The culture of France has been shaped by geography, by historical events, and by foreign and internal forces and groups. France, and in particular Paris, has played an important role as a center of high culture since the 17th century and from the 19th century on, worldwide. From the late 19th century, France has also played an important role in cinema, fashion, cuisine, literature, technology, the social sciences, and mathematics. The importance of French culture has waxed and waned over the centuries, depending on its economic, political and military importance. French culture today is marked both by great regional and socioeconomic differences and strong unifying tendencies. A global opinion poll for the BBC saw France ranked as the country with the fourth most positive influence in the world in 2014.
The oldest patisserie in Paris
Arc de Triomphe
Notre-Dame de Reims is the Roman Catholic cathedral where the kings of France were crowned until 1825.
The Grande Mosquée in Paris.
The French people are a nation primarily located in Western Europe that share a common French culture, history, and language, identified with the country of France.
Louis XIV of France "The Sun-King"
Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix
A rally in Paris in support of the victims of the 2015 Charlie Hebdo shooting
French people in Paris, August 1944