent transport network (TGV, highways) and benefits from the proximity to the international airports of Lyon and Geneva.
  Ain is composed of four geographically different areas (Bresse, Dombes, Bugey and Pays de Gex) which – each with its own characteristics – contribute to the diversity and the dynamic economic development of the department. In the Bresse agriculture and agro-industry are dominated by the cultivation of cereals, cattle breeding, milk and cheese production as well as poultry farming. In the Dombes, pisciculture assumes greater importance as does viticulture in the Bugey. The high diversification of the department's industry is accompanied by a strong presence of the plastics sector in and around Oyonnax (so-called "Plastics Valley").
  
  wn.com/Ain
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  Aisne
  Aisne (French pronunciation: [ɛːn]) is a department in the northern part of France, named after a river.
  Aisne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Île-de-France, Picardie, and Champagne.
  Most of the old growth forests in the area were destroyed during battles in World War I. The French offensive against the Chemin des Dames in spring 1917 is sometimes referred to as the Second Battle of the Aisne.
  Aisne borders the Ardennes Forest and Belgium to the northeast. The Aisne River crosses the area from east to west, where it joins the Oise River. The Marne forms part of the southern boundary of the department with the department of Seine-et-Marne. The southern part of the department is the geographical region known as la Brie poilleuse, a drier plateau known for its dairy products and Brie cheese.
  The landscape is dominated by masses of rock which often have steep flanks. These rocks appear all over the region, but the most impressive examples are at Laon and the Chemin des Dames ridge.
  
  wn.com/Aisne
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  Algeria
  Coordinates: 28°N 2°E / 28°N 2°E / 28; 2
  Algeria ⁱ/ælˈdʒɪəriə/ (Arabic: الجزائر‎, al-Jazā'ir; Berber: ⴷⵣⴰⵢⴻⵔ Dzayer), officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria (الجمهورية الجزائرية الديمقراطية الشعبية, al-Jumhūriyyah al-Jazāʾiriyyah ad-Dīmuqrāṭiyyah ash-Shaʿbiyyah), also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a large country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.
  When referring to its land area, Algeria is the largest country in Africa, Maghreb and the Arab World. It is also the largest of the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea; it is also the tenth-largest country in the world. The country is bordered in the northeast by Tunisia, in the east by Libya, in the west by Morocco, in the southwest by Western Sahara, Mauritania, and Mali, in the southeast by Niger, and in the north by the Mediterranean Sea. Its size is almost 2,400,000 square kilometres (926,645 sq mi) with an estimated population of 37.1 million as of 2012. Algeria is a member of the African Union, the Arab League, OPEC and the United Nations. The country is also a founding member of the Arab Maghreb Union.
  
  wn.com/Algeria
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  Allier
  Allier (French pronunciation: [a.lje]; Occitan: Alèir) is a department in central France named after the river Allier.
  Allier is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Auvergne and Bourbonnais.
  In 1940, the government of Marshal Philippe Pétain chose the town of Vichy as its capital. Vichy also became the department's second sub-prefecture in 1940, since the department now found itself split by the demarcation line between the occupied and (relatively, at least initially) free zones of France.
  The department belongs to the region Auvergne and is surrounded by the following French departments: Cher, Nièvre, Saône-et-Loire, Loire, Puy-de-Dôme, and Creuse.
  The following rivers run through Allier:
  Allier is the most productive agricultural area of the Auvergne. Vichy has long been known for its water, which is exported worldwide.
  Montluçon, Vichy, and Moulins are the principal cities. The rest of the department consists of smaller towns, mostly along the rivers. In general, the department is sparsely populated. The population increased until the end of the 19th century because of the growth of industry in Montluçon and Moulins and development of the thermal resources at Vichy. At that time the department had over 420,000 inhabitants. After the losses of World War I, the population stagnated, with a small increase in the 1960s. Since then, it has decreased slightly from 386,533 in 1968 to 344,721 in 1999.
  
  wn.com/Allier
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  Alpes-Maritimes
  Alpes-Maritimes (French pronunciation: [alp.ma.ʁi.tim]; Occitan: Aups Maritims) is a department in the extreme southeast corner of France.
  Alpes Maritimae was created by Octavian as a Roman military district in 14 BC, and became a full Roman province in the middle of the 1st century with its capital first at Cemenelum (today Cimiez, a neighbourghood in Nice) and subsequently at Embrun. At its greatest extent in AD 297, the province reached north to Digne and Briançon.
  A first French département of Alpes-Maritimes existed in the same area from 1793 to 1814. Its boundaries differed from those of the modern department, however. In 1793 Alpes-Maritimes included Monaco and San Remo, but not Grasse which was then part of the départment of Var.
  The department was reconstituted in 1860 when the county of Nice was annexed to France. It included the county of Nice as well as the previously (at least nominally) independent towns of Menton and Roquebrune, and the arrondissement of Grasse in the department of Var.
  
  wn.com/Alpes-Maritimes
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  Alsace
  Alsace (French: Alsace [alzas]; Alsatian: Elsàss [ˈɛlsɑs]; German: Elsass, pre-1996: Elsaß, IPA: [ˈɛlzas]; Latin: Alsatia) is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area (8,280 km²), and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km² (total population in 2006: 1,815,488; 1 January 2008 estimate: 1,836,000). Alsace is located on France's eastern border and on the west bank of the upper Rhine adjacent to Germany and Switzerland. The political, economic and cultural capital as well as largest city of Alsace is Strasbourg. Because that city is the seat of dozens of international organizations and bodies, Alsace is politically one of the most important regions in the European Union.
  The name "Alsace" can be traced back to the Old High German Ali-saz or Elisaz, meaning "foreign domain". An alternative explanation derives it from a Germanic Ell-sass, meaning "seated on the Ill", a river in Alsace. The region was historically part of the Holy Roman Empire. It was gradually annexed by France in the 17th century under kings Louis XIII and Louis XIV and made one of the provinces of France. Alsace is frequently mentioned in conjunction with Lorraine, because German possession of parts of these two régions (as the imperial province Alsace-Lorraine, 1871–1918) was contested in the 19th and 20th centuries, during which Alsace changed hands four times between France and Germany in 75 years.
  
  wn.com/Alsace
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  Aquitaine
  Aquitaine (French pronunciation: [a.ki.tɛn], English /ˌækwɪˈteɪn/; Occitan: Aquitània; Basque: Akitania), archaic Guyenne/Guienne (Occitan: Guiana), is one of the 27 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. It is composed of the 5 departments of Dordogne, Lot et Garonne, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes and Gironde. In the Middle Ages Aquitaine was a kingdom and a duchy, whose boundaries fluctuated considerably.
  There are traces of human settlement by prehistoric peoples, especially in the Périgord, but the earliest attested inhabitants in the south-west were the Aquitani, who were not proper Celtic people, but more akin to the Iberians (see Gallia Aquitania). Although a number of different languages and dialects were in use in the area during ancient times, it is most likely that the prevailing language of Aquitaine during the late pre-historic to Roman period was an early form of the Basque language. This has been demonstrated by various Aquitanian names and words that were recorded by the Romans, and which are currently easily readable as Basque. Whether this Aquitanian language (Proto-Basque) was a remnant of a Vasconic language group that once extended much farther, or whether it was generally limited to the Aquitaine/Basque region is not currently known. One reason the language of Aquitaine is important is because Basque is the last surviving non-Indo-European language in western Europe and it has had some effect on the languages around it, including Spanish and, to a lesser extent, French.
  
  wn.com/Aquitaine
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  Ardèche
  Ardèche (French pronunciation: [aʁ.dɛʃ]; Occitan and Arpitan: Ardecha) is a department in south-central France named after the Ardèche River.
  The area has been inhabited by humans at least since the Upper Paleolithic, as attested by the famous cave paintings at Chauvet Pont d'Arc. The plateau of the Ardeche River has extensive standing stones (dolmens and menhirs), erected thousands of years ago.^{[citation needed]} The river is the largest natural canyon in Europe and the caves that dot the cliffs (which go as high as 300 m (1,000 feet) are known for signs of prehistoric inhabitants (arrowheads and flint knives are often found).
  The Vivarais, as the Ardèche is still called, takes its name and coat-of-arms from Viviers, which was the capital of the Gaulish tribe of Helvii, part of Gallia Narbonensis, after the destruction of their previous capital at Alba-la-Romaine. Saint Andéol, a disciple of St Polycarp, is supposed to have evangelized the Vivarais during the reign of Emperor Septimius Severus, and was supposedly martyred in 208. (Legend tells of Andéol's burial by Amycia Eucheria Tullia.) Auxonius, in 430, transferred the see to Viviers as a result of the problems suffered at its previous site in Alba Augusta.
  
  wn.com/Ardèche
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  Ariège
  Ariège (French pronunciation: [aʁjɛʒ]; Occitan: Arièja) is a department in southwestern France named after the Ariège River.
  Ariège is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from the counties of Foix and Couserans.
  Foix is the administrative capital of the Ariège. It is an ancient medieval town with a fortress Chateau de Foix perched on a hill overlooking it. The fortress has been attacked many times without capture, including an attempt by Simon de Montfort. It has also been used as a prison, and the names of English Prisoners of War can still be seen on the cell walls. Another famous chateau in the Ariège is Montségur, located on a rocky outcrop at a height of 1200 metres (3,900 ft). During the Albigensian Crusade and siege of 1244 AD the chateau was largely destroyed, with more than two hundred Cathar priests burnt at the stake as heretics. The chateau was gradually rebuilt by Royalists over a period of the next three hundred years.
  
  wn.com/Ariège
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  Aube
  Aube (French pronunciation: [ob]) is a department in the northeastern part of France named after the Aube River. In 1995, its population was 293,100 inhabitants.
  Aube is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Champagne.
  The territory making up Aube was first attached to France in 843, following the Treaty of Verdun.
  After the allied victory over Napoleon at Waterloo the department was occupied by Russian troops between June 1815 and November 1818.
  In 1911, following the revolt of the Champagne producers, a series of major riots erupted in Aube. Dozens of serious injuries resulted.
  In 1919, by a new decree, Aube wine producers were authorized to produce champagne.
  Aube is perhaps best known for the 1932 visit of the late Turkish president Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who signed a friendship treaty with France there on 4 July 1938.
  The department is part of the current region of Champagne-Ardenne. It is surrounded by the departments of Marne, Haute-Marne, Côte-d'Or, Yonne, and Seine-et-Marne.
  
  wn.com/Aube
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  Aude
  Aude (French pronunciation: [od]; Occitan: Aude) is a department in south-central France named after the river Aude. The local council also calls the department "Cathar Country".
  Aude is also a frequent feminine French given name in Francophone countries, deriving initially from Aude or Oda, a wife of Bertrand, Duke of Aquitaine, and mother of Saint Hubertus's brother Eudo. Aude was the name of Roland's fiancée in the chansons de gestes.
  Human traces have been found in the department from 1,500,000 years BCE in the form of hammers and worked tools on the hill of Grazailles at Carcassonne. The most interesting discovery, however, is that of the skull of ‘Tautavel Man’ made by Henry de Lumley in the commune of Tautavel in the Pyrénées-Orientales. It is the oldest skull known in Europe. It dates from about 450,000 years BCE. It is likely that Tautavel Man lived in all of this region.
  The Romans, led by the consul-general Domitius Ahenobarbus, installed themselves first of all at Narbonne in 118 BCE on the oppidum of Montlaurès, which became the provincial capital and a very active mercantile port. The position was strategically important since it stood at the cross roads of two Roman roads, the Via Aquitania and the Via Domitia, as well as by the sea and near the mouth of the River Aude. Carcassonne became Latin in 30 BCE with the creation of numerous grain farms. For almost two centuries, the Aude enjoyed peace and strong economic growth.
  
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  Auvergne (region)
  Auvergne (French pronunciation: [ovɛʁɲ]; Occitan: Auvèrnhe / Auvèrnha) is one of the 27 administrative regions of France. It comprises the 4 departments of Allier, Puy de Dome, Cantal and Haute Loire.
  The current administrative region of Auvergne is larger than the historical province of Auvergne, and includes provinces and areas that historically were not part of Auvergne. The Auvergne region is composed of the following old provinces:
  Velay, Gévaudan, and Vivarais are often considered to be sub-provinces of the old Languedoc province. Forez is also often considered to be a sub-province of Lyonnais province. Therefore, the modern region of Auvergne is composed of the provinces of Auvergne, major part of Bourbonnais, and parts of Languedoc and Lyonnais.
  The 2002 award-winning film, To Be and to Have (Être et avoir), documents one year in the life of a one-teacher school in rural Saint-Étienne-sur-Usson, Puy-de-Dôme, Auvergne.
  The region contains many volcanoes, although the last confirmed eruption was around 6,000 years ago. They began forming some 70,000 years ago, and most have eroded away leaving plugs of unerupted hardened magma that form rounded hilltops known as puys.
  
  wn.com/Auvergne_(region)
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  Aveyron
  Aveyron (French pronunciation: [avɛʁɔ̃]; Occitan: Avairon [avajˈɾu]) is a département in southern France named after the Aveyron River.
  Aveyron is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790.
  The first known historical inhabitants of the region were the Rutenii tribe, but the area was inhabited previously to this, boasting many prehistoric ruins.
  During the medieval and early modern periods, and until the 1790s, the territory covered by Aveyron was a province known as Rouergue.
  In 1817, a local prosecutor Antoine Bernardin Fualdès was assassinated. The sordid circumstances of his death, following which his body was found floating in the Aveyron River, led to the matter becoming publicised as a cause célèbre. Recent studies have indicated that he met his end on the initiative of a right wing royalist organisation known as the Chevaliers de la Foi (Knights of the Faith).
  The department is part of the current Midi-Pyrénées region. It is surrounded by the départements of Tarn, Tarn-et-Garonne, Lot, Hérault, Gard, Lozère, and Cantal.
  
  wn.com/Aveyron
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  Barcelona
  Barcelona (English /bɑrsɨˈloʊnə/, Catalan: [bərsəˈɫonə], Spanish: [barθeˈlona]) is the capital of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain, after Madrid, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of 101.4 km² (39 sq mi). The urban area of Barcelona extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of between 4,200,000 and 4,500,000 within an area of 803 km² (310 sq mi), being the sixth-most populous urban area in the European Union after Paris, London, the Ruhr, Madrid and Milan. About five million people live in the Barcelona metropolitan area. It is also Europe's largest metropolis on the Mediterranean Sea. It is the main component of an administrative area of Greater Barcelona, with a population of 3,218,071 in an area of 636 km² (density 5,060 hab/km²). It is located on the Mediterranean coast between the mouths of the rivers Llobregat and Besòs and is bounded to the west by the Serra de Collserola ridge (512 m/1,680 ft).
  Founded as a Roman city, Barcelona became the capital of the County of Barcelona. After merging with the Kingdom of Aragon, Barcelona became one of the most important cities of the Crown of Aragon. Besieged several times during its history, Barcelona has a rich cultural heritage and is today an important cultural centre and a major tourist destination. Particularly renowned are the architectural works of Antoni Gaudí and Lluís Domènech i Montaner, which have been designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The headquarters of the Union for the Mediterranean is located in Barcelona. The city is known for hosting the 1992 Summer Olympics as well as world-class conferences and expositions, including the 1888 Exposición Universal de Barcelona, the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition (Expo 1929), the 2004 Universal Forum of Cultures, and the 2004 World Urban Forum.
  
  wn.com/Barcelona
• 
  Bas-Rhin
  Bas-Rhin (French pronunciation: [bɑ.ʁɛ̃]; Alsatian: Unterelsàss) is a department of France. The name means "Lower Rhine". It is the more populous and densely populated of the two departments of the Alsace region, with 1,079,013 inhabitants in 2006.
  Bas-Rhin is one of the original 83 departments created on 4 March 1790, during the French Revolution.
  In the mid-1790s, following the French occupation of the entire left bank of the Rhine, the northern boundary of the department was extended north beyond the Lauter to the Queich river to include the areas of Annweiler am Trifels, Landau in der Pfalz, Bad Bergzabern, and Wörth am Rhein. However, upon Napoleon's second defeat in 1815, the Congress of Vienna reassigned the areas north of the Lauter to Bavaria; and those territories are now presently located in the neighbouring German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
  The department has twice been incorporated into Germany: from 1871 (after France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War) until the end of World War I in 1918, and again briefly during World War II (from 1940 to 1945) during the German occupation of France.
  
  wn.com/Bas-Rhin
• Bishop of Maguelonne
  The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Montpellier is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church in south-western France. It was probably created in the 3rd century AD.^{[citation needed]} The current Archbishop is Pierre-Marie Carré; the immediate past Archbishop Emeritus is Guy Marie Alexandre Thomazeau. On September 16, 2002, as part of the reshuffling of the map of the French ecclesiastical provinces, the diocese of Montpellier (Lodève, Béziers, Agde, and Saint-Pons-de-Thomières) ceased to be a suffragan of Avignon and was elevated to archdiocese and metropolitan of a new ecclesiastical province, with the dioceses of Carcassonne, Mende, Nimes (Uzès and Alès) and Perpignan-Elne as suffragans.
  When the Concordat of 1802 reestablished this diocese, it accorded to it also the département of Tarn, which was detached from it in 1822 by the creation of the Archdiocese of Albi; and from 1802 to 1822, Montpellier was a suffragan of Toulouse. A Papal Brief of 16 June 1877, authorized the bishops of Montpellier to style themselves bishops of Montpellier, Béziers, Agde, Lodève and Saint-Pons, in memory of the different dioceses united in the present diocese of Montpellier.
  
