• Population: 67.2 million people live in the country (2018)

• Capital: Paris, with 2.2 million inhabitants

• Name: République Française (French Republic)

• Motto: 'Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité' (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity)

• Government: Democracy

• Language: French

• Religion: mainly Christians (Roman Catholics 64%)

• Currency: 1 Euro=100cents, until 2002 French Franc

• History: In 700-500BC the Celtic Gauls arrive in France. In 58-50BC Roman Emperor Julius Caesar defeats the Gauls and France becomes part of the Roman Empire until 476AD. French was ruled by kings for many centuries until the storming of the Bastille during the French Revolution in 1789. Then Napoleon becomes Emperor of the French Republic until he is sent to exile.

• Flag: blue, white and red. The French refer to the flag as 'Tricolore' (French for 'three colours')

Try these five useful expressions in French:

• bonjour - good day

• salut - hello

• merci - thank you

• je m'appelle... - my name is....

• bon appétit! - enjoy your meal!

• The French have been making long thin bread since the mid 18th century and before that long and wide loaves were made since Louis XIV.

• The 'baguette' (means stick or baton) become the iconic symbol of French bread and France in the 20th century when a law was passed in 1920 banning bakers from starting work before 4am (and no later than 10pm), which made it difficult for them to have fresh bread for the morning, so they made the fast-baking baguette as a solution.

• The shape of the baguette allows the maximum amount of dough to be exposed directly to heat during the baking process, which produces the thick crust.

• A standard baguette has a diameter of about 5-6 cm and its length is 55-65 cm. There are strict guidelines for baking baguettes e.g. they need to weight 250-300g.

• Ten million baguettes are sold in France every year.

👇how to make a French Baguette!👇

Ingredients:

¼ teaspoon rapid rise yeast

1 ½ cups water at room temperature

1 ¾ teaspoons salt

4 cups all-purpose flour, or as needed

½ teaspoon cornmeal, or as needed

Instructions Checklist

Step 1Place yeast into the bottom of a large mixing bowl and stir with water; mix in salt. Beat flour into yeast mixture with a wooden spoon until dough is thick and sticky and pulls flour from the side of the bowl, 5 to 10 minutes.

Step 2Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let stand in a turned-off oven until doubled in size, 12 to 14 hours. Dough will be bubbly and very sticky.

Step 3Place a silicone baking mat onto a baking sheet and dust generously with cornmeal.

Step 4Use a floured spatula to scrape dough out onto a well-floured work surface and dust dough with flour. With well-floured hands, pat dough into a rectangle and cut into 4 equal-size pieces.

Step 5Dust a piece of dough with flour and use your floured fingers to gently roll and stretch it out into a log about 10 inches long and 1 1/2 inches around. Gently transfer to prepared baking sheet. If desired, wipe off excess cornmeal with a damp paper towel. Repeat with another piece of dough. (Reserve remaining dough to bake later or prepare 2 baking sheets to bake all 4 at once). Dust loaves lightly with flour. Dust a large piece of plastic wrap with flour and drape plastic lightly over the baking sheet with floured side down.

Step 6Let loaves rise, covered, until doubled, 1 to 1 1/2 hour.

Step 7Move oven racks to the bottom and middle positions. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C) or as high as your oven will go. Place an oven-safe baking dish full of water into bottom rack of the oven.

Step 8Use a sharp kitchen shears to cut 4 or 5 angled slashes into the top of each loaf. Poke down the little sharp tips of dough left by the scissors. Spray loaves with water, using a spray bottle.

Step 9Bake in the preheated oven until baguettes are browned, about 15 minutes, spraying loaves with water after 5 minutes and 10 minutes. Turn the pan around on the second spraying.

Step 10Transfer baguettes to a cooling rack and let cool to room temperature before slicing with a serrated knife.