A key player on the world stage and a country at the political heart of Europe, France paid a high price in both economic and human terms during the two world wars.
The years which followed saw protracted conflicts culminating in independence for Algeria and most other French colonies in Africa as well as decolonisation in south-east Asia.
France was one of the founding fathers of European integration as the continent sought to rebuild after the devastation of World War II.
In the 1990s Franco-German cooperation was central to European economic integration. The bond between the two countries was again to the fore in the new millennium when their leaders voiced strong opposition as the US-led campaign in Iraq began.
But France sent shockwaves through European Union capitals when its voters rejected the proposed EU constitution in a referendum in May 2005.
France's colonial past is a major contributing factor in the presence of a richly diverse multicultural population. It is home to more than five million people of Arab and African descent.
A French icon for the 21st century: the Millau bridge in Massif Central
It has a number of territories overseas which, together with mainland France and Corsica, go to make up the 26 regions which the country comprises. It is further divided into 100 departements, five of which - French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion and Mayotte - are geographically distant from Europe.
Government in France is known for its high degree of centralisation but in March 2003 parliament approved amendments to the constitution allowing for the devolution of quite wide-ranging powers to the regions and departements.
In the light of low election turnout, the move was widely seen as a bid to re-engage in the political process French people disillusioned by the ubiquitous influence of what is often perceived as the Paris elite.
France has produced some of the continent's most influential writers and thinkers from Descartes and Pascal in the 17th century, through Rousseau and Voltaire in the 18th, Baudelaire and Flaubert in the 19th to Sartre and Camus in the 20th.
In the last two centuries it has given the art world the works of Renoir, Monet, Cezanne, Gauguin, Matisse and Braque, to name but a few.
It is also famous for its strong culinary tradition. France produces more than 250 cheeses and some of the world's best-loved wines.
He cast himself as a moderniser and claimed to represent a clean break with the country's traditional ruling elite. His first cabinet had a definite new look, with more female ministers than previous French governments.
He had fought his election campaign on a promise to introduce pro-market reforms to tackle sluggish economic growth and high unemployment. He vowed to cut taxes, rein in powerful trades unions and reduce public spending.
The implementation of Mr Sarkozy's policies was bound to hit public sector workers hard, and since he assumed the presidency there have been regular public sector strikes in protest at planned cuts to pay and pension benefits.
On foreign policy, Mr Sarkozy has singled out France's role in Europe as a priority. He campaigned vigorously for ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, which was intended to replace the draft EU constitution rejected by French voters in 2005.
He has also taken a lead in calling for fundamental reform of the world's financial system in response to the global credit crunch.
He is seen as being more pro-American than previous French presidents. He cultivated close ties with US President George W. Bush and has made no secret of his admiration for Bush's successor, Barack Obama.
Tough domestic challenges - by the spring of 2010, unemployment was running at more than 10% - led to widespread disillusionment with Mr Sarkozy's leadership, and in March of that year his party suffered a bruising defeat in regional elections.
His popularity was further damaged by allegations that his election campaign had been partly funded by illegal donations from France's richest woman, the L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt.
In early 2011, Mr Sarkozy played a prominent role in the international intervention in the Libyan conflict.
Nicolas Sarkozy, who was 52 when he was elected, is the son of a Hungarian immigrant and a French mother of Greek Jewish origin. He grew up in Paris. Thrice married, currently to singer Carla Bruni, he has three children.
His predecessor, Jacques Chirac, had held office since 1995.
French presidents are elected to five-year terms after a constitutional change in 2002 reduced the term from seven years. A candidate can win in one round if he or she secures an absolute majority. Otherwise, the top two candidates go through to a second round.
The president, who exercises executive power, appoints a Council of Ministers headed by the prime minister.
Prime minister: Francois Fillon
Francois Fillon, a confidante of the president
Francois Fillon worked closely with Nicolas Sarkozy during the presidential election campaign.
Upon taking office, he promised to carry out the president's reform programme and to secure an "eminent" place for France in the 21st century.
As a minister under President Chirac he overhauled the pension system.
He is seen as a moderate within the UMP and is accustomed to negotiating with France's powerful trades unions.
Public broadcaster Radio France targets the domestic audience, French overseas territories and foreign audiences. Radio France Internationale is one of the world's leading international stations. Its Arabic-language Monte Carlo International service is available on mediumwave (AM) and FM across the Middle East.
The international French-language channel TV5 Monde, financed by Belgium, Canada and Switzerland, is available globally. Global news channel France 24 TV broadcasts in French, English and Arabic. It has said it aims to present "a different point of view from the Anglo-Saxon world".
France's flagship TV, TF1, is privately-owned. The growth of satellite and cable has led to a proliferation of channels. Major satellite pay-TV operator CanalSatellite is controlled by media giant Vivendi Universal.
Radio France, the country's public broadcaster
Digital terrestrial TV, with more than a dozen free-to-air channels, is being rolled out.
France's long-established commercial radios, particularly RTL and Europe 1, command large audiences. They have been joined by a multiplicity of FM stations, often part of successful networks such as those of hit music station NRJ and oldies station Nostalgie.
By March 2011, there were around 45.3 million internet users (Internetworldstats). Facebook and Skyrock are leading social networks.
The press
Le Monde - respected national daily, considered to be France's newspaper of record
Liberation - national daily, founded in 1973 by philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, centre-left leaning
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One-Minute World News
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