  wn.com/Bishop_of_Maguelonne
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  Bologna university
  The Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna (Italian: Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a university located in Bologna, Italy founded in 1088. As of 2000 the University's motto is Alma mater studiorum (Latin for "nourishing mother of studies") The University has about 100,000 students in its 23 schools. It has branch centers in Imola, Ravenna, Forlì, Cesena and Rimini and a branch center abroad in Buenos Aires. Moreover, it has a school of excellence named Collegio Superiore di Bologna.
  The date of its founding is uncertain, but believed by most accounts to have been 1088.. The university received a charter from Frederick I Barbarossa in 1158, but in the 19th century, a committee of historians led by Giosuè Carducci traced the founding of the University back to 1088, which would make it one of the oldest universities in the world.
  
  wn.com/Bologna_university
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  Bouches-du-Rhône
  Bouches-du-Rhône (French pronunciation: [buʃ.dy.ʁon]; Occitan: Bocas de Ròse, lit. "Mouths of the Rhône") is a department in the south of France named after the mouth of the Rhône River. It is the most populous department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Its INSEE and postal code is 13.
  Bouches-du-Rhône is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from the western part of the former province of Provence and the principalities of Orange, Martigues, and Lambesc. It lost part of its territory in 1793, including Orange and Apt, when the Vaucluse department was created.
  Following its creation, the department was immediately strongly and actively supportive of the French Revolution, containing 90 "Jacobin Clubs" by 1794. It was also noteworthy that more than 50% of the priests in the department accepted the Civil Constitution of the Clergy which in effect subordinated the church to the government. During the ascendancy of the Communist Party in the twentieth century election results indicated that support for left-wing politics remained relatively strong in the department, and especially in the northern suburbs of Marseille.
  
  wn.com/Bouches-du-Rhône
• 
  Brazil
  Brazil ⁱ/brəˈzɪl/ (Portuguese: Brasil, IPA: [bɾaˈziw]), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: República Federativa do Brasil,  listen (help·info)), is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people. It is the only Portuguese-speaking country in the Americas and the largest lusophone country in the world.
  Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of 7,491 km (4,655 mi). It is bordered on the north by Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and the French overseas region of French Guiana; on the northwest by Colombia; on the west by Bolivia and Peru; on the southwest by Argentina and Paraguay and on the south by Uruguay. Numerous archipelagos form part of Brazilian territory, such as Fernando de Noronha, Rocas Atoll, Saint Peter and Paul Rocks, and Trindade and Martim Vaz. It borders all other South American countries except Ecuador and Chile.
  Brazil was a colony of Portugal from the landing of Pedro Álvares Cabral in 1500 until 1815, when it was elevated to the rank of kingdom and the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves was formed. The colonial bond was in fact broken in 1808, when the capital of the Portuguese colonial empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, after Napoleon invaded Portugal.Independence was achieved in 1822 with the formation of the Empire of Brazil, a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system. The country became a presidential republic in 1889, when a military coup d'état proclaimed the Republic, although the bicameral legislature, now called Congress, dates back to the ratification of the first constitution in 1824. Its current Constitution, formulated in 1988, defines Brazil as a Federal Republic. The Federation is formed by the union of the Federal District, the 26 States, and the 5,564 Municipalities.
  
  wn.com/Brazil
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  Brighton
  Coordinates: 50°50′35″N 0°07′53″W / 50.842941°N 0.1313120°W / 50.842941; -0.1313120
  Brighton ⁱ/ˈbraɪtən/ is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove (formed from the previous towns of Brighton, Hove, Portslade and several other villages) in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain. For administrative purposes, Brighton and Hove is not part of the non-metropolitan county of East Sussex, but remains part of the ceremonial county of East Sussex, within the historic county of Sussex.
  The ancient settlement of Brighthelmstone dates from before Domesday Book (1086), but it emerged as a health resort featuring sea bathing during the 18th century and became a destination for day-trippers from London after the arrival of the railway in 1841. Brighton experienced rapid population growth, reaching a peak of over 160,000 by 1961. Modern Brighton forms part of the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation stretching along the coast, with a population of around 480,000.
  Brighton has two universities and a medical school (which is operated jointly by both universities).
  
  wn.com/Brighton
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  Calvados
  The French department of Calvados (pronounced: [kal.va.dos]) is part of the region of Basse-Normandie in Normandy. It takes its name from a cluster of rocks off the English Channel coast. The pronunciation varies: in French the final 's' is not mute; in English usually Calvadoss with stress on the first syllable.
  Calvados is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from a part of the former province of Normandy. The name "Orne inférieure" was originally proposed for the department, but it was ultimately decided to call the area Calvados.
  Its etymology is most likely derived from the Salvador, a ship from the Spanish Armada that sank by the rocks near Arromanches-les-bains in 1588. However, others insist that the name Calvados was derived from calva dorsa, meaning bare backs, in reference to two sparsely vegetated rocks off its shore.
  After the allied victory at Waterloo the department was occupied by Prussian troops between June 1815 and November 1818.
  
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  Cantal
  Cantal (French pronunciation: [kɑ̃.tal]; Occitan: Cantal, Cantau, Chantal, Chantau) is a department in south-central France. It is named after the Cantal mountain range, a group of extinct, eroded volcanic peaks, which covers much of the department. Residents are known as Cantaliens or Cantalous.
  Cantal is part of the current region of Auvergne. It borders the departments of Puy-de-Dôme, Haute-Loire, Aveyron, Lot, Lozère, and Corrèze. Its principal towns are Aurillac, Saint-Flour, and Mauriac. The highest point in Cantal is Le Plomb du Cantal at 1858 metres.
  Cantal remains, with Lozère and Creuse, one of the most sparsely populated and geographically isolated French departments. Aurillac is the farthest removed departmental capital from a major motorway.
  Cantal is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from a part of the former province of Auvergne, called Haute-Auvergne.
  The Occitan language was historically dominant in Cantal.
  
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  Catalonia
  Catalonia (English /kætəˈloʊniə/, /kætəˈloʊnjə/; Catalan: Catalunya [kətəˈɫuɲə] or [kataˈluɲa]; Spanish: Cataluña [kataˈluɲa]; Occitan: Catalonha [kataˈluɲɔ]) is an autonomous region of Spain in the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula, with the official status of a "nationality". Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona which is the second largest Spanish city by population after Madrid. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an official population of 7,535,251. Its borders essentially reflect those of the former Principality of Catalonia. It borders France and Andorra to the north, Aragon to the west, the Valencian Community to the south, and the Mediterranean Sea to the east (580 km coastline). The official languages are Catalan, Spanish and Aranese (Occitan).
  The name Catalunya (Catalonia) began to be used in the late 11th century in reference to the group of counties that comprised the Marca Hispanica. The origin of the term is subject to diverse interpretations. A theory suggests that Catalunya derives from the term "Land of Castles", having evolved from the term castlà, the ruler of a castle (see castellan). This theory therefore suggests that the names Castile and Catalonia have the same etymology.
  
  wn.com/Catalonia
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  Champagne-Ardenne
  Champagne-Ardenne (French pronunciation: [ʃɑ̃paɲ aʁdɛn]) is one of the 27 regions of France. It is located in the northeast of the country, bordering Belgium, and consists of four departments: Aube, Ardennes, Haute-Marne, and Marne. The region is famous for its sparkling white wine (champagne). Its rivers, most of which flow west, include the Seine, the Marne, and the Aisne. The Meuse flows north.
  The rail network includes the Paris–Strasbourg line, which follows the Marne Valley and serves Épernay, Châlons-en-Champagne, and Vitry-le-François. The LGV Est TGV line also connecting Paris and Strasbourg opened in 2007 and serves Reims with a train station in the commune of Bezannes.
  The region's canals include the Canal latéral à la Marne and Marne-Rhine Canal, the latter connecting to the Marne at Vitry-le-François. These are petit gabarit canals.
  The Vatry International Airport, primarily dedicated to air freight, has a runway 3650 m long, yet it is often unused. The airport is in a sparsely populated area just 150 km from Paris. Some people say it is a good candidate for transformation into a third Parisian airport. Les verts (the French green party) supported such a move because the resulting noise pollution would affect fewer people than an airport closer to Paris.
  
  wn.com/Champagne-Ardenne
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  Charente
  Charente (French pronunciation: [ʃa.ʁɑ̃t], Saintongeais: Chérente, Occitan: Charanta) is a department in southwestern France, in the Poitou-Charentes region, named after the Charente River, the most important river in the department, and also the river beside which the department's two largest towns, Angoulême and Cognac, are sited.
  Charente is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from the former province of Angoumois, west and south of Saintonge.
  Prior to the creation of the department, the area was not a natural unit, but much of it was commercially prosperous thanks to traditional industries such as salt and cognac production. Although the river became silted up and was unnavigable for much of the twentieth century, in the eighteenth century it provided important links with coastal shipping routes both for traditional businesses and for newly evolving ones such as paper goods and iron smelting.
  The accelerating pace of industrial and commercial development during the first half of the nineteenth century led to a period of prosperity, and the department's population peaked in 1851. During the second half of the nineteenth century Charente, like many of France's rural departments, experienced a declining population as the economic prospects available in the cities and in France's overseas empire attracted the working age generations away. Economic ruin came to many in the Charentais wine industry with the arrival in 1872 of phylloxera.
  
  wn.com/Charente
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  Charente-Maritime
  Charente-Maritime (French pronunciation: [ʃa.ʁɑ̃t ma.ʁi.tim]) is a department on the west coast of France named after the Charente River.
  Previously a part of Saintonge, Charente-Inférieure was one of the 83 original departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. On 4 September 1941, it was renamed Charente-Maritime.
  When first created, the commune of Saintes was assigned as the prefecture of the department (Saintes had previously been the capital of Saintonge). This changed in 1810 when Napoléon passed an imperial decree which moved the prefecture to La Rochelle.
  During World War II, the department was invaded by the German army and became part of occupied France. To provide defence against a possible beach landing, the Organisation Todt constructed a number of sea defences in the area. Defences such as pillboxes are particularly noticeable on the beaches of the presqu'île d'Arvert and the island of Oléron.
  At the end of the war there were only two pockets of German resistance: La Rochelle, in the north and Royan in the south. Despite being almost completely destroyed during an RAF bombing raid on 5 January 1945, the town of Royan wasn't liberated by the French resistance until April of the same year. La Rochelle was finally captured on 9 May 1945.
  
  wn.com/Charente-Maritime
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  Cher (department)
  Cher (French pronunciation: [ʃɛʁ]; Berrichon: Char) is an administrative department located in the centre of France. It is named after the Cher River.
  Cher is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. Most of it was created, along with the adjacent department of Indre from the former province of Berry. The south-eastern corner of the department was part of the Duchy of Bourbon, however.
  The department is part of the current administrative region of Centre (Val de Loire). It is surrounded by the departments of Indre, Loir-et-Cher, Loiret, Nièvre, Allier, and Creuse.
  The inhabitants of the department are called Berrichons from the former province of Berry.
  The President of the General Council is Alain Rafesthain of the Socialist Party.
  The Bourges Cathedral of St. Étienne is a major tourist attraction.
  
  
  The historical languages are Berrichon and the northern version of Bourbonais. These are both dialects of French, or the Langues d'oïl. They are named respectively after the former Province of Berry and the former Duchy of Bourbon. Some 11 communes in the extreme South used to speak Occitan.
  
  wn.com/Cher_(department)
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  China
  China (ⁱ/ˈtʃaɪnə/; Chinese: 中国; pinyin: Zhōngguó; see also Names of China), officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is the world's most-populous country, with a population of over 1.3 billion. Covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometres, the East Asian state is the world's second-largest country by land area, and the third- or fourth-largest in total area, depending on the definition of total area.
  The People's Republic of China is a single-party state governed by the Communist Party of China. It exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four directly controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and two mostly self-governing special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau). Its capital city is Beijing. The PRC also claims Taiwan—which is controlled by the Republic of China (ROC), a separate political entity—as its 23rd province, a claim controversial due to the complex political status of Taiwan and the unresolved Chinese Civil War. The PRC government denies the legitimacy of the ROC.
  
  wn.com/China
• 
  Corrèze
  Corrèze (French pronunciation: [kɔ.ʁɛːz]; Occitan: Corresa) is a department in south central France, named after the Corrèze River.
  The inhabitants of the department are called Corréziens or Corréziennes according to gender.
  Corrèze is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It includes part of the former province of Limousin (the Bas-Limousin).
  The 1851 census recorded a population of 320,866: this remained relatively constant for the rest of the nineteenth century. During the twentieth century, however, Corrèze shared the experience of many of the country's rural departments as the population fell steadily.
  Within Corrèze the nineteenth-century railway planners, influenced in part by the department's topography, endowed Brive-la-Gaillarde with good connections and a major junction from which railway lines fanned out in six different directions. The railways arrived in 1860, at an opportune moment, directly after phylloxera had destroyed the local wine industry. The new railways enabled the farms in the area surrounding Brive to specialise in fruits and vegetables which they could now transport rapidly to the larger population centres of central and southern France. Locally, the new agriculture triggered the development, in the Brive basin, of related businesses and industries such as the manufacture of jams and liquors, as well as timber/paper-based packaging businesses.
  
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  Corse-du-Sud
  Corse-du-Sud (French pronunciation: [kɔʁs.dy.syd]; Corsican: Corsica suttana) (English: South Corsica) is a French département composed of the southern part of the island of Corsica.
  The department was formed on 15 September 1975, when the corsican department was divided into Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud. Its boundaries correspond to the former department of Liamone, which existed from 1793 to 1811.
  The department hit the head-lines at the end of the twentieth century with the assassination at Ajaccio of the prefect Claude Érignac on 6 February 1998.
  The department is surrounded on three sides by the Mediterranean Sea and on the north by the department of Haute-Corse.
  The entire island of Corsica is mountainous with many beautiful beaches.
  The inhabitants of all of Corsica are called Corsicans.
  Corsicans are a fiercely independent people. However, a 6 July 2003 referendum on increased autonomy was voted down by a very thin majority: 50.98 percent against to 49.02 percent for. This was a major setback for French Minister of the Interior Nicolas Sarkozy, who had hoped to use Corsica as the first step in his decentralization policies.
  
  wn.com/Corse-du-Sud
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  Corsica
  Corsica ( /ˈkɔːrsɪkə/; French: Corse, IPA: [kɔʁs]; Corsican: Corsica; Italian: Corsica, IPA: [ˈkɔrsika]) is a French island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the Italian island of Sardinia. Mountains comprise two-thirds of the island, forming a single chain.
  Corsica is one of the 27 régions of France, although strictly speaking Corsica is designated as a territorial collectivity (collectivité territoriale) by law. As a territorial collectivity, it enjoys greater powers than other French régions, but for the most part its status is quite similar. Corsica is referred to as a "région" in common speech, and is almost always listed among the other régions of France.
  Although the island is separated from the continental mainland by the Ligurian Sea and is closer to Italy than to the French mainland, politically Corsica is part of Metropolitan France. It was once briefly an independent Corsican Republic, until being incorporated into France in 1769. Its culture has French and Italian elements blended into it.
  
  wn.com/Corsica
• Corum (Montpellier)
  Montpellier's Corum is a building that houses both a conference centre and a opera house, and is located in the centre of the city in southern France.
  It was designed by Claude Vasconi and opened to the public in 1988. The building form the visual closing of the Esplanade seen from the Place de la Comédie. It is covered in slabs of pink marble. The high costs of the building were subject of political debate in the 1980s, mostly directed against then mayor Georges Frêche.
  The Conference Center has 6000 m² of exhibition space. The Opéra Berlioz, named after Hector Berlioz, seats 2000 persons, and since 1990 has been one of the performance venues for the Opéra National de Montpellier.
  Coordinates: 43°36′49″N 3°52′56″E / 43.61361°N 3.88222°E / 43.61361; 3.88222
  
  wn.com/Corum_(Montpellier)
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  Creuse
  Creuse (French pronunciation: [kʁøz]; Occitan: Cruesa) is a department in central France named after the Creuse River.
  Creuse is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from the former province of La Marche.
  The County of Marche (Occitan: la Marcha) was a medieval French county, approximately corresponding to the modern département of Creuse. Marche first appeared as a separate fief about the middle of the 10th century, when William III, Duke of Aquitaine, gave it to one of his vassals named Boso, who took the title of count. In the 12th century, the countship passed to the family of Lusignan. They also were sometimes counts of Angoulême and counts of Limousin. With the death of the childless Count Guy in 1308, his possessions in La Marche were seized by Philip IV of France. In 1316 the king made La Marche an appanage for his youngest son the Prince, afterwards Charles IV. Several years later in 1327, La Marche passed into the hands of the House of Bourbon. The family of Armagnac held it from 1435 to 1477, when it reverted to the Bourbons. In 1527 La Marche was seized by Francis I and became part of the domains of the French crown. It was divided into Haute Marche and Basse Marche, the estates of the former continuing until the 17th century. From 1470 until the Revolution, the province was under the jurisdiction of the parlement of Paris.
  
  wn.com/Creuse
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  Côte-d'Or
  Côte-d'Or (IPA: [kot dɔːʁ]; English: Golden Hillside) is a department in the eastern part of France.
  Côte-d'Or is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was formed from part of the former province of Burgundy.
  The department is part of the current region of Bourgogne. It is surrounded by the departments of Yonne, Nièvre, Saône-et-Loire, Jura, Aube, and Haute-Marne.
  A chain of hills called the Plateau de Langres runs from north-east to south-west through the department to the north of Dijon and continues south-westwards as the Côte d'Or escarpment, which is named from the department's name. It is the south-east facing slope of the escarpment which is the site of the celebrated Burgundy vineyards. To the west of the Plateau de Langres, towards Champagne, lies the densely wooded district of Châtillonais. To the south-east of the plateau and escarpment, the department lies in the broad, flat-bottomed valley of the middle course of the Saône.
  
