The eastern, central, and southern parts of France are hills and mountains. Places like this are the Northeastern Plateaus, the Central Highlands, the French Alps and Jura Mountains, the Pyrenees Mountains, and Corsica. .
Forests cover about one fourth of France. The Northeastern Plateaus, the Central Highlands, the slopes of the Alps, Juras, Pyrenees, and Vosges Mountains are densely forested sections of France. For use by the pulp and paper industry, forests have been planted in the Landes area of southwestern France. There, cork oaks, pine trees, and olives grow. Forrest fires are common in this region.
An important part of France is its natural resources. The most important is fertile soil. The farmlands with the richest soil are north and northeast France. That is where sugar beets and wheat is grown. Areas in southern France are drier, but are good for growing grapes. Other natural resources are iron ore, bauxite, coal, petroleum, natural gas, and potash. .
France has a strong national government. The Fifth Republic is France's present government. It was started in 1958. The three branches of the French government are the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch. The executive branch is headed by a president and a prime minister, the legislative branch is headed by a Parliament, and the judicial branch is a system of courts. France's president is elected to a 7 year term. There is no limit to how many terms a person can serve. The prime minister is chosen by the president. Then the Council of Ministers is picked by the prime minister. The National Assembly and the Senate make up the French Parliament. The National Assembly is made up of 577 senators who run for 7 year terms. The Senate is made up of 319 senators who run for nine year terms.
A commune is the French unit of local government. There are about 36,500 of them. A mayor and a council govern the commune.
