You may love France for its food and culture, but even you may not be fully aware of how Dark and Awesome France really is. For instance, did you know that there is an empire of the dead beneath the beautiful city of Paris.? Or You can marry dead people in France.?
Clearly, there’s more to France than meets the eye. So, in this post, I am gonna help you realize how great France actually is.
Fun Facts about France
1. The garlic rooster is the official national animal of France.
2. Unsurprisingly, the most widely spoken language in France is French.
However, Surprisingly there are more french-speaking people in Africa than in France. Yep, you head that right.
In fact, The largest country by the population where French is an official language is not France, but the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
3. Moreover, French is so popular that it is the second most studied language in the world after English.
4. The world-famous, Statue of Liberty was a gift from France to the United States in October 1886.
Read More: 25 Lesser-known facts about the USA
5. Despite being smaller than Texas, France is the most visited country on our planet. Approximately 89 million people visit France every year to enjoy the food and culture.
Insane Facts about France
6. One of France’s most iconic structures, the Eiffel Tower, was originally intended as a temporary exhibit, It was almost torn down and scrapped in 1909. But, City officials opted to save it after recognizing its value as a radiotelegraph station.
7. When Hitler invaded Paris during World War 2, the French cut the lift cables in the Eiffel Tower so that if he wanted to visit the top, he’d have to walk up the stairs. Vive La France!
8. After Fidel Castro and Zog I of Albania, French president Charles de Gaulle survived the most assassination attempts. He managed to beat the seven assassination attempts and is known to survive over 31 assassination attempts.
9. In 1748 the cultivation of potatoes was made illegal in France as they were poisonous and caused leprosy for 24 years.
10. Beauty pageants for children under the age of 16 are illegal in France. And if anyone caught attempting to organize or enter a child into such competition will face up to two years in prison or a thirty thousand euro fine
Awesome Facts about France
11. The Louvre Museum in Paris, France is the largest art museum in the world. This museum is so big that if you wanted to spend 30 seconds looking at each piece of art, it would take you approximately 100 days to get through the entire museum.
12. Including its overseas territories, France stretches over 12 different time zones more than any other country.
13. For Supermarkets in France, it is illegal to throw away or destroy unsold food shops. Instead, they must donate the food to a charity or food bank.
14. France gives its citizens medals for raising children with dignity. They are awarded in three classes, bronze for raising four or five children, silver for parents with six or seven children, and gold for those raising eight or more children.
15. France produces roughly a billion tons of cheese a year in around 1200 different varieties.
In fact, almost 50% of French people eat cheese every day.
Weird Facts about France
16. A slightly more weird fact about the City of love is that the catacombs of Paris hold more than six million human skeletons in a small part of a tunnel network built to consolidate Paris’ ancient stone quarries.
17. In France, you can marry a dead person. Yep, you head that right. Under French law, posthumous marriages are possible as long as evidence exists that the deceased person had the intention while alive of wedding their partner.
18. The Louvre palace which houses the museum was originally built as a fortress by Philip ii in the 12th century as protection against attacks from Vikings.
Read more: 25 Mind-Blowing facts about Earth that everyone must know.
19. There’s a small village in the southeast of France called Pussy. I’ve tried several times to go there but got no luck. So, If you ever get a chance, then make sure to spend a few days in Pussy 🙂
20. For 214 years until 2012, it was illegal for women to wear trousers in Paris without official authorization.
Lesser-known Facts about France
21. There is only one stop sign in the entire city of Paris is what an incorrect person would say. This commonly stated fact is no longer true, because that even sign was removed in 2012. So, as of now, there is not even a single stop sign in the entire Paris.
22. France is sometimes known as the hexagon due to its roughly hexagonal shape. Though, I would say it is very roughly hexagonal.
23. On average, a resident of France eats approximately 500 snails per year.
Read more: 30 Weird and Awesome facts about Animals that will Amaze you
24. The hundred-year war in which France and England duked it out over the French throne loosely inspired Game of Thrones.
25. France has the highest number of Nobel Prize in Literature winners of a country(17).
That’s it for this post guys, I hope you had fun while reading about 25 Unbelievable facts about France that everyone must know.
In case you’re interested in reading other articles:
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25 Lesser-known facts about the USA
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25 Mind-Blowing facts about Japan that will strike you like thunder