  wn.com/Côte-d'Or
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  Côtes-d'Armor
  Côtes-d'Armor (French pronunciation: [kot.daʁ.mɔʁ]; Breton: Aodoù-an-Arvor) is a department in the north of Brittany, in northwestern France.
  Côtes-du-Nord was one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Brittany. Its name was changed in 1990 to Côtes-d'Armor (ar mor meaning the sea in Breton). The name also has a historical connotation recalling the Roman province of Armorica.
  The present department corresponds to most of historical Trégor, part of Cornouaille, and most of Saint-Brieuc.
  Côtes-d'Armor is part of the current administrative region of Brittany and is surrounded by the departments of Finistère, Morbihan, and Ille-et-Vilaine, with the English Channel to the north.
  The inhabitants of the department are called Costarmoricains.
  The Côtes-d'Armor has usually been a left-wing holdout in a historically strongly clerical and right-wing Brittany, due to the department's more anti-clerical nature, especially in the inland area around Guingamp, a former Communist stronghold.
  
  wn.com/Côtes-d'Armor
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  Deux-Sèvres
  Deux-Sèvres (French pronunciation: [dø sɛvʁ]) is a French département. Deux-Sèvres literally means "two Sèvres": the Sèvre Nantaise and the Sèvre Niortaise are two rivers which have their sources in the department.
  Deux-Sèvres was one of the 83 original départements created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790.
  Departmental borders were changed in 1973 when the inhabitants of the little commune of Puy-Saint-Bonnet became formally associated with the rapidly growing adjacent commune of Cholet. Cholet is in the neighbouring department of Maine-et-Loire: in order to avoid the associated communes being administered in separate departments, Puy-Saint-Bonnet was transferred into Maine-et-Loire.
  The climate is mild, the annual temperature averaging 11 degrees Celsius.
  The département remains rural: three-quarters of the area consists of arable land. Wheat and oats are the main products grown, as well as potatoes, apples, and walnuts. Niort is the center for growing vegetables and angelica. Some beetroot is grown in the district of Melle. Vineyards are numerous in the north (Vins du Haut-Poitou), and there are some in the south. The département is also well known for the breeding of cattle, mules, and horses. The Parthenais breed of cattle is named after the town of Parthenay in the north of the département. Also, dairy products are produced in significant quantities (butter in Échiré and goats' cheese).
  
  wn.com/Deux-Sèvres
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  Dordogne
  Dordogne (French pronunciation: [dɔʁ.dɔɲ]; Occitan: Dordonha) is a départment in south-west France. The départment is located in the region of Aquitaine, between the Loire valley and the High Pyrénées named after the great Dordogne River that runs through it. It roughly corresponds with the ancient county of Périgord.
  The county of Périgord dates back to when the area was inhabited by the Gauls, it was home to four tribes, the name for "four tribes" in the Gaulish language was "Petrocore". The area eventually became known as the county of Le Périgord and its inhabitants became known as the Périgordins (or Périgourdins). There are four Périgords in the Dordogne: the "Périgord Vert" (Green Périgord) with its main town of Nontron, consists of verdant valleys in a region crossed by many rivers and streams; the "Périgord Blanc" (White Périgord) situated around the department's capital of Périgueux, is a region of limestone plateaux, wide valleys and meadows; the "Périgord Pourpre" (Purple Périgord) with its capital of Bergerac, is a wine region; and the "Périgord Noir" (Black Périgord) surrounding the administrative center of Sarlat, overlooks the valleys of the Vézère and the Dordogne, where the woods of oak and pine give it its name.
  
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  Doubs
  Doubs (French pronunciation: [du]; Arpitan: Dubs) is a department the Franche-Comté region of eastern France named after the Doubs River.
  As early as the 13th century, inhabitants of the northern two-thirds of Doubs spoke the Franc-Comtois language, a dialect of Langue d'Oïl. Residents of the southern third of Doubs spoke a dialect of the Arpitan language. Both languages co-existed with French, the official language of law and commerce, and continued to be spoken frequently in rural areas into the 20th century. They are both still spoken today but not on a daily basis.
  Doubs was important as a portal to Switzerland through the pass at Joux. Many famous people, including Mirabeau, Toussaint Louverture and Heinrich von Kleist, were imprisoned in the Château de Joux.
  Doubs is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Franche-Comté. The prefecture (capital) is Besançon.
  In 1793, the republic of Mandeure was annexed by France and incorporated into the department. This district was passed between various territories and departments in the ensuing administrative reorganisations and wars, but was restored to Doubs in 1816 when the former principality of Montbéliard was also added to the department.
  
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  Drôme
  Drôme (French pronunciation: [dʁom]; Droma in Occitan, Drôma in Arpitan), a département in southeastern France, takes its name from the Drôme River.
  St Vallier in Drôme, was the birthplace of one of France's most famous courtesans, the noble-born Diane de Poitiers (1499-1566), long-term mistress of King Henri II (1547-1559).
  The French National Constituent Assembly set up Drôme as one of the original 83 departments of France on March 4, 1790, during the French Revolution. The territory formed part of the former French province of Dauphiné.
  Drôme lies within the region of Rhône-Alpes (Rôno-Arpes) and is surrounded by the departments of Ardèche, Isère, Hautes-Alpes, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Vaucluse.
  The boundaries of the department have changed several times with the incorporation of the Comtat Venaissin in 1792 and the creation of the department of Vaucluse in 1793. Drôme surrounds an enclave of the department of Vaucluse, the Canton of Valréas (Enclave des Papes).
  The President of the General Council is Didier Guillaume of the Socialist Party.
  
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  Essonne
  Essonne (pronounced: [ɛ.sɔn]) is a French department in the region of Île-de-France. It is named after the Essonne River.
  It was formed on 1 January 1968 when Seine-et-Oise was split into smaller departments.
  The Essonne department was created on 1 January 1968, from the southern portion of the former department of Seine-et-Oise.
  In June 1963 Carrefour S.A. opened the first hypermarket in the Paris region at Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois (although the word "hypermarche" was first used only in 1966). Based on the ideas put forward by the American logistics pioneer Bernardo Trujillo, the centre offered on a single 2,500 m² (26,909.78 sq ft) site a hitherto unknown combination of wide choice and low prices, supported by 400 car parking spaces.
  In 1969, the communes of Châteaufort and Toussus-le-Noble were separated from Essonne and added to the department of Yvelines.
  Essonne belongs to the region of Île-de-France.
  It has borders with the departments of:
  All of northern Essonne department belongs to the Parisian agglomeration and is very urbanized. The south remains rural.
  
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  Eure
  Eure (French pronunciation: [œʁ]) is a department in the north of France named after the river Eure.
  Eure is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Normandy.
  After the allied victory at Waterloo, Eure was occupied by Prussian troops between June 1815 and November 1818.
  In the wake of Louis-Napoléons December coup of 1851, Eure was one of the departments placed under a state of emergency in order to avert resistance to the post-republican régime. In the event fewer than 100 government opponents in Eure were arrested.
  Eure is part of the current region of Haute-Normandie and is surrounded by the departments of Seine-Maritime, Oise, Val-d'Oise, Yvelines, Eure-et-Loir, Orne, and Calvados.
  The department is a largely wooded plateau intersected by the valleys of the Seine River and its tributaries.
  The altitude varies from sea level to 248 metres in the south.
  The President of the General Council is Jean-Louis Destans of the Socialist Party.
  
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  Eure-et-Loir
  Eure-et-Loir (French pronunciation: [œ.r‿e.lwaʁ]) is a French department, named after the Eure and Loir rivers.
  Eure-et-Loir is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790 pursuant to the Act of December 22, 1789. It was created from parts of provinces of Orléanais (Beauce), Maine (Perche), but also Île-de-France (Drouais, Thimerais, Valley Avre Hurepoix).
  The current department corresponds to the central part of the land of the Carnutes who had their capital at Autricum (Chartres). The Carnutes are known for their commitment, real or imagined, to the ancient Druidic religion. A holy place in the "Forest of the Carnutes" used to host the annual Druidic assembly. In the north of the department another pre-Roman people, the little-known Durocasses, had their capital at Dreux.
  Eure-et-Loir comprises the main part of the region of Beauce, politically it belongs to the current region of Centre (Val de Loire) and is surrounded by the departments of Loir-et-Cher, Loiret, Essonne, Yvelines, Eure, Orne, and Sarthe.
  
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  Fes, Morocco
  Fes or Fez (Arabic: فاس‎ Arabic pronunciation: [fɛs]) is the second largest city of Morocco, with a population of approximately 1 million (2010). It is the capital of the Fès-Boulemane region.
  Fez, the former capital, is one of the country's four "imperial cities," the others being Rabat, Marrakech and Meknes. It comprises three distinct parts, Fes el Bali (the old, walled city), Fes-Jdid (new Fes, home of the Mellah) and the Ville Nouvelle (the French-created, newest section of Fes).
  "Fas el Bali" is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its medina, the larger of the two medinas of Fes, is believed to be the world's largest contiguous car-free urban area. The University of Al-Karaouine, founded in AD 859, is the oldest continuously functioning university in the world. The city has been called the "Mecca of the West" and the "Athens of Africa".
  Until the Almoravid rule in the 11th century, Fes consisted of two separate cities or medinas: Madinat Fas and Al-'Aliya. The former being founded by Idris I, the latter by his son, Idris II. During Idrisid rule the capital city was known as Al-'Aliya, with the name Fas being reserved for the separate site on the other side of the river: no Idrisid coins have been found with the name Fes, only al-'Aliya and al-'Aliya Madinat Idris. It is not known whether the name al-'Aliya was ever used to refer to both medinas. It wasn't until 1070 that the two agglomerations were united and the name Fas was used for both sites.
  
  wn.com/Fes,_Morocco
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  Finistère
  Finistère (French pronunciation: [fi.nis.tɛʁ]; Breton: Penn-ar-Bed) is a département of France, in the extreme west of Brittany.
  The name Finistère derives from the Latin Finis Terræ, meaning end of the earth, and may be compared with Land's End on the opposite side of the English Channel. The Breton name for Finistère Penn ar Bedd translates as Head/End of the World and is cognate with the Cornish equivalent for Land's End Pen-an-Wlas (Head/End of the country). Finistère is not to be confused with Finisterre in Spain.
  The present department consists of the historical region of Léon and parts of Cornouaille and Trégor.
  The largest population center in Finistère is Brest. Other large towns in the department include Quimper (the capital), Morlaix, Carhaix, and Douarnenez. Finistère includes the island of Ushant (Eusa in Breton, Ouessant in French).
  Finistère is the westernmost region of France (excluding the overseas departments). By several criteria, Finistère can also claim to be the most coastal department in Metropolitan France. Of its 283 communes, 118 are located on the coast. Its total coastline of approximately 1,250 km (776.71 mi) accounts for almost a quarter of the entire French coast-line.
  
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  France
  France (English ⁱ/ˈfræns/ FRANSS or /ˈfrɑːns/ FRAHNSS; French: [fʁɑ̃s] ( listen)), officially the French Republic (French: République française [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is often referred to as l’Hexagone ("The Hexagon") because of the geometric shape of its territory. It is the largest western European country and it possesses the second-largest exclusive economic zone in the world, covering 11,035,000 km² (4,260,000 sq mi), just behind that of the United States (11,351,000 km² / 4,383,000 sq mi).
  Over the past 500 years, France has been a major power with strong cultural, economic, military and political influence in Europe and around the world. During the 17th and 18th centuries, France colonised great parts of North America and Southeast Asia; during the 19th and early 20th centuries, France built the second largest colonial empire of the time, including large portions of North, West and Central Africa, Southeast Asia, and many Caribbean and Pacific Islands.
  
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  Franche-Comté
  Franche-Comté (French pronunciation: [fʁɑ̃ʃ kɔ̃te]; Franc-Comtois: Fraintche-Comtè; Arpitan: Franche-Comtât) the former "Free County" of Burgundy, as distinct from the neighbouring Duchy, is an administrative region and a traditional province of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of Doubs, Jura, Haute-Saône and Territoire de Belfort and has a population of 1,159,000 (2008).
  The principal cities are the capital Besançon, Belfort, and Montbéliard (Aire Urbaine Belfort-Montbéliard-Héricourt-Delle). Other important cities are Dole (capital before the region was conquered by Louis XIV in the late 17th century), Vesoul (capital of Haute-Saône), Arbois (the "wine capital" of the Jura), and Lons-le-Saunier (capital of Jura).
  The region has been inhabited since the Paleolithic age and was occupied by the Gauls. Little touched by the Germanic migrations, it was part of the territory of the Alamanni in the 5th century, then the Kingdom of Burgundy from 457 to 534. It was Christianized through the influence of St. Columbanus, who founded several monasteries there. In 534, it became part of the Frankish kingdom. In 561 it was included in the Merovingian Kingdom of Burgundy, under Guntram, the third son of Clotaire I. In 613, Clotaire II reunited the Frankish Kingdom under his rule, and the region remained a part of the Kingdom of Burgundy under the later Merovingians and Carolingians.
  
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  Gard
  Gard (French pronunciation: [ɡaʁ]; Occitan: Gard) is a département located in southern France in the Languedoc-Roussillon region.
  The department is named after the River Gardon, and the Occitan name of the river has been replacing the French name of the department in recent decades, even among French speakers.
  The Gard area was settled by the Romans in classical times. It was crossed by the Via Domitia, which was constructed in 118 BC.
  Gard is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from the ancient province of Languedoc.
  It was originally intended to include the canton of Ganges in the department which would have been geographically logical, but Ganges was transferred to the neighbouring department of Hérault at the outset. In return, Gard received from Hérault the fishing port of Aigues Mortes which gave the department its own outlet to the Gulf of Lion.
  During the middle of the nineteenth century the prefecture, traditionally a centre of commerce with a manufacturing sector focused on textiles, was an early beneficiary of railway development, becoming an important railway junction. Several luxurious hotels were built, and the improved market access provided by the railways also encouraged, initially, a rapid growth in wine growing: however, many of the department's viticulturalists were ruined by the arrival in 1872 of phylloxera.
  
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  Germany
  Germany (ⁱ/ˈdʒɜrməni/), officially the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland, pronounced [ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant] ( listen)), is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km² and has a largely temperate seasonal climate. With 81.8 million inhabitants, it is the most populous member state and the largest economy in the European Union. It is one of the major political powers of the European continent and a technological leader in many fields.
  A region named Germania, inhabited by several Germanic peoples, was documented before AD 100. During the Migration Period, the Germanic tribes expanded southward, and established successor kingdoms throughout much of Europe. Beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation while southern and western parts remained dominated by Roman Catholic denominations, with the two factions clashing in the Thirty Years' War, marking the beginning of the Catholic–Protestant divide that has characterized German society ever since. Occupied during the Napoleonic Wars, the rise of Pan-Germanism inside the German Confederation resulted in the unification of most of the German states into the German Empire in 1871 which was Prussian dominated. After the German Revolution of 1918–1919 and the subsequent military surrender in World War I, the Empire was replaced by the Weimar Republic in 1918, and partitioned in the Treaty of Versailles. Amidst the Great Depression, the Third Reich was proclaimed in 1933. The latter period was marked by Fascism and World War II. After 1945, Germany was divided by allied occupation, and evolved into two states, East Germany and West Germany. In 1990 Germany was reunified.
  
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  Gers
  The Gers (French: le Gers, Gascon: Gers, pronounced: [ʒɛʁs] or [ʒɛʁ]) is a department in the Midi-Pyrénées region in the southwest of France named after the Gers River.
  Inhabitants are called les Gersois or Gersoises.
  In the Middle Ages, the Lordship of L'Isle-Jourdain was nearby.
  The Gers is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Guyenne and Gascony.
  In 1808 it lost Lavit on its the north-eastern side to the newly created department of Tarn-et-Garonne.
  The culture is largely agricultural, with great emphasis on the local gastronomical specialties such as:
  Also, some prominent cultivated crops are corn, colza, sunflowers and grain.
  The Gascon language is a dialect of Occitan, but it is not widely spoken.The department is characterised by sleepy bastide villages and rolling hills with the Pyrenees visible to the south.
  Alexandre Dumas, père created the famous Gersois d'Artagnan, the fourth musketeer of The Three Musketeers. A museum to d'Artagnan is found in the Gersois village of Lupiac.
  
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  Gironde
  For the Revolutionary party, see Girondists.
  Gironde (French pronunciation: [ʒiʁɔ̃d]; in Gascon Gironda) is a common name for the Gironde estuary, where the mouths of the Garonne and Dordogne rivers merge, and for a department in the Aquitaine region situated in southwest France. The Bordeaux wine region is in the Gironde.
  Gironde is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Guyenne and Gascogne.
  From 1793 to 1795, the department's name was changed to Bec-d'Ambès to avoid the association with the revolutionary party, the Girondists.
  Gironde is part of the current region of Aquitaine and is surrounded by the departments of Landes, Lot-et-Garonne, Dordogne and Charente-Maritime and the Atlantic Ocean on the west. With an area of 10,000 km², Gironde is the largest department in metropolitan France. If overseas departments are included, however, Gironde's land area is dwarfed by the 83,846 km² of Guyane.
  
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  Guadeloupe
  Coordinates: 16°15′N 61°35′W / 16.25°N 61.583°W / 16.25; -61.583
  Guadeloupe ( /ɡwɑːdəˈluːp/; French pronunciation: [ɡwadəlup]; Antillean Creole: Gwadloup) is a Caribbean island located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres (629 sq. mi) and a population of 400,000. It is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. Its departmental code is "971". As the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe is also an integral part of the Republic. Besides Guadeloupe island, the smaller islands of Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the Îles des Saintes are included in Guadeloupe.
  As part of France, Guadeloupe is part of the European Union and the Eurozone; hence, as for all Eurozone countries, its currency is the euro. However, Guadeloupe is not part of the Schengen Area. The prefecture and the capital of Guadeloupe is Basse-Terre. Christopher Columbus named the island Santa María de Guadalupe in 1493 after the Virgin Mary, venerated in the Spanish town of Guadalupe, in Extremadura.
  
