Religion Catholicism is the predominant religion of France. In a survey by the French Institute of Public Opinion (IFOP), 64% of the population (about 41.6 million people) identified themselves as Roman Catholic. The other religions in France include Islam, Buddhism and Judaism. The close connection between the French monarchy and the Catholic Church began during the reign of Charlemagne (d. 814), who was the first to receive a papal coronation in the year 800. Through the coming centuries, the Church became the largest landowner in France and oversaw hospitals, primary, and secondary education. The upper echelons of the Church were populated by noblemen who cemented close political and power relations, and the Church itself was immensely wealthy. During the Revolution, the Church was stripped of its land and other properties, clerical privileges were eliminated, the Church was reorganized, the process of selecting upper clergy through election was instituted and the clergy became
Historically and culturally among the most important nations in the Western world, France has also played a highly significant role in international affairs, with former colonies in every corner of the globe. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, the Alpsand the Pyrenees, France has long provided a geographic, economic, and linguistic bridge joining northern and southern Europe.Pre-modern hominid populations migrated to France during Paleolithic times, and between 30,000 and 10,000 years ago, modern humans left evidence of their presence in cave art. After 600 B.C. Greek and Phoenician traders operated along the French Mediterranean coast, while Celts migrated westward from the Rhine valley, settling the territory later called Gaul by the Romans.
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