France France France (), officially the French Republic (, ), is a country whose territory consists of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The metropolitan area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered by Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany to the northeast, Switzerland and Italy to the east, and Andorra and Spain to the south. The overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. The country's 18 integral
Country-of-origin effect associated with a particular country, such as (in the Western world) silk with China, spices with India, wine with France, chocolate with Belgium, cars with Germany, fashion with Italy and electronics with Japan. Such products labeled as originating in that country will benefit from a halo effect, with consumers assuming they are high quality. Countries that are less economically developed tend to have a negative country image and a negative country-of-origin effect. Associations vary by country and region. Japan is universally understood to manufacture high-quality products, and yet historical animosity between it and some other Eastern Asian countries may reduce