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  Haut-Rhin
  Haut-Rhin (French pronunciation: [oʁɛ̃]; Alsatian: Owerelsàss) is a département of the Alsace region of France, named after the Rhine river. Its name means Upper Rhine. Haut-Rhin is the smaller and less populated of the two departements of Alsace, although is still densely populated compared to the rest of France.
  The department consists of the following arrondissements:
  Haut-Rhin is one of the original 83 départements, created during the French Revolution, on 4 March 1790 through the application of the law of 22 December 1789 in respect of the southern half of the province of Alsace (Haute-Alsace).
  Its boundaries have been modified many times:
  Haut-Rhin is bordered by the Territoire de Belfort and Vosges départements and the Vosges Mountains to the west, the Bas-Rhin département to the North, Switzerland to the south and its eastern border with Germany is also the River Rhine. In the centre of the département lies a fertile plain. The climate is semi-continental.
  Haut-Rhin is one of the richest French départements. Mulhouse is the home of a Peugeot automobile factory, manufacturing the 106 and 206 models. The lowest unemployment rate in France can be found in the Southern Sundgau region (approximately 2%). The countryside is marked by hills. Many Haut-Rhinois work in Switzerland, especially in the chemical industries of Basel, but prefer to commute from France where living cost are lower.
  
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  Haute-Corse
  Haute-Corse (French pronunciation: [ot.kɔʁs]; Corsican: Corsica suprana) (English: Upper Corsica) is a French department. It constitutes the northern part of the island of Corsica.
  The department was formed on 15 September 1975, when the department of Corse was divided into Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud. The department corresponds exactly to the former department of Golo which existed between 1793 and 1811.
  The department is surrounded on three sides by the Mediterranean Sea and on the south by the department of Corse-du-Sud.
  The inhabitants of the entire island of Corsica are called Corsicans.
  The Corsicans are a fiercely independent people. However, a 6 July 2003 referendum on increased autonomy was voted down by a very thin majority: 50.98 percent against to 49.02 percent for. This was a major setback for French Minister of the Interior Nicolas Sarkozy, who had hoped to use Corsica as the first step in his decentralization policies.
  The President of the General Council is Paul Giacobbi, who has held the office since 1998.
  
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  Haute-Garonne
  Haute-Garonne (French pronunciation: [ot ɡaʁɔn]; Occitan: Nauta Garona; English: Upper Garonne) is a department in the southwest of France named after the Garonne river. Its main city is Toulouse.
  Haute-Garonne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Languedoc.
  The department was originally larger. The reduction in its area resulted from an imperial decree dated 21 November 1808 and which established the neighbouring department of Tarn-et-Garonne, to the north. The new department, created in response to the pleadings of various locally powerful politicians, took territory from five surrounding departments including Haute-Garonne. The districts lost to Tarn-et-Garonne in 1808 were those of Montech and Castelsarrasin.
  Haute-Garonne is part of the current region of Midi-Pyrénées and is surrounded by the departments of Hautes-Pyrénées, Gers, Tarn-et-Garonne, Tarn, Aude, and Ariège. It also borders Spain in the south (province of Lleida and province of Huesca).
  
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  Haute-Loire
  Haute-Loire (French pronunciation: [ot lwaʁ]; Occitan: Naut Léger) is a department in south-central France named after the Loire River.
  Haute-Loire is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Auvergne, Languedoc, and Lyonnais.
  Haute-Loire is part of the current region of Auvergne and is surrounded by the departments of Loire, Ardèche, Lozère, Cantal, and Puy-de-Dôme.
  The department covers the upper reaches of the Loire. Parts of the department belong to Parc naturel régional Livradois-Forez.
  The inhabitants of the department are called Altiligériens.
  The de Polignac family has its historic seat there, and various descendants of Lafayette were senators for this region in the nineteenth century.
  
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  Haute-Marne
  Haute-Marne (French pronunciation: [ot.maʁn]) is a department in the northeast of France named after the Marne River.
  Haute-Marne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Champagne, Burgundy, Lorraine and Franche-Comté
  In March 1814 the departmental prefecture, Chaumont, was the unwitting witness to the end of the First Empire. On 1 March, Prussia, Russia, the United Kingdom and Austria signed an accord forbidding any individual peace deal with Napoleon I, and to fight until his final defeat.
  During World War II, Haute-Marne was partitioned under German occupation. The canal which runs from the Marne to the Saône served as a border, dividing the department into east and west. The east was a "reserved zone", intended for the creation of a new German (Ripuarian) state, whereas to the west would be the traditional "occupied zone". Haute-Marne was finally liberated by the Allies, in the form of the division of General Leclerc, between August and September 1944.
  
  wn.com/Haute-Marne
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  Haute-Savoie
  Haute-Savoie ([ot savwa] ( listen); Arpitan : Savouè d’Amont / Hiôta-Savouè; English: Upper Savoy) is a department in the Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France, bordering both Switzerland and Italy. Its capital is Annecy. To the north is Lake Geneva and Switzerland; to the south and southeast are the Mont Blanc and Aravis mountain ranges. The French entrance to the Mont Blanc Tunnel to Italy is in Haute-Savoie. It is noted for winter sports; the first Winter Olympic Games were held at Chamonix in 1924.
  Before 1860, the territory occupied by modern Haute-Savoie and the adjoining department of Savoie was part of the Kingdom of Sardinia since the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Annexation of the region by France was formalized in the Treaty of Turin on March 24, 1860.
  From November 1942 to September 1943, Haute-Savoie was subjected to military occupation by Italy. The Maquis des Glières (a band of Free French Resistance fighters who opposed the Nazi, Vichy and Milice regimes during World War II) operated from Haute-Savoie.
  
  wn.com/Haute-Savoie
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  Haute-Saône
  Haute-Saône (French pronunciation: [ot.soːn]; Arpitan: Hiôta-Sona) is a French department of the Franche-Comté (Franche-Comtât) région, named after the Saône River.
  The department was created in the early years of the French Revolution through the application of a law dated 22 December 1789, from part of the former province of Franche-Comté. The frontiers of the new department corresponded approximately to those of the old Bailiwick of Amont.
  Haute-Saône is part of the Franche-Comté region.
  Neighbouring departments are Côte-d'Or to the west, Haute-Marne to the north-west, Vosges to the north, Territoire de Belfort to the east, Doubs to the south and east and Jura to south.
  Haute-Saône is divided into 32 cantons
  Te department can be presented as a transitional territory positioned between several of the more depressed departments of eastern France and the so called Blue Banana zone characterised, in recent decades by relatively powerful economic growth.
  The department is overwhelmingly rural, despite the area having been at the forefront of industrialisation in the eighteenth century. The industrial tradition endures, but industrial businesses tend to be on a small scale. In 2006 employment by economic sector was reported as follows:
  
  wn.com/Haute-Saône
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  Haute-Vienne
  Haute-Vienne (French pronunciation: [ot vjɛn]) is a French department named after the Vienne River. It is one of three departments that together constitute the French region of Limousin.
  The chief and largest city is Limoges. The other towns in the department each have fewer than 20,000 inhabitants.
  The source of the Charente River is in the department, in the commune of Chéonnac, near Rochechouart.
  The neighboring departments are: Creuse, Corrèze, Dordogne, Charente, Vienne and Indre.
  The three arrondissements of the Haute-Vienne department are:
  
  wn.com/Haute-Vienne
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  Hautes-Alpes
  Hautes-Alpes (French pronunciation: [ot.z‿alp]; Occitan: Auts Aups) is a department in southeastern France named after the Alps mountain range.
  Hautes-Alpes is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It consists of the southeast of the former province of Dauphiné and the north of Provence.
  At the time when the department was created, the two mountain communes of La Grave and Villar-d'Arêne successfully campaigned to be included in Hautes-Alpes and not in the neighbouring department of Isère to which they had originally been assigned. This was because they hoped to benefit from the relative autonomy and certain fiscal privileges enjoyed by the region since the fourteenth century under the terms of the Statute of the Briançon Escartons.
  Napoleon passed through Gap when he returned to reclaim France after his exile on Elba.
  The department is surrounded by the following French departments: Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Drôme, Isère, and Savoie. Italy borders it on the east.
  
  wn.com/Hautes-Alpes
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  Hautes-Pyrénées
  Hautes-Pyrénées (French pronunciation: [ot pi.ʁe.ne]) (Gascon: Nauts Pirenèus / Hauts Pirenèus) is a department in southwestern France. It is part of the Midi-Pyrénées region.
  Historically the area broadly covered by the département was known as Bigorre, a territory at times independent but later part of Gascony province. Large parts of the area were held by the English after the Treaty of Brétigny, 1360. In the 16th century, it was part of the Huguenot domain of the monarchs of Navarre, brought to France by Henri IV. For its early history, see Bigorre and Gascony.
  The département of Hautes-Pyrénées was created at the time of the French Revolution, on 4 March 1790, through the influence of Tarbes politician Bertrand Barère, a member of the Convention.
  Hautes-Pyrénées consists of several distinct geographical areas. The southern portion, along the border with Spain, consists of mountains such as the Vignemale, the Pic du Midi de Bigorre, and the Neouvielle and Arbizon ranges. A second area consists of low-altitude rolling hills. The Northern part of the département consists of largely flat agricultural land. Hautes-Pyrénées has two small territorial exclaves -a remnant from the Middle Ages- located within the neighboring département of Pyrenees-Atlantiques
  
  wn.com/Hautes-Pyrénées
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  Hauts-de-Seine
  Hauts-de-Seine (pronounced: [o.də.sɛn]; literally "Seine Heights") is designated number 92 of the 101 départements in France. It is part of the Île-de-France region, and covers the western inner suburbs of Paris. It is small and densely populated and contains the modern office, theatre and shopping complex known as La Défense.
  Hauts-de-Seine and two other small départements, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne, form a ring around Paris, known as the Petite Couronne (i.e. "little crown").
  
  
  Hauts-de-Seine is made up of three departmental arrondissements and 36 communes:
  The department of Hauts-de-Seine was created in 1968, from parts of the former départements of Seine and Seine-et-Oise. Its creation reflected the implementation of a law passed in 1964, and Nanterre had already been selected as the prefecture for the new department early in 1965.
  In the 1990s and early 2000s, the Hauts-de-Seine received national attention as the result of a corruption scandal concerning the misuse of public funds provided for the department's housing projects. Implicated were former minister and former President of the general council of the Hauts-de-Seine, Charles Pasqua, and other personalities of the RPR party. (See corruption scandals in the Paris region.)
  
  wn.com/Hauts-de-Seine
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  Hérault
  Hérault (French pronunciation: [eʁo]; Occitan: Erau) is a department in the south of France named after the Hérault river.
  Hérault is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Languedoc.
  At the beginning of the 20th century, viticulture in the region was devastated by a slump in sales combined with disease affecting the vines, and thousands of small scale producers revolted. This revolt was suppressed very harshly by the government of Georges Clemenceau.
  The catastrophic frost of the winter of 1956 damaged the olive trees, and the olive-growing regions did not recover until the late 1980s. Many of the olive-industry co-ops closed.
  During the second half of the twentieth century the Montpellier basin underwent one of the most rapid population increases experienced anywhere in France.
  Hérault is part of the current region of Languedoc-Roussillon and is surrounded by the departments of Aude, Tarn, Aveyron, Gard, and the Mediterranean (Gulf of Lion) on the south.
  
  wn.com/Hérault
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  Ille-et-Vilaine
  Ille-et-Vilaine (French pronunciation: [i.l‿e.vi.lɛn]; Breton: Il-ha-Gwilen) is a department of France, located in the region of Brittany in the northwest of the country.
  Ille-et-Vilaine is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the province of Brittany.
  Ille-et-Vilaine is a part of the current region of Brittany and is bordered by the departments of Manche to the north-east, Mayenne to the east, Maine-et-Loire to the south-east, Loire-Atlantique to the south, Morbihan to the south-west, and Côtes-d'Armor to the west and north-west. Also the English Channel (locally named la Manche in French) borders the department to the north.
  The department is named after its two main rivers, the Ille and the Vilaine, whose confluence is in Rennes, the capital of the department and of the region. Other important rivers include :
  The department is moderately elevated above the level of the sea, with many hills; however the central part has a dense network of many tributaries to the Ille or the Vilaine from all around the large basin of Rennes. The elevated hills bordering this basin are covered by several old forests now exploited by men for the production of wood. The basin itself is a rich agriculture area, as well as the north-west of the department near the Rance.
  
  wn.com/Ille-et-Vilaine
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  Indre
  Indre (French pronunciation: [ɛ̃dʁ]) is a department in the center of France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are called Indriens.
  Indre is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Berry.
  Indre is part of the current region of Centre (Val de Loire) and is surrounded by the departments of Indre-et-Loire, Loir-et-Cher, Cher, Creuse, Vienne, and Haute-Vienne.
  The President of the General Council is Louis Pinton of the Union for a Popular Movement.
  The Indre has two villages classified among the most beautiful villages of France: Saint-Benoît-du-Sault and Gargilesse-Dampierre.
  Media related to Indre (department) at Wikimedia Commons
  
  wn.com/Indre
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  Indre-et-Loire
  Indre-et-Loire (French pronunciation: [ɛ̃dʁ‿e lwaʁ]) is a department in west-central France named after the Indre and the Loire rivers.
  Indre-et-Loire is one of the original 83 départements created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from the former province of Touraine.
  Tours, the departmental prefecture, was a center of learning in the early Middle Ages.
  After the creation of the department it remained politically conservative, as Honoré de Balzac recorded in several of his novels. Conservative Tours refused to welcome the railways which instead were obliged to route their lines by way of Saint-Pierre-des-Corps on the city's eastern edge. The moderate temper of the department's politics remained apparent after the trauma of 1870: sentiment remained pro-royalist during the early years of the Third Republic.
  For most of the nineteenth century Indre-et-Loire was a rural department, but pockets of heavy-duty industrialisation began to appear towards century's end, accompanied by left-wing politics. 1920 saw the birth of the French Communist Party at the Congress of Tours. By 1920 Saint-Pierre-des-Corps had become a major railway junction and a centre of railway workshops: it had also acquired a reputation as a bastion of working class solidarity.
  
  wn.com/Indre-et-Loire
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  Israel
  Coordinates: 31°N 35°E / 31°N 35°E / 31; 35
  Israel, officially the State of Israel ( /ˈɪzriːəl/ or  /ˈɪzreɪəl/; Hebrew: מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל‎, Medīnat Yisrā'el, IPA: [me̞diˈnät jisʁäˈʔe̞l] ( listen); Arabic: دَوْلَة إِسْرَائِيل‎, Dawlat Isrāʼīl, IPA: [dawlat ʔisraːˈʔiːl]), is a parliamentary republic in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan and the West Bank in the east, Egypt and the Gaza Strip on the southwest, and the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea to the south, and it contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area. Israel is defined as a Jewish and Democratic State in its Basic Laws and is the world's only Jewish-majority state.
  Following the adoption of a resolution by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 29 November 1947 recommending the adoption and implementation of the United Nations plan to partition Palestine, on 14 May 1948 David Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization and president of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel, a state independent from the British Mandate for Palestine. Neighboring Arab states invaded the next day in support of the Palestinian Arabs. Israel has since fought several wars with neighboring Arab states, in the course of which it has occupied the West Bank, Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights. Portions of these territories, including east Jerusalem, have been annexed by Israel, but the border with the neighboring West Bank has not yet been permanently defined.^{[neutrality is disputed]} Israel has signed peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, but efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict have so far not resulted in peace.
  
  wn.com/Israel
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  Isère
  Isère (pronounced: [izɛːʁ]; Arpitan: Isera, Occitan: Isèra) is a department in the Rhône-Alpes (Rôno-Arpes in Arpitan) region in the east of France named after the river Isère.
  Isère is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Dauphiné. Its area has been reduced twice, in 1852 and again in 1967, on both occasions losing territory to the department of Rhône.
  In 1852 in response to rapid urban development round the edge of Lyon, the (hitherto Isère) communes of Bron, Vaulx-en-Velin, Vénissieux and Villeurbanne were transferred to Rhône. In 1967 the redrawing of local government frontiers led to the creation of the Urban Community of Lyon (more recently known simply as Greater Lyon / Grand Lyon). At that time intercommunal groupings of this nature were not permitted to straddle departmental frontiers, and accordingly 23 more Isère communes (along with 6 communes from Ain) found themselves transferred to Rhône. The affected Isère communes were Chaponnay, Chassieu, Communay, Corbas, Décines-Charpieu, Feyzin, Genas, Jonage, Jons, Marennes, Meyzieu, Mions, Pusignan, Saint-Bonnet-de-Mure, Saint-Laurent-de-Mure, Saint-Pierre-de-Chandieu, Saint-Priest, Saint-Symphorien-d'Ozon, Sérézin-du-Rhône, Simandres, Solaize, Ternay and Toussieu.
  
  wn.com/Isère
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  Jura (department)
  Jura (French pronunciation: [ʒyʁa]) is a department in the east of France named after the Jura mountains.
  Historically, Jura belonged to the Free County of Burgundy, known in French as the Franche-Comté. Dole was the capital until the region was conquered by Louis XIV and it was moved to Besançon. It is now a sous-préfecture of Jura.
  As early as the 13th century, inhabitants of the southern 2/3 of Jura spoke a dialect of Arpitan language. It continued to be spoken in rural areas into the 20th century.
  Jura is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Franche-Comté. The departments of Jura, Doubs, and Haute-Saône form the modern Franche-Comté region of France. The prefecture (capital) is Lons-le-Saunier.
  Jura is one of four departments of the Franche-Comté region and is surrounded by the French departments of Doubs, Haute-Saône, Côte-d'Or, Saône-et-Loire, and Ain, as well as the Swiss canton of Vaud on the east.
  
