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France
is about 80% the size of Texas. In the Alps near the Italian
and Swiss borders is western Europe's highest point—Mont
Blanc (15,781 ft; 4,810 m). The forest-covered Vosges
Mountains are in the northeast, and the Pyrénées
are along the Spanish border. Except for extreme northern
France, the country may be described as four river basins
and a plateau. Three of the streams flow west—the
Seine into the English Channel, the Loire into the Atlantic,
and the Garonne into the Bay of Biscay. The Rhône
flows south into the Mediterranean. For about 100 mi (161
km), the Rhine is France's eastern border. In the Mediterranean,
about 115 mi (185 km) east-southeast of Nice, is the island
of Corsica (3,367 sq mi; 8,721 sq km).
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During the fall 2002/winter 2003 diplomatic wrangling at the United
Nations over Iraq, France repeatedly defied the U.S. and Britain
by calling for more weapons inspections and diplomacy before resorting
to war. Relations between the U.S. and France were severely strained.
In March 2003, France indicated it would veto a UN resolution
permitting the use of force against Iraq. President Chirac stated:
“We refuse to follow a path that will lead automatically
to war as long as the inspectors don't say to us, ‘We can't
go any further.’”
France
sent peacekeeping forces to assist two African countries in
2002 and 2003, Cote d'Ivoire and the Democratic Republic of
the Congo.
Prime
Minister Raffarin's plan to overhaul the national pension system
sparked numerous strikes across France in May and June 2003,
including tens of thousands of sanitation workers, teachers,
transportation workers, and air traffic controllers. In August,
a deadly heat wave killed an estimated 10,000 people, mostly
elderly. The catastrophe occurred during two weeks of 104°F
(40°C) temperatures.
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