For many years France was a nation of internal contrasts ' between the more urban and industrial north and the rural south, between the intellectual elite and the largely agricultural workforce, between chic Paris and the less sophisticated provincial cities ' and a nation that saw itself as standing alone, distinct from all others.
France used to have sharp contrasts dividing society along regional, economic, and educational lines.
For years France has and continues to be a country of little internal division or strife.