  wn.com/Jura_(department)
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  Lakewood, Ohio
  Lakewood is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. It is part of the Greater Cleveland Metropolitan Area, and borders the city of Cleveland. The population was 52,131 at the 2010 Census, making it the third largest city in Cuyahoga County, behind Cleveland (396,815) and Parma (81,601).
  Lakewood, one of Cleveland's inner-ring suburbs, borders the city of Cleveland to the west and north. Lakewood's population density is the highest of any city in Ohio and is roughly comparable to that of Washington, DC.
  Lakewood is governed by an elected mayor and elected council. The council's strength is seven, with 4 members representing wards in the city and other three are at large council members. Lakewood is represented in the US House of Representatives by Rep. Dennis Kucinich(OH-10,D). In the state assembly it is represented by Michael Skindell (D) in the State Senate and by Nickie Antonio (D) in the State House. The expected expenditure for 2010 for the City of Lakewood is $33.7 Million with the city bringing in revenues of $ 34.03 Million. The current income tax is 1.5%, one of Ohio's lowest municipal income tax rates.
  
  wn.com/Lakewood,_Ohio
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  Landes (department)
  Landes (French pronunciation: [lɑ̃d]; Gascon : Lanas or Lanes) is a département in southern France.
  Landes is one of the original 83 départements that were created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from parts of the provinces of Guyenne and Gascony.
  During the first part of the nineteenth century large parts of the department were covered with poorly drained heathland (lande in French) which is the origin of its name. The vegetation covered rich soil and was periodically burned off, leaving excellent pasturage for sheep, which around 1850 are thought to have numbered between 900,000 and 1,000,000 in this area. The sheep were managed by shepherds who moved around on stilts and became proficient at covering long distances thus supported. Most of the sheep departed during the second half of the nineteenth century when systematic development of large pine plantations transformed the landscape and the local economy.
  The Nobel Prize winning novelist François Mauriac set his novels in the Landes.
  
  wn.com/Landes_(department)
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  Languedoc-Roussillon
  Languedoc-Roussillon (French pronunciation: [lɑ̃ɡdɔk ʁusijɔ̃]; Occitan: Lengadòc-Rosselhon; Catalan: Llenguadoc-Rosselló) is one of the 27 regions of France. It comprises five departments, and borders the other French regions of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Rhône-Alpes, Auvergne, Midi-Pyrénées on the one side, and Spain, Andorra and the Mediterranean sea on the other side.
  The region is made up of the following historical provinces:
  Llívia is a town of Cerdanya, province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain, that forms a Spanish exclave surrounded by French territory (Pyrénées-Orientales département).
  At the regional elections in March 2004, the socialist mayor of Montpellier Georges Frêche, a maverick in French politics^{[citation needed]}, defeated its center-right president. Since then, Georges Frêche has embarked on a complete overhaul of the region and its institutions. The flag of the region, which displayed the cross of Languedoc as well as the Flag of Roussillon (the "Senyera"), was changed for a new flag with no reference to the old provinces, except in terms of the colors (red and yellow), which are the colors of both Languedoc and all the territories from the former Crown of Aragon.
  
  wn.com/Languedoc-Roussillon
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  Loir-et-Cher
  Loir-et-Cher (French pronunciation: [lwa.ʁ‿e.ʃɛʁ]) is a département in north-central France named after the rivers Loir and Cher.
  Loir-et-Cher is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Orléanais and Touraine.
  Loir-et-Cher is part of the modern region of Centre. Adjacent departments are Eure-et-Loir to the north, Loiret to the north-east, Cher to the south-east, Indre to the south, Indre-et-Loire to the south-west, and Sarthe to the west.
  The department comprises 6,314 km², which makes it the 31st largest of the French departments in terms of area. The line of the river Loire traverses the land, ensuring easy communication between its own capital, Blois, and the vibrant cultural and commercial centres of Tours to the west and the fringes of the Seine-Paris basin at Orléans to the east.
  Its main rivers are the Loire, on which its prefecture (capital) Blois is situated, the Loir and the Cher.
  
  wn.com/Loir-et-Cher
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  Loire
  Loire (French pronunciation: [lwaʁ]; Arpitan: Lêre; Occitan: Léger) is an administrative department in the east-central part of France occupying the River Loire's upper reaches.
  Loire was created in 1793 when after just 3½ years the young Rhône-et-Loire department was split into two. This was a response to counter-Revolutionary activities in Lyon which, by population, was the country's second largest city. By splitting Rhône-et-Loire the government sought to protect the French Revolution from the potential power and influence of counter revolutionary activity in the Lyon region.
  The departmental capitals have been / are as follows:
  Loire is part of the current administrative region of Rhône-Alpes and is surrounded by the departments of Rhône, Isère, Ardèche, Haute-Loire, Puy-de-Dôme, Allier, and Saône-et-Loire.
  The River Loire traverses the department from south to north.
  The Loire department is split into three arrondissements:
  Parts of the department belong to Parc naturel régional Livradois-Forez.
  
  wn.com/Loire
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  Loire-Atlantique
  Loire-Atlantique (French pronunciation: [lwa.ʁat.lɑ̃.tik]; formerly Loire-Inférieure) is a department on the west coast of France named after the Loire River and the Atlantic Ocean.
  Loire-Atlantique is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. Originally, it was named Loire-Inférieure, but its name was changed in 1957 to Loire-Atlantique.
  The area is part of Brittany, and contains what many people still consider to be Brittany's capital, Nantes. There is a campaign to have it reintegrated in Brittany.
  Loire-Atlantique is part of the current region of Pays-de-la-Loire and is surrounded by the department of Morbihan, Ille-et-Vilaine, Maine-et-Loire, and Vendée, with the Atlantic on the west.
  Upper Brittany's indigenous language is Gallo, a romance language related to French. The number of Gallo language speakers has been in steady decline since the early 20th century. The language is neither official nor taught in primary or secondary education. The Breton language, a Celtic language, native to Lower Brittany, was historically spoken in the western area of Loire-Atlantique, and up to 1920 in Batz-sur-Mer. This area (Guérande, Le Croisic, and La Baule) has a rather Breton toponymy: for instance, Guérande originates from the Breton Gwenn Rann (white or pure place).
  
  wn.com/Loire-Atlantique
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  Loiret
  Loiret (French pronunciation: [lwaʁɛ]) is a department in north-central France
  The department is named after the river Loiret, a tributary of the Loire. The Loiret is located wholly within the department.
  Loiret is one of the original 83 departments that was created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from the former province of Orléanais.
  Loiret is part of the current region of Centre and is surrounded by the departments of Essonne, Seine-et-Marne, Yonne, Nièvre, Cher, Loir-et-Cher, and Eure-et-Loir.
  Orléans is a popular tourist destination, with its cathedral of Ste. Croix.
  
  wn.com/Loiret
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  Lorraine (region)
  Lorraine (French pronunciation: [lɔʁɛn]; Lorrain: Louréne; Lorraine Franconian: Lottringe; German: Lothringen) is one of the 27 régions of France. The administrative region has two cities of equal importance, Metz and Nancy. Metz is considered to be the official capital since that is where the regional parliament is situated. The region's name is derived from the medieval Lotharingia.
  The region consists of four departments: Meurthe-et-Moselle, Meuse, Moselle and Vosges and contains 2,337 communes.
  The borders of the area called Lorraine changed much in its long history. In 843, Charlemagne had died, and the Holy Roman Empire was divided among his three grandsons. One of them was Lothair, and his realm, reaching from Frisia to Rome, was called Lotharingia. In 870, it was decided that the realm should be a duchy within the kingdom of East Francia. In 962, when Otto the Great restored the Empire (restauratio imperii), Lorraine remained a duchy within the Holy Roman Empire until 1766.
  
  wn.com/Lorraine_(region)
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  Lot (department)
  Lot (French pronunciation: [lɔt]; Occitan: Òlt) is a department in the southwest of France named after the Lot River.
  Lot is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the province of Languedoc. In 1808, some of the original southeastern cantons were separated from it to form the department of Tarn-et-Garonne. It originally extended much farther to the south and included the city of Montauban.
  Lot is part of the region of Midi-Pyrénées and is surrounded by the departments of Corrèze, Cantal, Aveyron, Tarn-et-Garonne, Lot-et-Garonne, and Dordogne.
  For a full list, see Communes of the Lot department. Settlements in the Lot include:
  
  wn.com/Lot_(department)
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  Lot-et-Garonne
  Lot-et-Garonne (French: [lɔt‿e ɡaʁɔn], Occitan: Òlt e Garona) is a department in the southwest of France named after the Lot and Garonne rivers.
  Lot-et-Garonne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the provinces of Guyenne and Gascogne.
  Several of the original southeastern cantons in the arrondissements of Agen and Villeneuve-sur-Lot were separated from it in 1808 to become a part of the newly ceated department of Tarn-et-Garonne.
  Lot-et-Garonne is part of the current region of Aquitaine and is surrounded by the departments of Lot, Tarn-et-Garonne, Gers, Landes, Gironde, and Dordogne.
  Food-processing, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals are all major industries of the department.
  The inhabitants of the department are called Lot-et-Garonnais.
  
  wn.com/Lot-et-Garonne
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  Louisville, Kentucky
  Louisville (ⁱ/ˈluːiːvɪl/, local ⁱ/ˈluːəvəl/ or ⁱ/ˈlʌvəl/) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's total consolidated population at the 2010 census was 741,096 (Louisville's balance total, 597,337, excludes semi-autonomous towns and is the population listed in most sources and national rankings). An important internal shipping port in the 19th century, Louisville today is best known as the location of the Kentucky Derby, the first of three annual thoroughbred horse races making up the Triple Crown.
  Louisville is southeasterly situated along the border between Kentucky and Indiana, the Ohio River, in north-central Kentucky at the Falls of the Ohio. The Louisville metropolitan area is often referred to as Kentuckiana because it includes counties in Southern Indiana. A resident of Louisville is referred to as a Louisvillian. Although situated in a Southern state, Louisville is influenced by both Southern and Midwestern culture. It is sometimes referred to as either one of the most northernmost Southern cities or as on of the southernmost Northern cities in the United States along with St. Louis, Missouri and Washington, D.C.
  
  wn.com/Louisville,_Kentucky
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  Lower Normandy
  Lower Normandy (French: Basse-Normandie, IPA: [bas nɔr.mɑ̃.di]; Norman: Basse-Normaundie) is an administrative region of France. It was created in 1956, when the Normandy region was divided into Lower Normandy and Upper Normandy. The region includes three departments, Calvados, Manche and Orne, that cover the part of Normandy traditionally termed "Lower Normandy" lying west of the Dives River, the Pays d'Auge (except a small part remaining in Upper Normandy), a small part of the Pays d'Ouche (the main part remaining in Upper Normandy), the Norman Perche and part of the "French" Perche. It covers 10,857 km², 3.2 percent of the surface area of France.
  The traditional districts of Lower Normandy include the Cotentin Peninsula and La Hague, the Campagne de Caen, the Norman Bocage, the Bessin and the Avranchin.
  The traditional province of Normandy, with an integral history reaching back to the 10th century, was divided in 1957 into two regions: Lower Normandy and Upper Normandy.
  During the Roman era, the region was divided into several different city-states. That of Vieux was excavated in the 17th century, revealing numerous structures and vestiges bearing testimony to the prosperity of the Caen region.
  
  wn.com/Lower_Normandy
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  Lozère
  Lozère (French pronunciation: [lɔzɛʁ]; Occitan: Losera), is a department in southeast France near the Massif Central, named after Mont Lozère.
  Lozère is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Languedoc.
  The Beast of Gévaudan was a creature that terrorized the general area of the former province of Gévaudan, with nearly identical borders to today's Lozère, in the Margeride Mountains, in the general timeframe of 1764 to 1767.
  Pliny's Natural History praised the cheese of Lozère:
  The geography of Lozère is complicated, covering four mountain ranges. In the north-west, the basalt plateau of Aubrac rises between 1,000 and 1,450m, with a cold humid climate influenced by the Atlantic. The north and north-east of the department contains the Margeride mountains, which are formed of granite, and have peaks between 1,000 and 1,550m. The climate here is also cold, but dryer than Aubrac, with less snow.
  
  wn.com/Lozère
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  Maine-et-Loire
  Maine-et-Loire (French pronunciation: [mɛn.e.lwaʁ]) is a department in west-central France, in the Pays de la Loire region.
  Maine-et-Loire is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. Originally it was called Mayenne-et-Loire, but its name was changed to Maine-et-Loire in 1791. It was created from part of the former province of Anjou. Its present name is drawn from the former province of Maine and the Loire River, which runs through it.
  Maine-et-Loire is part of the current region of Pays-de-la-Loire and is surrounded by the departments of Ille-et-Vilaine, Mayenne, Sarthe, Indre-et-Loire, Vienne, Deux-Sèvres, Vendée, and Loire-Atlantique.
  It has a varied landscape, with forested ranges of hills in the south and north separated by the valley of the Loire. The highest point is Colline des Gardes (689 feet/210m).
  The area has many navigable rivers such as the Loire, Sarthe, Mayenne, Loir, and Authion.
  The inhabitants of Maine-et-Loire are called Angevins, from the former province of Anjou.
  
  wn.com/Maine-et-Loire
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  Manche
  Manche (French pronunciation: [mɑ̃ʃ]) is a French department in Normandy named after La Manche ("the sleeve"), which is the French name for the English Channel.
  Manche is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the province of Normandie.
  The first capital was Coutances until 1796, and it resumed that role after World War II because of the almost complete destruction of Saint-Lô during the D-Day invasion of Normandy. When Saint-Lô was rebuilt, it again became the capital.
  The Department includes the Cotentin Peninsula down to the famous Mont St Michel; though not the off-shore Îles Anglo-Normandes, which are British Crown Dependencies. These islands are a wonderful example of when Normandy invaded England and vice-versa, and oaths of allegiance to new kings got mixed up. Other reefs and not quite islands such as the Minquiers are technically British, though they are annually contested in good fun by French and Channel Island fishermen. The coast is fantastic for sailing and boating though the unusually fast tidal races require a certain yachting skill to navigate safely.
  
  wn.com/Manche
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  Marne
  Marne (French pronunciation: [maʁn]) is a department in north-eastern France named after the river Marne (Matrona in Roman times) which flows through the department. The prefecture (capital) of Marne is Châlons-en-Champagne (formerly known as Châlons-sur-Marne). The subprefectures are Épernay, Reims, Sainte-Menehould, and Vitry-le-François.
  The Champagne vineyards producing the world-famous sparkling wine are located within Marne.
  Marne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from the province of Champagne.
  Marne has a long association with the French Army. The training ground of the Camp Militaire de Mailly straddles the border with the département of Aube in the south while that of the Camp de Mourmelon occupies a large area north of Châlons-en-Champagne. The smaller Camp de Moronvilliers lies to the east of Reims and the Camp Militaire de Suippes lies to the east of that. These are all on the chalk of the Champagne plateau, a feature comparable in geology but not size, with the British military training ground on Salisbury Plain.
  
  wn.com/Marne
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  Martinique
  Martinique (French pronunciation: [maʁtinik]) is an island in the Lesser Antilles in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of 1,128 km² (436 sq mi). Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados. As with the other overseas departments, Martinique is one of the twenty-seven regions of France (being an overseas region) and an integral part of the Republic. The first European to encounter the island was Christopher Columbus in 1502.
  As part of France, Martinique is part of the European Union, and its currency is the Euro. Its official language is French, although many of its inhabitants also speak Antillean Creole (Créole Martiniquais).
  The island was occupied first by Arawaks, then by Caribs. It was charted by Columbus in 1493, but Spain had little interest in the territory. It was claimed by France in 1635 and, despite several interludes of British occupation, once during the Seven Years' War and twice during the Napoleonic Wars, has remained a French possession. In 1946, the French National Assembly voted unanimously to transform the colony into an overseas department.
  
