France

France is the largest country of Western Europe (211,208 square miles, including the island of Corsica, in the Mediterranean) and one of the most populated (around 60 million people in 2006). Most of the physiography of continental France is dominated by plains and gentle rolling hills, occasionally altered by higher elevations in the central part (Massif Central) and especially in the south (Pyrenees) and the East (Jura and the Alps, where Mont Blanc, at 15,766 feet is the highest peak of the country and of Europe. Climate is generally mild in summer and cool in winter except in the Mediterranean, where it may be quite warm in summer, and in the mountains where cooler conditions predominate.

The main environmental challenges faced by France concern agricultural land ...