Its relief, geology and climate mean that France has a high farming potential. Most regions have plenty of good farmland, whose varieties include the Limon soil of the Paris basin, the brown earth of the Atlantic forests and the red earth of the Mediterranean regions. With 16 million hectares of forests - 29% of its territory - France has the highest proportion of forested land in the European Union (which has been true throughout history, since Julius Caesar referred to France as "hairy Gallia" in his memoirs). .
The area covered by woods and forests has almost doubled in the last century, thanks to reforestation projects and the drift away from farming. In regions with an oceanic climate, forests are mainly broad-leaved - oak-trees preferring sunny areas and beeches thriving in cooler, damper parts. In Mediterranean regions, the need to adapt to dry summers means that evergreens tend to dominate. The Holm oak thrives on chalky soil and the cork oak on siliceous soil. The most prevalent conifers are the maritime pine, Aleppo pine and Corsican pine. In mountain forests, broad-leaved trees grow in the valleys and on the lower slopes. Higher up, they give way to conifers, which are more resistant to the cold winter temperatures. These conifers are mainly spruce and fir trees in areas with high precipitation such as the Vosges, the Jura and the northern Alps. But in dry areas like the Southern Alps, larches, which lose their needle-like leaves in winter, make up most of the forest cover.
Despite their large surface area, French forests yield only 33 million m3 of wood per year. Production does not meet demand and the balance of trade for lumber and byproducts shows an annual deficit of over 16 billion. This shortfall can partly be explained by the extremely fragmented nature of forest ownership. The State and local authorities have control over only 4 million hectares, most of which are in the Paris basin, the Loire Valley and northeastern France.
Security Frances overriding obsession was an overwhelming fear of Germany. ... His aim was for France to be dominant in an Older Europe whose geographical boundaries were wider than those of the six, Europe was seen as a road back to great power status as well as security from German Aggression. ...
Durand's Progress (1853), George Inness' Lackawanna Valley (1855), Frances F. Palmer's Across the Continent (1868) and John Gast's American Progress or Manifest Destiny (1872), we will try to understand how perception of American progress, technical as well as geographical, changed, and how it was rendered through these paintings. ...
The city of Paris provokes thoughts of romance, fine art, extravagant buildings, and is one of the most stylish cities in the world. Paris the largest population in Europe (9.3 million) and is also recognised as a major world city in terms of economic, political, and cultural significance. This acco...
And they may complete our picture of who we − Germans and non-Germans: Europeans alike − are when it comes to an European Constitution. 3 Seven specific experiences of German history have generated Germany's remarkable support for a European Constitution: (1) a unique German "Verfassungspatriotismus" (2) a singular German acceptance of semi-sovereignty (3) a unique German history of federalism (4) a meanwhile diffuse German support for democracy (5) a firmly rooted German desire for political stability (6) the constitutional "revofution- of 1989/1990 (and last not l...
Never formal adopted into household of John Allan and his wife Frances Allan, at three Edgar was old enough to remember his mother and to be affected by her final illness. ... Among the subjects he studied were geography, spelling, and the Church of England Catechism. ...