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  Mayenne
  Mayenne (French pronunciation: [majɛn]) is a department in northwest France named after the Mayenne River.
  Mayenne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. The northern two thirds correspond to the western part of the former province of Maine. The southern third of Mayenne corresponds to the northern portion of the old province of Anjou.
  After the Coalition's victory at Waterloo, between June 1815 and November 1818, Mayenne was occupied by Prussian troops.
  Mayenne is part of the current region of Pays de la Loire and is surrounded by the departments of Manche, Orne, Sarthe, Maine-et-Loire, and Ille-et-Vilaine.
  The inhabitants of the department are called Mayennais. This demonym is not the source of the word mayonnaise.
  The town is featured as a level in the World War II video game Call of Duty 3.
  
  wn.com/Mayenne
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  Mayotte
  Mayotte (French: Mayotte, pronounced: [majɔt]; Shimaore: Maore, IPA: [maˈore]; Malagasy: Mahori) is an overseas department and region of France consisting of a main island, Grande-Terre (or Mahoré), a smaller island, Petite-Terre (or Pamanzi), and several islets around these two. The archipelago is located in the northern Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean, namely between northwestern Madagascar and northeastern Mozambique. Mayotte's area is 374 square kilometres (144 sq mi), and with its estimated 194,000 people is very densely populated (520 /km² or 1,300 /sq mi). Its biggest city and prefecture is Mamoudzou. The territory is geographically part of the Comoro Islands, but has been politically separate since a 1974 referendum in which it elected to remain under French rule. The territory is also known as Mahoré, the native name of its main island, especially by advocates of its inclusion in the Union of Comoros. In a 2009 referendum, the population overwhelmingly approved accession to status of department (95.2% voted in favour of departmental status). On March 31, 2011, Mayotte became an overseas department.
  
  wn.com/Mayotte
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  Metz
  Metz (French pronunciation: [mɛs] ( listen); German: [ˈmɛts]) is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.
  Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place of the European Greater Region and of the SaarLorLux Euroregion. So, Metz is a fellow member of the QuattroPole union of cities, along with Luxembourg City and German Saarbrücken and Trier.
  A Celtic oppidum, an important Gallo-Roman city, the Merovingian capital of the Austrasia kingdom, the birthplace of the Carolingian dynasty, a cradle of the Gregorian chant, and one of the oldest republics of the common era in Europe, Metz has a rich 3,000 year history. The city has been steeped in Romance culture, but has been strongly influenced by Germanic culture due to its location and history. A basin of urban ecology, pioneered under the leadership of people like Jean-Marie Pelt, Metz gained its nickname, The Green City, boasting over 37 m² (398 sq ft) of open ground per inhabitant and the city's historic downtown also displays one of the largest commercial, pedestrian areas in France.
  
  wn.com/Metz
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  Meurthe-et-Moselle
  Meurthe-et-Moselle (French pronunciation: [mœʁte mɔzɛl]) is a department in the Lorraine region of France, named after the Meurthe and Moselle rivers.
  Meurthe-et-Moselle was created in 1871 at the end of the Franco-Prussian War from the parts of the former departments of Moselle and Meurthe which remained French territory.
  The current boundary between Meurthe-et-Moselle and Moselle was the border between France and Germany from 1871 to 1919 and again between 1940 and 1944. The only subsequent change took place in 1997 and involved the incorporation, for administrative reasons, of the little commune of Han-devant-Pierrepont which had previously fallen within the Meuse department.
  Meurthe-et-Moselle is part of the region of Lorraine and is surrounded (counter-clockwise) by the departments of Meuse, Vosges, Bas-Rhin, and Moselle; and by the nations of Luxembourg and Belgium. Parts of Meurthe-et-Moselle belong to Parc naturel régional de Lorraine.
  Its extends from north to south for 130 kilometers and between 7 and 103 kilometers from west to east.
  
  wn.com/Meurthe-et-Moselle
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  Meuse
  Meuse (French pronunciation: [møz]) is a department in northeast France, named after the River Meuse.
  Meuse is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from the former provinces of Barrois (area of Bar-le-Duc) and Three Bishoprics (area of Verdun).
  The department was one of the great battlefields of World War I; an important battle was fought in 1916 at Verdun.
  Meuse is part of the current region of Lorraine and is surrounded by the French departments of Ardennes, Marne, Haute-Marne, Vosges, Meurthe-et-Moselle, and Belgium on the north. Parts of Meuse belong to Parc naturel régional de Lorraine.
  The important rivers are the following:
  The population has decreased sharply since the 19th century, with the rural exodus to the cities.
  
  wn.com/Meuse
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  Midi-Pyrénées
  Midi-Pyrénées (French: [midi piʁene] ( listen); Occitan: Miègjorn-Pirenèus or Mieidia-Pirenèus) is the largest region of metropolitan France by area, larger than the Netherlands or Denmark.
  Midi-Pyrénées has no historical or geographical unity. It is one of the regions of France created in the late 20th century to serve as a hinterland and zone of influence for its capital, Toulouse, one of a handful of so-called "balancing metropolises" (métropoles d'équilibre). Another example of this is the region of Rhône-Alpes which was created as the region for Lyon.
  The name chosen for the new region was decided by the French government without reference to the historical provinces (too many of them inside the region) and based on geography: Midi (i.e. "southern France") - Pyrénées (Pyrénées mountains that serve as the region's southern boundary). The French adjective and name of the inhabitants of the region is: Midi-Pyrénéen.
  Historically, Midi-Pyrénées is made up of several former French provinces:
  
  wn.com/Midi-Pyrénées
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  Montpelier, Vermont
  Montpelier /mɒntˈpiːliər/ is a city in the U.S. state of Vermont that serves as the state capital and the shire town (county seat) of Washington County. As the capital of Vermont, Montpelier is the site of the Vermont State House, seat of the legislative branch of Vermont government. The population was 7,855 at the 2010 census. By population, it is the smallest state capital in the United States. The Vermont History Museum and Vermont College of Fine Arts are located in Montpelier.
  Chartered by the Vermont General Assembly on August 14, 1781, the town was granted to Timothy Bigelow and 58 others. The first permanent settlement began in May 1787, when Colonel Jacob Davis and General Parley Davis arrived from Charlton, Massachusetts. General Davis surveyed the land, while Colonel Davis cleared forest and erected a large log house on the west side of the North Branch of the Winooski River. His family moved in the following winter.
  It was Colonel Davis who selected the name Montpelier after the French city Montpellier. There was a general enthusiasm for things French as a result of the country's aid during the American Revolution. The settlement grew quickly, and by 1791 the population reached 117.
  
  wn.com/Montpelier,_Vermont
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  Morbihan
  Morbihan (French pronunciation: [mɔʁbi.ɑ̃]; Breton: Mor-Bihan) is a department in Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Morbihan (small sea in Breton), the enclosed sea that is the principal feature of the coastline. It is famous for the Carnac stones, which are more extensive and predates the more familiar Stonehenge.
  Morbihan is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from a part of the Duchy of Brittany. It is the only French department which has no French name; the word Morbihan is Breton. It is also the only department in France which has kept its original name.
  Morbihan is part of the current region of Brittany and is surrounded by the departments of Finistère, Côtes-d'Armor, Ille-et-Vilaine, and Loire-Atlantique, and the Atlantic Ocean on the southwest.
  The Gulf of Morbihan has many islands: 365 according to legend, but, in reality, between 30 and 40, according to how they are counted. There are also many islets which are too small to be built on. Of these islands, all but two are private: l'Île aux Moines and l'Île D'Arz. The others are privately owned, some by movie stars or fashion designers.
  
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  Morocco
  Morocco (Arabic: المغرب‎ al-Maghrib ; Berber: ⵍⵎⴻⵖⵔⵉⴱ / ⴰⵎⴻⵔⵔⵓⴽElmeɣrib / Amerruk), officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of about 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², including the disputed region of the Western Sahara, seen by and mostly administered by Morocco as the Southern Provinces. Morocco is part of the Maghreb region, in addition to Tunisia, Algeria, Mauritania, and Libya, with which it shares cultural, historical and linguistic ties.
  Morocco is a constitutional monarchy with an elected parliament. The King of Morocco holds vast executive powers, including the power to dissolve the parliament. Executive power is exercised by the government but more importantly by the king himself. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament, the Assembly of Representatives and the Assembly of Councillors. The king can also issue decrees called dahirs which have the force of law. The latest Parliamentary elections were held in November 25, 2011, and were considered by some neutral observers to be mostly free and fair. Voter turnout in these elections was estimated to be 43% of registered voters, but only about 25% of Moroccan adult citizens actually voted. The rest either chose not to vote or they were not registered as voters. The political capital is Rabat, but the largest city is Casablanca; other main cities include Marrakesh, Tetouan, Tangier, Salé, Fes, Agadir, Meknes, Oujda, Kenitra, and Nador.
  
  wn.com/Morocco
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  Moselle
  Moselle (French pronunciation: [mɔ.zɛl]) is a department in the east of France named after the river Moselle.
  Moselle is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from the former province of Lorraine.
  In 1793, the foreign enclaves of Manderen, Lixing-lès-Rouhling, Momerstroff, and Créhange (Kriechingen), all possessions of princes of the German Holy Roman Empire, were annexed by France and incorporated into the Moselle département.
  By the Treaty of Paris of 1814 following the first defeat and abdication of Napoleon, France had to surrender almost all its conquests since 1792. On the northeastern border, France was not restored to its 1792 borders, but a new border was established to put an end to the convoluted nature of the border, with all its enclaves and exclaves. As a result, the French exclave of Tholey (now in Saarland, Germany) as well as a few communes near Sierck-les-Bains (both territories until then part of the Moselle département) were ceded to Austria. On the other hand, the French annexations of 1793 were confirmed, and furthermore, the south of the Napoleonic département of Sarre was ceded to France, including the town of Lebach, the city of Saarbrücken, and the rich coal basin nearby. France was thus a net beneficiary of the Treaty of Paris, all the new territories ceded to her being far larger and more strategic than the few territories ceded to Austria. All these new territories were incorporated into the Moselle department, and so Moselle had now a larger territory than ever since 1790.
  
  wn.com/Moselle
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  Musée Fabre
  The Musée Fabre is a museum in the southern French city of Montpellier, capital of the Hérault département.
  The museum was founded by François-Xavier Fabre, a Montpellier painter, in 1825. Beginning in 2003, the museum underwent a 61.2 million euro renovation, which was completed in January 2007. It is one of the main sights of Montpellier and close to the city's main square, the Place de la Comédie. The museum's national importance is recognised by it being classified as a Musée de France by the French Ministry of Culture.
  The town of Montpellier was given thirty paintings in 1802 which formed the basis of a modest municipal museum under the Empire, moving between various temporary sites. In 1825, the town council accepted a large donation of works from Fabre and the museum was installed in the refurbished Hôtel de Massillian, officially opened on 3 December 1828. Fabre's generosity led others to follow his example, notably Antoine Valedau who donated his collection of Dutch and Flemish masters to the city. On the death of Fabre in 1837, a legacy of more than a hundred pictures and drawings completed the collection.
  
  wn.com/Musée_Fabre
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  Nièvre
  Nièvre (IPA: [njɛvʁ]) is a department in the centre of France named after the Nièvre River.
  Nièvre is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from the former province of Nivernais.
  Nièvre is part of the current region of Burgundy, although historically it was not part of the province of Burgundy, and it is surrounded by the departments of Yonne, Côte-d'Or, Saône-et-Loire, Allier, Cher, and Loiret. The département is crossed by the Loire river, the longest river in France.
  Nièvre is a rural department with about 50 inhabitants / km². The main cities are : Nevers, Cosne-sur-Loire, Varennes-Vauzelles, Marzy, Decize, Imphy and La Charité. Only three cities reach 10 000 inhabitants. It indicates the characteristic of the département, which is predominantly rural.
  Nièvre is also well known for its white wine, Pouilly Fumé. The vineyards are scattered around villages including Pouilly-Sur-Loire, which lends its name to the appellation, Tracy sur Loire, Boisgibault, Saint Andelain. The word fumé is French for "smoky", and it's said the name comes from the smoky or flinty quality of these wines. The only grape allowed in the Pouilly-Fumé AC is Sauvignon Blanc, which produces wines that are generally crisp, tart, and somewhat grassy.
  
  wn.com/Nièvre
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  Nord-Pas-de-Calais
  Nord-Pas de Calais (French pronunciation: [nɔʁ pa də kalɛ] ( listen); Dutch: Noord-Nauw van Calais), Nord for short, is one of the 27 regions of France. It consists of the departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais, in the north and has a border with Belgium. Most of the region was once part of the Southern Netherlands, within the Low Countries, and gradually became part of France between 1477 and 1678. The historical provinces now included in Nord-Pas-de-Calais are Artois, Boulonnais, Calaisis, Cambraisis, French Flanders, French Hainaut and portions of northern Picardy, and the regional nickname Bassin Minier or Meiners-Bassen (Miners' or Mining Basin in the region's two languages) derived from historically large mining deposits. These provincial designations are still frequently used by the inhabitants, which offers a sense of civic pride.
  With its 323.7 people per km² on just over 12,400 km², it is a densely populated region, having some four million inhabitants—seven percent of France's total population, making it the fourth most populous region in the country—83% of whom live in urban communities. Its administrative centre and largest city is Lille. The second largest city is Calais, which serves as a major continental economic/transportation hub with Dover of Great Britain 42 kilometres (26 mi) away; the White Cliffs of Dover are visible from Calais on a clear day. Other major towns include Valenciennes, Lens, Douai, Béthune, Dunkirk, Maubeuge, Boulogne, Arras, Cambrai and Saint-Omer.
  
  wn.com/Nord-Pas-de-Calais
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  Oise
  Oise (French pronunciation: [waz]) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise.
  Oise is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the province of Île-de-France and Picardy.
  After the coalition victory at Waterloo, the department was occupied by British troops between June 1815 and November 1818.
  Oise is part of the current region of Picardie and is situated 35 km north of Paris. It is surrounded by the departments of Somme, Aisne, Seine-et-Marne, Val-d'Oise, Eure, and Seine-Maritime.
  Natives of the department are called Isariens.
  The major tourist attraction of the department is the Parc Astérix, which opened in 1989. Another very interesting site is Beauvais Cathedral. Also to be seen is the Chateau de Pierrefonds, restored by Viollet-le-Duc.
  Oise is twinned with Bedfordshire. One of the villages along the river Oise is Auvers-sur-Oise, famous for having been visited by several impressionist artists. This is where Vincent Van Gogh spent his last 70 days and it is his and his brother Theo's resting place.
  
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  Orne
  Orne (French pronunciation: [ɔʁn]) is a department in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne.
  Orne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution, on March 4, 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Normandy and Perche.
  Orne is in the region of Basse-Normandie neighbouring Eure, Eure-et-Loir, Sarthe, Mayenne, and Calvados. It is the only department of Basse Normandie and Haute Normandie to be landlocked.
  The largest town by a considerable margin is the prefecture, Alençon which is an administrative and commercial centre for what is still an overwhelmingly rural department. There are no large industrial centres: agriculture remains the economic focus of Orne.
  The inhabitants of the department are called Ornais.
  The recorded population level peaked at 443,688 in 1836. Declining farm incomes and the lure of better prospects in the overseas empire led to a sustained reduction in population levels in many rural departments, and by the time of the 1936 census the recorded population stood at just 269,331. Once motor car ownership started to surge in the 1960s employment opportunities became less restricted and by 2008 the population level had recovered a little to 292,282.
  
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  Pas-de-Calais
  Pas-de-Calais (French pronunciation: [pɑ d(ə) kalɛ]) is a department in northern France. Its name is the French equivalent of the Strait of Dover, which it borders.
  Inhabited since prehistoric times, the Pas-de-Calais region was populated in turn by the Celtic Belgae, the Romans, the Germanic Franks and the Alemanni. During the fourth and fifth centuries, the Roman practice of coopting Germanic tribes to provide military and defense services along the route from Boulogne to Cologne created a Germanic-Romance linguistic border in the region that persisted until the eighth century.
  Saxon colonization into the region from the fifth to the eighth centuries likely extended the linguistic border somewhat south and west so that by the ninth century most inhabitants north of the line between Béthune and Berck spoke a dialect of Middle Dutch, while the inhabitants to the south spoke Picard, a variety of Romance dialects.
  This linguistic border is still evident today in the toponyms and patronyms of the region. Beginning in the ninth century, the linguistic border began a steady move to north and the east, and by the end of the 15th century Romance dialects had completely displaced those of Dutch.
  
  wn.com/Pas-de-Calais
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  Pays de la Loire
  Pays de la Loire (French pronunciation: [pɛ.i də la lwaʁ]; Breton: Broioù al Liger) is one of the 27 regions of France. It is one of the regions created in the late 20th century to serve as a zone of influence for its capital, Nantes, one of a handful so-called "balancing metropolises" (métropoles d'équilibre)¹. Other examples of "artificially created" regions include Rhône-Alpes, which was created as the region for Lyon, and Midi-Pyrénées, which was created as the region for Toulouse.
  Pays de la Loire is made up of the following historical provinces:
  Consequently, the name of the region, chosen by the French central government, was not based on history, but purely on geographical references: Pays (i.e. "lands") de la Loire (i.e. "of the Loire River"). However, the majority of the famous châteaux of the Loire Valley are located in the Centre region, and not inside Pays de la Loire, despite the confusing name. The Pays de la Loire present many great monuments as the castles of Angers, Laval, Mayenne and the Nantes "Château des Ducs de Bretagne", the Royal Fontevraud Abbey (the widest monastic ensemble in Europe), the old city of Le Mans, and also many natural parks such as the Brière and the Marsh of Poitou.
  
  wn.com/Pays_de_la_Loire
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  Picardy (region)
  Picardy (French: Picardie, French pronunciation: [pikaʁdi]) is one of the 27 regions of France. It is located in the northern part of France.
  The historical province of Picardy stretched from north of Noyon to Calais, via the whole of the Somme department and the north of the Aisne department. The province of Artois (Arras area) separated Picardy from French Flanders.
  In the 5th century the area was occupied by the Franks, and in the feudal period it encompassed the six countships of Boulogne, Montreuil, Ponthieu, Amiénois, Vermandois, and Laonnois.
  The name "Picardy" (which may have referred to a Frankish tribe of picards or pike-bearers) was not used until the 12th or 13th century. During this time, the name applied to all lands where the Picard language was spoken, which included all the territories from Paris to the Netherlands. In the Latin Quarter of Paris, people identified a "Picard Nation" (Nation Picarde) of students at Sorbonne University, most of whom actually came from Flanders.
  
