Balance of Power
France
Size
France is 643,801 sq km, 551,500 sq km metropolitan France. The land is 640,427 sq km, 549,970 sq km metropolitan France and the water is 3,374 sq km, 1,530 sq km metropolitan France. This is important because it is small land so it could be easy to conquer, but with their military and geography, that makes it harder.
Population
The population of France is 66,259,012, the 22nd largest in the world. This is important because although the land is small, the population is larger making up for the lack of land. With the larger number of people, it is harder to attack.
Education
99% of the population is literate, meaning that people over the age of 15 can read and write. Students typically go to school for 16 years. This is important because for a country to function well, the population needs to be well educated to run successfully. 5.9% of GDP goes to education in France.
Armed Forces
Manpower available for military service:
males age 16-49: 14,563,662
females age 16-49: 14,238,434 (2010 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16-49: 12,025,341
females age 16-49: 11,721,827 (2010 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:
male: 396,050
female: 377,839 (2010 est.)
France only gives 2.26% of GDP to the military, but they are still pretty well equipped in manpower and weapons. This is important because without a strong military, they can't have much power because they wouldn't be able to defend themselves. So even though the government doesn't give as much money to the military as say a country like the US does, they are still able to protect themselves, which in the end is what is important.
Geography
The lowest elevation in France would be the Phone River and the highest would be Mount Blanc. France is mostly flat plains or gently rolling hills in north and west, the remainder is mountainous, especially the Pyrenees in south, and the Alps in east. This is a major advantage because with the mountains, it is very hard for people to try to come and attack.
Economy
France's GDP PPP (purchasing power parity) is $2.273 trillion, tenth in the world. It gets money from both agriculture and indutry. The population below poverty is 7.8%. They don't have the best economy, giving them less power, but France is still in power and managing well, so even though the economy is going through a rough patch, France will stay intact.