Situated in the heart of the most developed part of the continent, France is the focal point for all kinds of merchandise and the core of the glittering culture of Europe. Approximately square in shape, the country faces the Atlantic Ocean to the west and north, and is separated from England by a narrow sea channel.

Although France has an overall area of 209,426 square miles and a population of 38,192,094, the terms of settlement made in the spring of the previous year [1871, ending the Franco-Prussian War], following the defeat by Germany, provided for the cession of an area of about 3,800 square miles with 2,000,000 inhabitants around Metz and Strasbourg. This treaty was imposed against the will of the people there, and it remains to be decided where they are to settle hereafter.

France possesses a number of colonies, including Indochina in Asia, Algeria, Senegal and various islands in Africa, as well as Guiana and Guadeloupe in America. These territories extend over a total area of 351,000 square miles inhabited by 3,633,000 people. Algeria, in particular, is like an administrative extension of France, with an area of 150,000 square miles on the opposite coast of the Mediterranean. A constant flow of traffic crosses the intervening waters, and produce from tropical Algeria supplies the raw materials needed for manufacturing.