  wn.com/Picardy_(region)
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  Poitou-Charentes
  Poitou-Charentes (French pronunciation: [pwatu ʃaʁɑ̃t] ( listen)) is an administrative region in central western France comprising four departments: Charente, Charente-Maritime, Deux-Sèvres and Vienne. The regional capital is Poitiers.
  The regional council is composed of 56 members. The region is the home of France's losing presidential candidate Socialist Ségolène Royal in the election of 2007.
  In French its residents are known as Picto-Charentais. In 2003, the region ranked 15th out of 26 in population. In area it ranked 12th in size.
  Three regional languages, Poitevin, Saintongeais and Limousin are spoken by a minority of people in the region.
  Poitou is believed to be the region of origin of most of the Acadian and Cajun populations of North America (settlements founded in New Brunswick, Louisiana, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, the Gaspe Peninsula of Quebec, Maine and Newfoundland). Their ancestors emigrated from the region in the 17th and 18th centuries.
  At first, these French immigrants from Poitou settled in eastern Canada, and established an agricultural and maritime economy (farming and fishing). This area of the "New World" was dubbed Acadia by the French, after the Greek Arcadia - the idyllic part of the Peloponnesian peninsula in Greece. It was renamed Nova Scotia (New Scotland) in the aftermath of the 1755 expulsion of most of the Acadians by the English.
  
  wn.com/Poitou-Charentes
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  Porte du Peyrou
  The Porte du Peyrou is a triumphal arch in Montpellier, in southern France. It is situated at the eastern end of the Jardin de Peyrou, a park near the center of the city.
  The arch was designed by François Dorbay, after the model of the Porte Saint-Denis in Paris. Its construction was completed in 1693. Its rusticated surface is crowned by a Doric entablature, suitable to a martial monument. Its later panels in bas-relief and inscriptions glorifying King Louis XIV of France were added in 1715.
  These reliefs show four major events from the reign of Louis XIV, rendered as allegories:
  Coordinates: 43°36′40″N 3°52′20.5″E / 43.61111°N 3.872361°E / 43.61111; 3.872361
  
  wn.com/Porte_du_Peyrou
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  Puy-de-Dôme
  Puy-de-Dôme (French pronunciation: [pɥi də dom]; lo Puèi de Doma / lo Puèi Domat in the Auvergnat dialect of the Occitan language) is a department in the centre of France named after the famous dormant volcano, the Puy-de-Dôme.
  Inhabitants were called Puydedomois until December 2005. With effect from Spring 2006, in response to a letter writing campaign, the name used for the inhabitants was change by the departmental General Council to Puydômois, and this is the name that has since then been used in all official documents and publications.
  Puy-de-Dôme is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from the former province of Auvergne. Originally, the department was to be called Mont-d'Or ("Golden Mountain"), but this was changed to Puy-de-Dôme following the intervention of Jean-François Gaultier de Biauzat, a local deputy, because of a concern that the name originally chosen risked attracting excessive unwelcome attention from the national taxation authorities.
  
  wn.com/Puy-de-Dôme
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  Pyrénées-Atlantiques
  Pyrénées-Atlantiques (French pronunciation: [pi.ʁe.ne.at.lɑ̃.tik]; Gascon: Pirenèus-Atlantics; Basque: Pirinio-Atlantiarrak or Pirinio-Atlantikoak) is a department in the southwest of France which takes its name from the Pyrenees mountains and the Atlantic Ocean.
  Basses-Pyrénées is one of the original 83 departments of France created during the French Revolution, on March 4, 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Guyenne, Béarn, and Gascony and included the three traditional provinces of the northern Basque Country: Labourd, Soule, and Basse-Navarre. It also included two tiny exclaves of Bigorre which were located within Béarn.
  The previous history of the region, under the Ancien Régime, can be found at those individual articles.
  On October 10, 1969, Basses-Pyrénées was renamed Pyrénées-Atlantiques.
  Pyrénées-Atlantiques is part of the Aquitaine region of Southwest France. It is bordered by the Landes, Hautes-Pyrénées, Gers departments and the Bay of Biscay.
  Principal settlements include Pau, Oloron-Sainte-Marie, Orthez, Biarritz, Bayonne, Anglet, Urrugne, Saint-Jean-de-Luz and Hendaye.
  
  wn.com/Pyrénées-Atlantiques
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  Pyrénées-Orientales
  Pyrénées-Orientales (French pronunciation: [pi.ʁe.ne.ɔ.ʁjɑ̃.tal]; English: Eastern Pyrenees; Catalan: Pirineus Orientals; Occitan: Pirenèus Orientals) is a department of southern France adjacent to the northern Spanish frontier and the Mediterranean Sea. It also surrounds the tiny Spanish enclave of Llívia, and thus has two distinct borders with Spain.
  Prior to the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, most of the present department was part of the former Principality of Catalonia, within the Kingdom of Spain, so the majority of it has historically been Catalan-speaking, and it is still sometimes referred to as Northern Catalonia.
  The modern department was created early during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790, through the application of a law dated 22 December 1789. Pyrénées-Orientales corresponds almost exactly to the pre-Revolutionary province of Roussillon, but it also includes Fenolheda, a small piece of territory which had formerly been on the southern edge of Languedoc. See also: French Cerdagne.
  
  wn.com/Pyrénées-Orientales
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  Rhône (department)
  Rhône (French pronunciation: [ʁon]; Franco-Provençal : Rôno) is a French department located in the central Eastern region of Rhône-Alpes. It is named after the Rhône River.
  The Rhône department was created on August 12, 1793 when the former département of Rhône-et-Loire was split into two departments: Rhône and Loire.
  Originally, the eastern border of Rhône was the city of Lyon itself, so that the communes immediately east of Lyon belonged to neighboring department. With the growth of Lyon and the spilling of the urban area over the suburban communes of Lyon, the limits of the department were judged impractical as they left the suburbs of Lyon outside of Rhône . Thus, Rhône was enlarged several times to incorporate into it the suburbs of Lyon from neighboring department:
  With these enlargements, the area of the Rhône department increased from 2,791 km² to the current 3,249 km² (16.4% larger). At the 1999 French census, the original Rhône department would have had only 1,071,288 inhabitants, which means that the population in the territories added in the last two centuries was 507,581 inhabitants in 1999.
  
  wn.com/Rhône_(department)
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  Rieussec
  This article is about the commune in France; for the inventor of the chronograph, see Nicolas Mathieu Rieussec.
  Coordinates: 43°25′05″N 2°44′24″E / 43.4181°N 2.74°E / 43.4181; 2.74
  Rieussec (Occitan: Riu Sec, meaning dry river) is a commune in the Hérault department in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in southern France.
  The Thoré has its source in the northern part of the commune.
  
  
  
  wn.com/Rieussec
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  Rio de Janeiro
  Rio de Janeiro ( /ˈriːoʊ deɪ ʒəˈnɛəroʊ/ or /ˈriːoʊ deɪ dʒəˈnɛəroʊ/; Brazilian Portuguese: [ˈʁi.u dʒi ʒaˈnejɾu],River of January), commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th largest in the Americas, and 26th in the world.
  The city was the capital of Brazil for nearly two centuries, from 1763 to 1815 during the Portuguese colonial era, 1815 to 1821 as the capital of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and Algarves, and 1822 to 1960 as an independent nation. Rio is nicknamed the Cidade Maravilhosa or "Marvelous City."
  Rio de Janeiro represents the second largest GDP in the country (and 30th largest in the world in 2008), estimated at about R$ 343 billion (IBGE/2008) (nearly US$ 201 billion), and is the headquarters of two major Brazilian companies – Petrobras and Vale, and major oil companies and telephony in Brazil, besides the largest conglomerate of media and communications companies in Latin America, the Globo Organizations. The home of many universities and institutes, it is the second largest center of research and development in Brazil, accounting for 17% of national scientific production – according to 2005 data.
  
  wn.com/Rio_de_Janeiro
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  Roujan
  Coordinates: 43°30′20″N 3°18′41″E / 43.5056°N 3.3114°E / 43.5056; 3.3114
  Roujan is a commune in the Hérault department in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in southern France.
  It has a small collection of shops and cafes and is served by a regular though infrequent bus service.
  
  
  
  wn.com/Roujan
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  Réunion
  Réunion (French: La Réunion, IPA: [la 'ʁeynjɔ̃] ( listen); previously Île Bourbon) is a French island with a population of about 800,000 located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about 200 kilometres (120 mi) south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.
  Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas departments of France. Like the other overseas departments, Réunion is also one of the 27 regions of France (being an overseas region) and an integral part of the Republic with the same status as those situated on the European mainland.
  Réunion is an outermost region of the European Union and, as an overseas department of France, is part of the Eurozone.
  Before the arrival of the Portuguese in the early sixteenth century, there is little to Réunion's recorded history. Arab traders were familiar with it by the name Dina Morgabin,. The island possibly features on a map from 1153 AD by Al Sharif el-Edrisi. The island may also have been visited by Swahili or Malay sailors.
  The first European discovery of the area was made around 1507 by Portuguese explorers, but the specifics are unclear. The uninhabited island may have been first sighted by the expedition led by Don Pedro Mascarenhas, who gave his name to the island group around Réunion, the Mascarenes. Réunion itself was dubbed Santa Apolonia after a favorite saint, which suggests that the date of the Portuguese discovery may have been February 9, her saint day. Diego Lopes de Sequeira is claimed to have landed on the island in 1509.
  
  wn.com/Réunion
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  Sarthe
  Sarthe (French pronunciation: [saʁt]) is a French department, named after the Sarthe River.
  The department was created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790, pursuant to the law of December 22, 1789, starting from a part of the province of Maine which was divided into two departments, Sarthe to the east and Mayenne to the west.
  In Roman Times, this province contained the city of Mans, and many of its ruins are still left standing. The Thermal Bathhouse attracts many tourists, as does the Theater of Aubigné-Racan, both located on the outskirts of Anjou, Maine, and Touraine.
  Marin Mersenne, perhaps the most important scientific figure in the early 1600s, was born in the vicinity of Sarthe.
  The department of Sarthe is at the north end of the administrative region of Pays-de-la-Loire. This places it south of Basse-Normandie and on the south edge of the Armorican Massif. It is bordered by the departments of Orne, Eure-et-Loir, Loir-et-Cher, Indre-et-Loire, Maine-et-Loire and Mayenne.
  Approximately 300,000 people, comprising more than half of the department's population, live in Le Mans, its conurbation or the essentially urban communes close by. The rest of the department retains its rural character, however, being dominated economically by agriculture.
  
  wn.com/Sarthe
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  Savoie
  Savoie (pronounced: [sa.vwa]; Arpitan: Savouè d’Avâl, Italian: Savoia, pronounced [saˈvɔja], English: Savoy,  /səˈvɔɪ/) is a French department located in the Rhône-Alpes region in the French Alps.
  Together with the Haute-Savoie, Savoie is one of the two departments of the historic region of Savoy that was annexed by France on June 14, 1860, following the signature of the Treaty of Turin on March 24, 1860. For history before 1860, details of the annexation, and modern regionalism, see Savoy.
  It is widely accepted that Savoie takes its name from the Latin Sapaudia or Sabaudia, meaning land covered in fir trees.
  Savoie was long part of the states of Savoy, though it was occupied many times by France starting in the 16th century. It was integrated into the Mont-Blanc department from 1792 to 1815 (and partially into the Léman department from 1798 to 1814). The province was annexed by France in 1860. The former Duchy of Savoy became the two departments of Savoie and Haute-Savoie.
  Moûtiers, capital of the former province of Tarentaise Valley (French: Vallée de la Tarentaise) ceased to be the county seat after a law passed on September 10, 1926.
  
  wn.com/Savoie
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  Saône-et-Loire
  Saône-et-Loire (French pronunciation: [soː.n‿e.lwaʁ]; Arpitan: Sona-et-Lêre) is a French department, named after the Saône and the Loire rivers between which it lies.
  When it was formed during the French Revolution, as of March 4, 1790 in fulfillment of the law of December 22, 1789, the new department combined parts of the provinces of southern Burgundy and Bresse, uniting lands that had no previous common history nor political unity and which have no true geographical unity. Thus its history is that of Burgundy, and is especially to be found in the local histories of Autun, Mâcon, Chalon-sur-Saône, Charolles and Louhans.
  Saône-et-Loire is the seventh largest department of France and the most densely populated in the region of Bourgogne. In the east the department is composed of the hills of the Autunois, the region around Autun, of the Charollais and of the Mâconnais. In the centre it is traversed from north to south by the Saône in its wide plain; the Saône is a tributary of the River Rhône that joins it at Lyon and thus is connected to the Mediterranean Sea. The Loire makes its way in the opposite direction, draining into the Atlantic Ocean. The Canal du Centre links the Saône to the Loire between Chalon-sur-Saône and Digoin, thereby linking the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic ocean. In the east the department occupies the northern part of the plain of Bresse. In the west its industrial heart is in Le Creusot and Montceau-les-Mines.
  
  wn.com/Saône-et-Loire
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  Seine-et-Marne
  Seine-et-Marne (French pronunciation: [sɛn e maʁn]) is a French department, named after the Seine and Marne rivers, and located in the Île-de-France region.
  Seine-et-Marne is one of the original 83 departments, created on March 4, 1790 during the French Revolution in application of the law of December 22, 1789. It had previously belonged to the former province of Île-de-France.
  Seine-et-Marne forms a part of the Île-de-France region; the department covers 49% of the region's land area. It is bordered by Val-d'Oise, Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne, Essonne to the West; Loiret and Yonne to the South; Aube and Marne to the East; and Aisne and Oise to the North.
  The department has many natural reserves, notably Brie and Gâtinais.
  Principal Towns include: Chelles, Torcy, Pontault-Combault, Lagny-sur-Marne, Coulommiers, Champs-sur-Marne, Nemours, Meaux, Melun, Montereau-Fault-Yonne, Brie-Comte-Robert, Provins, Fontainebleau as well as the new towns of Marne-la-Vallée and Sénart.
  The highest point of the département is Saint-George’s Hill (215 m).
  
  wn.com/Seine-et-Marne
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  Seine-Maritime
  Seine-Maritime (French pronunciation: [sɛn.ma.ʁi.tim]) is a French department in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and Le Havre. Until 1955 it was named Seine-Inférieure.
  The department can be split into three main areas:
  The département was created in 1790 as Seine-Inférieure, one of five departements that replaced the former province of Normandy. In 1800 five arrondissements were created within the département, namely Rouen, Le Havre, Dieppe, Neufchatel and Yvetot, although the latter two were disbanded in 1926. On 18 January 1955 the name of the département was changed to Seine-Maritime, in order to provide a more positive-sounding name and in-keeping with changes made in a number of other French departements.
  In 1843 the railway from Paris reached the region. The département is connected to the adjacent Eure department via the Tancarville and Pont de Normandie bridge crossings of the Seine.
  
  wn.com/Seine-Maritime
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  Seine-Saint-Denis
  Seine-Saint-Denis (French pronunciation: [sɛn.sɛ̃.də.ni]) is a French department located in the Île-de-France region. In local slang, it is known as "quatre-vingt treize" (i.e. "ninety-three") or "neuf trois" (i.e. "nine three"), after the official administrative number of the department, 93. The inhabitants are called Séquano-Dionysiens.
  Seine-Saint-Denis is located to the northeast of Paris. It has a surface area of only 236 km², making it one of the smallest departments in France. Seine-Saint-Denis and two other small departments, Hauts-de-Seine and Val-de-Marne, form a ring around Paris, known as the Petite Couronne ("little crown"). They form, together with Paris and four other departments, the region of Île-de-France.
  
  Seine-Saint-Denis is made up of 3 departmental arrondissements and 40 communes:
  
  Seine-Saint-Denis was created in January 1968, through the implementation of a law passed in July 1964. It was formed from the part of the (hitherto larger) Seine department to the north and north-east of the Paris ring road (and the line of the old city walls), together with a small slice taken from Seine-et-Oise.
  
  wn.com/Seine-Saint-Denis
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  Somme
  Somme (French pronunciation: [sɔm]) is a department of France, located in the north of the country and named after the Somme river. It is part of the Picardy region of France.
  The north central area of the Somme département was the site of a series of battles through the Great War. Particularly significant was the 1916 Battle of the Somme. As a result of this and other battles fought in the area the department is home to many military cemeteries and several major monuments commemorating the many soldiers from various countries who died on its battlefields.
  At the beginning of the First World War, during the September 1914 Race to the Sea, the Somme became the site of the Battle of Albert. The battle was a five day engagement between the 25th and 29 September, with the French Tenth Army attacking at Albert and pushing toward Bapaume, and the German Sixth Army counter-attacking back towards Albert. The line settled around the town of Thiepval and remained there until July 1916, when the Battle of the Somme would be fought on and around the same ground.
  
  wn.com/Somme
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  Spain
  Spain (ⁱ/ˈspeɪn/ SPAYN; Spanish: España, pronounced: [esˈpaɲa] ( listen)), officially the Kingdom of Spain (Spanish: Reino de España), is a sovereign state and a member of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Its mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar; to the north and north east by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the northwest and west by the Atlantic Ocean and Portugal.
  Spanish territory also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the African coast, and two autonomous cities in North Africa, Ceuta and Melilla, that border Morocco. Furthermore, the town of Llívia is a Spanish exclave situated inside French territory. With an area of 504,030 square kilometres (194,610 sq mi), it is the second largest country in Western Europe and the European Union after France, and the fourth largest country in Europe after Russia, Ukraine and France.
  
  wn.com/Spain
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  Stade de la Mosson
  Stade de la Mosson is a football stadium in Montpellier, France. It is the home of Montpellier HSC (Ligue 1) and has a capacity of 32,900. Formerly a 16,000-seater stadium, it was entirely rebuilt in 1998 to host 6 games of the 1998 FIFA World Cup. It was also used as a venue for group stage matches in the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
  On Saturday 9 June 2012, the stadium will host rugby league for the first time. The Catalan Dragons will continue their policy of playing home games away from the Stade Gilbert Brutus, Perpignan by playing their Stobart Super League fixture against Wigan Warriors at the stadium. This will be the second time the fixture has been played in Montpellier with the previous year's game being held in the Stade Yves-du-Manoir.
  The stadium was one of the venues for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The following games were played at the stadium during the World Cup of 1998:
  
  
  wn.com/Stade_de_la_Mosson
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  Stade Sabathé
  Stade Sabathé is a multi-use stadium in Montpellier, France. It is currently used mostly for rugby union and rugby league matches and is the home stadium of Montpellier Red Devils. Until 2007 it was the home stadium of Montpellier RC. The stadium is able to hold 6,500 people.
  
