1. GEOGRAPHY, TOPOGRAPHY, POLITICAL DIVISIONS, ETC. France is situated between lat. 42° 20' and 51' 5' N.; and long. 4° 52' W. and 7° 39' E. (Green wich). According to the meridian of Paris, the longitude is 7° 7' 56" W. and 4° 51' 46" E. France is bounded on the north and northwest by the Straits of Dover and the English Chan nel (La Manche) ; on the west by the Atlantic, more especially that part of it called the Bay of Biscay; on the south by Spain and the Mediter ranean Sea; on the east by Italy, Switzerland and Germany and northeast by Germany, Luxemburg and Belgium. The total land frontier of France is about 1,352 miles, of which about 285 miles faces Belgium, 8 miles Luxemburg, 200 miles on Alsace and Lorraine, 247 miles on Switzerland, 356 miles facing on Spain and 256 miles on Italy. The restoration of Alsace and Lorraine as a result of the Euro pean War 1914-18, renewed the ancient boundary line of the Rhine. About 1,872 miles of coast line is distributed as follows: English Channel, 672 miles; Atlantic, 831 miles, Mediterranean, 369 miles. The length of the country from north to south is about 600 miles, and greatest breadth from east to west about 400 miles; to Cape Saint Mathieu, 130 miles. The superficial area of France does not seem to have been defi nitely determined. The French "official" area is 528,876 square kilometers; the French Ministry of War maps record 536,408 square kilometers; General Strelbitsky, who made a careful survey of the land, arrived at 533,479 square kilometers ; while another authority, Dr. von Januschek, made the total 536,464 square kilometers, an estimate that most closely approaches that of the French geographer, Prof. E. Levasseur, who gives 536,460 square kilometers. It must be remembered that the island or "department" of Corsica is included in each calculation.
Geographically, so far as regards peaceful communications, France is more favorably situated than any other country in Europe, since none other has the same easy access from its own coasts to the North Sea, the Atlantic and also the Mediterranean. Her railroads communicate with every country in central and eastern Europe, and all railway traffic to Spain and Portugal must pass through France.
Strategically, her position is weak, for, in addi tion to her three exposed coast lines, France can be attacked on land by five different coun tries adjoining her borders.
Though protected by great natural barriers at most parts where the coun try is connected with the Continent, France is not enclosed by them. More than half her frontiers face the open seas, and the eastern mountain girdle is open at the gap of the Rhone between the Alps and the Jura; the opening at Belfort; in lower Alsace; and the gorges of the Moselle and Meuse. Her harbors on three shores secure to France a large share in sea borne trade, especially in that most important of all inland seas, the Mediterranean. France is traversed from southwest to northeast by several chains of mountains forming the general watershed of the country. This watershed has two slopes, the one toward the west and north, carrying its waters to the Bay of Biscay, the Atlantic Ocean, the English Channel and the German Ocean; the other toward the east and south, carrying its waters to the Mediterranean. The ranges of mountains and hills forming this watershed include the western and central Pyr enees, the western Corbieres in the department of Aude, the Cevennes, the mountains of Vi varais, Lyonnais, Beaujolais and Charollais, the C6te d'Or, the Plateau de Langres, the Faucilles Mountains and the Vosges. This general water shed is met toward the northeast by the eastern mountain ranges of France, namely, the Jura Range and various Alpine ranges, one of the peaks of which is Mont Blanc, which may be regarded as the culminating point of the Euro pean mountains, although not absolutely the highest mountain in Europe. Near the centre of France, and separate from the great water shed of the country, are several groups of volcanic mountains known by the general name of the mountains of Auvergne, the chief peaks of which are the Plomb du Cantal in the southernmost group, the Puy de Sancy in the 'central group and the Puy de DOme in the northernmost group. The spurs thrown off by the great watershed divide France into six principal basins, five of which are on the north western slope and one on the southeastern.