  
  
  wn.com/Stade_Sabathé
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  Tarn (department)
  Tarn (French pronunciation: [taʁn]; Occitan: Tarn) is a department of 5,758 km² in the Midi-Pyrénées region in the southwest of France, named after the Tarn River. It was formed in 1790 of the three dioceses of Albi, Castres and Lavaur, belonging to the province of Languedoc. In 1906, the population was 330,533. In 1999, it stood at 343,402.
  Of particular note in the department are Albi (the capital), Castres, Gaillac, Lavaur, Mazamet and Cordes.
  Other places of interest are:
  
  
  Tarn is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790, through application of the Law of 22 December 1789. It was created from part of the former province of Languedoc, and comprised the dioceses of Albi and Castres (which found themselves merged in 1817).
  By the law of 28 Pluviôse, Year 5, the departments of Hérault and of Tarn exchanged the canton of Anglès (which had been part of the diocese of Saint-Pons, but which has remained in Tarn) for that of Saint-Gervais-sur-Mare (which had been part of the diocese of Castres, but which today remains in Hérault ).
  
  wn.com/Tarn_(department)
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  Tarn-et-Garonne
  Tarn-et-Garonne (French pronunciation: [taʁn‿e ɡa.ʁɔn]) is a French department in the southwest of France. It is traversed by the Rivers Tarn and Garonne, from which it takes its name.
  The department was created on November 4, 1808 during the First French Empire by a decision of Napoleon I. It was formed out of territories belonging to neighboring areas. More than half of the territory was taken from the Lot (including Montauban and Moissac), over one-third was taken from Haute-Garonne (including Castelsarrasin), and the rest from the departments of Lot-et-Garonne, Gers, and Aveyron.
  Tarn-et-Garonne constitutes part of the Midi-Pyrénées region. It borders the departments of Lot, Aveyron, Tarn, Haute-Garonne, Gers, and Lot-et-Garonne.
  The highest point in the department, at 510 m, is the Pech Maurel, situated in the commune of Castanet.
  
  wn.com/Tarn-et-Garonne
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  Tiberias
  Tiberias ( /taɪˈbɪəriəs/; Hebrew: טְבֶרְיָה‎‎, Tverya, Tiveria  (audio) (help·info); Arabic: طبرية‎, Ṭabariyyah) is a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee (also called the Kinneret), Lower Galilee, Israel. Established in 20 CE, it was named in honour of the emperor Tiberius.
  Tiberias has been venerated in Judaism since the middle of the 2nd century CE and since the 16th century has been considered one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Hebron and Safed. In the 2nd-10th centuries, Tiberias was the largest Jewish city in the Galilee and the political and religious hub of the Jews of Palestine. According to Christian tradition, Jesus performed several miracles in the Tiberias district, making it an important pilgrimage site for Christians. Tiberias has historically been known for its hot springs, believed to cure skin and other ailments, for thousands of years.
  Tiberias was founded sometime around 20 CE in Herodian Tetrarchy of Galilee and Peraea by the Roman Jewish client king Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great. Herod Antopas made it the capital of his realm in the Galilee. Tiberias had a Jewish majority, living alongside a heterogeneous population. It was named in honor of the Roman Emperor Tiberius. There is a legend that Tiberias was built on the site of the Israelite village of Rakkat, mentioned in the Book of Joshua (Joshua 19:35). A discussion of Tiberias as Rakkat appears in the Talmud.^{[better source needed]} In The Antiquities of the Jews, the Roman-Jewish historian Josephus states that Tiberias was located near Emmaus. This location is repeated in The Wars of the Jews.^{[better source needed]}
  
  wn.com/Tiberias
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  Tlemcen
  Coordinates: 34°52′58″N 1°19′00″W / 34.8827758°N 1.3166696°W / 34.8827758; -1.3166696
  Tlemcen (Arabic: تلمسان‎) is a town in Northwestern Algeria, and the capital of the province of the same name. It is located inland in the center of a region known for its olive plantations and vineyards. The city has developed leather, carpet, and textile industries, which it ships to the port of Rashgun for export.
  Its population is about 140,000, while the province had 949,135 inhabitants in the 2008 census, and should reach about 1,200,000 by 2011.
  The word Tlemcen (Arabic: تلمسان‎) comes from Berber Tala Imsan ( in Tifinagh) which means "the dry spring". The name is sometimes spelled Tlemsen, Tlemsan, or Tilimsen.
  Its centuries of rich history and culture have made the city a center of a unique blend of music and art. Its textiles and handcrafts, its elegant blend of Islamic, Berber, Andalucian and French cultures, and its cool climate in the mountains have made it an important center of tourism in Algeria. It is home to a beautiful tomb - that of Sidi Boumédiène, whose tomb adjoins to a mosque. The Great Mosque at Tlemcen was completed in 1136 and is said to be the most remarkable remaining example of Almoravid architecture.
  
  wn.com/Tlemcen
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  Turkey
  Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye), known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( Türkiye Cumhuriyeti (help·info)), is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia (mostly in the Anatolian peninsula) and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan (the exclave of Nakhchivan) and Iran to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the southeast. The Mediterranean Sea and Cyprus are to the south; the Aegean Sea is to the west; and the Black Sea is to the north. The Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles (which together form the Turkish Straits) demarcate the boundary between East Thrace and Anatolia; they also separate Europe and Asia.
  Turkey is one of the six independent Turkic states. The vast majority of the population are Muslims. The country's official language is Turkish, whereas Kurdish and Zazaki languages are spoken by Kurds and Zazas, who constitute 18% of the population.
  
  wn.com/Turkey
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  United States
  The United States of America (commonly abbreviated to the United States, the U.S., the USA, America, and the States) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west, across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Pacific and Caribbean.
  At 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km²) and with over 312 million people, the United States is the third or fourth largest country by total area, and the third largest by both land area and population. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The U.S. economy is the world's largest national economy, with an estimated 2011 GDP of $15.1 trillion (22% of nominal global GDP and over 19% of global GDP at purchasing-power parity). Per capita income is the world's sixth-highest.
  
  wn.com/United_States
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  Upper Normandy
  Upper Normandy (French: Haute-Normandie, IPA: [ot nɔʁmɑ̃di]; Norman: Ĥâote-Normaundie) is one of the 27 regions of France. It was created in 1984 from two départements: Seine-Maritime and Eure, when Normandy was divided into Lower Normandy and Upper Normandy. This division continues to provoke controversy, and some continue to call for reuniting the two regions. However, the name Upper Normandy existed prior to 1956 and referred by tradition to territories currently included within the administrative region: the Pays de Caux, the Pays de Bray (not that of Picardy), the Roumois, the Campagne of Le Neubourg, the Plaine de Saint André and the Norman Vexin. Today, most of the Pays d'Auge, as well as a small portion of the Pays d'Ouche, are located in Lower Normandy.
  Rouen is the regional capital, historically important with many fine churches and buildings, including the tallest cathedral tower in France. The region's largest city, in terms of metropolitan population, is Le Havre. The region is twinned with the London Borough of Redbridge in England. Its economy is centered around agriculture, industry, petrochemicals and tourism.
  
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  Val-d'Oise
  Val-d'Oise (French pronunciation: [val dwaz]) is a French department, created in 1968 after the split of the Seine-et-Oise department and located in the Île-de-France region. In local slang, it is known as "quatre-vingt quinze" (i.e. "ninety-five") or "neuf cinq" (i.e. "nine five"). It gets its name from the Oise River, a major tributary of the Seine, which crosses the region after having started in Belgium and flowed through north-eastern France. Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, France's main international airport is partially located in Roissy-en-France, a commune of Val d'Oise.
  
  
  Val-d'Oise was created when the former departments Seine and Seine-et-Oise were broken up into six departments in 1968.
  In descending order, the largest communes (over 25,000 population as of the 1999 census) are: Argenteuil, Sarcelles, Cergy, Garges-lès-Gonesse, Franconville, Ermont, Pontoise, Goussainville, Bezons, Villiers-le-Bel, Taverny, and Sannois.
  
  
  
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  Val-de-Marne
  Val-de-Marne (French pronunciation: [val.də.maʁn]) is a French department, named after the Marne River, located in the Île-de-France region. The department is situated to the southeast of the city of Paris.
  Val-de-Marne is, together with Seine-Saint-Denis and Hauts-de-Seine, one of three small departments in Île-de-France that form a ring around Paris, known as the Petite Couronne (i.e. "inner ring").
  
  Val-de-Marne is made up of 3 departmental arrondissements and 47 communes:
  
  
  Val-de-Marne was created in January 1968, through the implementation of a law passed in July 1964. Positioned to the south-east of the Paris ring road (and the line of the old city walls), it was formed from the southern-eastern part of the (previously much larger) Seine department, together with a small portion taken from the broken-up department of Seine-et-Oise.
  
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  Var (department)
  The Var (French pronunciation: [vaʁ]) is a French department in the region Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur in Provence, in southeast France. It takes its name from the river Var, which used to flow along its eastern boundary, but the boundary was moved in 1860. The Var is bordered on the east by the department of Alpes-Maritimes; to the west by Bouches-du-Rhône to the north of the Verdon River by the department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, and to the south by the Mediterranean Sea.
  Toulon is the largest city and administrative capital of the Var. Other important towns in the Var include Fréjus, Saint-Raphael, Draguignan, Brignoles and Hyères.
  The Var is known for the harbour of Toulon, the main port of the French Navy; for its seaside resorts, the most famous of which is Saint-Tropez; for some fine examples of Romanesque and medieval architecture, such as the Le Thoronet Abbey and Fréjus Cathedral; and for its wines, particularly the wines of Bandol.
  The Department of the Var was created at the time of the French Revolution, on March 4, 1790, from a portion of the former Royal province of Provence. Its capital was originally Toulon, but this was moved to Grasse in 1793 to punish the Toulonnais for having handed the town to British in 1793. The capital was moved to Brignoles in 1795, then to Draguignan in 1797. It was not returned to Toulon until 1974.
  
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  Vaucluse
  The Vaucluse (French pronunciation: [vokˈlyz]; Occitan: Vauclusa in classical norm or Vau-Cluso in Mistralian norm) is a department in the southeast of France, named after the famous spring, the Fontaine-de-Vaucluse.
  Vaucluse was created on 12 August 1793 out of parts of the departments of Bouches-du-Rhône, Drôme, and Basses-Alpes (later renamed Alpes-de-Haute-Provence). The then rural department was, like the nearby city of Lyon, a hotbed of the French Resistance in World War II.
  Vaucluse is bordered by the Rhône to the west and the River Durance to the south. Mountains occupy a significant proportion of the eastern half of the department, with Mont Ventoux (1,912 m), also known as "the Giant of Provence", dominating the landscape. Other important mountain ranges include the Dentelles de Montmirail, the Monts de Vaucluse, and the Luberon. Fruit and vegetables are cultivated in great quantities in the lower-lying parts of the department, on one of the most fertile plains in southern France. The Vaucluse département has a rather large exclave within the Drôme department, the canton of Valréas (Enclave des Papes).
  
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  Vendée
  The Vendée (French pronunciation: [vɑ̃.de]) is a department in the Pays-de-la-Loire region in west central France, on the Atlantic Ocean. The name Vendée is taken from the Vendée river which runs through the south-eastern part of the department.
  The area today called the Vendée was originally known as the Bas-Poitou and is part of the former province of Poitou. In the south-east corner, the village of Nieul-sur-l'Autise is believed to be the birthplace of Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122–1204) and was part of her kingdom. Eleanor's son, Richard I of England (the Lionheart) often had his base in Talmont. The Hundred Years' War (1337–1453) turned much of the Vendée into a battleground.
  Since the Vendée held a considerable number of influential Protestants, including control by Jeanne d'Albret, the region was greatly affected by the French Wars of Religion which broke out in 1562 and continued until 1598. Eventually King Henri IV issued the Edict of Nantes and the Wars came to an end. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 caused many Huguenots to flee from the Vendée.
  
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  Vermont
  Vermont ⁱ/vɜrˈmɒnt/ is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. Vermont is the 6th least extensive and the 2nd least populous of the 50 United States. It is the only New England state not bordering the Atlantic Ocean. Lake Champlain forms half of Vermont's western border, which it shares with the state of New York. The Green Mountains are within the state. Vermont is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the north.
  Originally inhabited by two major Native American tribes (the Algonquian-speaking Abenaki and the Iroquois), much of the territory that is now Vermont was claimed by France during its early colonial period. France ceded the territory to the Kingdom of Great Britain after being defeated in 1763 in the Seven Years' War (also called the French and Indian War). For many years, the nearby colonies, especially New Hampshire and New York, disputed control of the area (then called the New Hampshire Grants). Settlers who held land titles granted by these colonies were opposed by the Green Mountain Boys militia, which eventually prevailed in creating an independent state, the Vermont Republic. Founded in 1777 during the Revolutionary War, the republic lasted for fourteen years. Vermont is one of seventeen U.S. states (along with Texas, Hawaii, the brief California Republic, and each of the original Thirteen Colonies) to have had a sovereign government in the past. In 1791, Vermont joined the United States as the 14th state, the first outside the original 13 Colonies. It abolished slavery while still independent, and upon joining the Union became the first state to have done so.
  
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  Vienne
  Vienne (French pronunciation: [vjɛn]) is the northernmost département of the Poitou-Charentes region of France, named after the river Vienne.
  Vienne is one of the original 83 departments, established on March 4, 1790 during the French Revolution. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Poitou, Touraine, and Berry. The original Acadians who settled in Nova Scotia and what is today other maritime provinces of Canada, left Vienne for North America after 1604.
  Goat cheese making is an important industry of Vienne.
  The most famous tourist sites include the Futuroscope theme park, Poitiers (city of Art and History), the Abbey Church of Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe, a UNESCO world heritage site, the animal parks of Monkey's Valley in Romagne & the Crocodile Planet in Civaux.
  
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  Vosges
  Vosges (French pronunciation: [voʒ]) is a French department, named after the local mountain range. It contains the hometown of Joan of Arc, Domrémy.
  The Vosges department is one of the original 83 departments of France, created on February 9, 1790 during the French Revolution. It was made of territories that had been part of the province of Lorraine. In German it is referred to as Vogesen.
  In 1793 the independent principality of Salm-Salm (town of Senones and its surroundings), enclosed inside the Vosges department, was annexed to France and incorporated into Vosges. In 1795 the area of Schirmeck was detached from the Bas-Rhin department and incorporated into the Vosges department. The Vosges department had now an area of 6,127 km² (2,366 sq. miles) which it kept until 1871.
  In 1794 the Vosges was the site of a major battle between the forces of Revolutionary France and the Allied Coalition. See Battle of the Vosges.
  The Place des Vosges in Paris was so renamed in 1799 when the department became the first to pay the new Revolutionary taxes.
  
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  Yonne
  Yonne (French pronunciation: [jɔn]) is a French department named after the Yonne River. It is one of the four constituent departments of Burgundy in eastern France and its prefecture (capital) is Auxerre. Its official number is 89.
  It elects three members of parliament to the National Assembly - in the 2002-7 parliamentary term, all three are drawn from the right-wing Union for a Popular Movement (UMP). Its two senators also represent the UMP.
  
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  Yvelines
  Yvelines (French pronunciation: [ivlin]) is a French department in the region of Île-de-France.
  Yvelines was created from the western part of the defunct department of Seine-et-Oise on 1 January 1968 in accordance with a law passed on 10 January 1964 and a décret d'application (a decree specifying how a law should be enforced) from 26 February 1965.
  It gained the communes of Châteaufort and Toussus-le-Noble from the adjacent department of Essonne in 1969.
  The departmental capital, Versailles, which grew up around Louis XIV's château, was also the French capital for more than a century under the Ancien Régime and again between 1871 and 1879 during the early years of the Third Republic. Since then the château has continued to welcome the parlement when called upon to sit in a congressional sitting, jointly with the upper house in order to enact constitutional changes or, as happened most recently in June 2009, to listen to a formal declaration by the president.
  Yvelines is bordered by the departments of Val-d'Oise on the north, Hauts-de-Seine on the east, Essonne on the southeast, Eure-et-Loir on the southwest, and Eure on the west.
  
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  Çeşme
  Çeşme [ˈtʃeʃme] is a coastal town and the center-town of the district of the same name in Turkey's western-most end, on a promontory on the tip of the peninsula which also carries the same name and which extends inland to form a whole with the wider Karaburun Peninsula. It is a popular holiday resort and the district center, where two thirds of the district population is concentrated, is located 85 km. west of İzmir, the largest metropolitan center in Turkey's Aegean Region. There is a six-lane highway connecting the two cities. Çeşme district has two neighboring districts, Karaburun to the north and Urla to the east, both of which are also part of İzmir Province. The name "Çeşme" means "fountain" and possibly draws reference from the many Ottoman fountains scattered across the city.
  Its name in Classical antiquity was Kysos (Κύσος), Kysus under the Romans, possibly a mere locality at the time. The name Kysos is nevertheless associated with Homer since the king Rhesus of Thrace, ally of the Trojans during the Trojan War and slain together with twelve of his men by Diomedes who had plotted with Odysseus to steal the magnificent horses of the Thracians, had his wife Argantona (sometimes also spelled as Argantone), a mythical beauty and a master of animals like her husband, who inhabited the forests of Kysos.
  
  wn.com/Çeşme