So You Think You Can France: French Geography 101 Quiz

By: Ian Fortey
Estimated Completion Time
3 min
So You Think You Can France: French Geography 101 Quiz
Image: Carol Yepes/Moment/Getty Images

About This Quiz

France has more history than you could shake a stick at with evidence of people living in the area dating back a staggering 1.8 million years. The geography of France has made it not just a viable but desirable location for people to live across the ages, which is why it's been so important for so long. Greeks and Romans established cities like Marseille in the area as far back as 600 B.C. With its wide range of temperature zones from the coldest northern points like the city of Doube to the balmy French Riviera (and tons of rich land well-suited to growing crops like grapes in between), France is a vibrant and lively country. There are abundant lakes and rivers, dense forests, expansive mountain ranges, sandy beaches and bustling metropolitan areas. Whatever kind of land you're looking for, you can probably find a taste of it in France.

If you feel like you're a French geography ace, and you know your Mont Blanc from your Grande Casse or the region of Brittany from the region of Bordeaux, then it's time to grab a nice baguette and some Gruyère cheese and show off your geography skills in the quiz.

1 - Lac du Bourget
Stephanie Hager - HagerPhoto/Stockbyte/Getty Images
If you wanted to go for a swim, you could head to France's largest lake. What is it?
Lake Annecy
Lac du Melu
Lac du Bourget
Lac Vert
2 - Mont Blanc
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You can get a good view from which of these, the highest point in France?
Mont Blanc
Mount Ventoux
Grande Casse
Mont Pourri
3 - Italy
Oleh_Slobodeniuk/E+/Getty Images
With which of these countries does France share a border?
Germany
Italy
Switzerland
All of the above

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4 - Pyrenees mountains
Carol Yepes/Moment/Getty Images
The Pyrenees mountains separate France from which country?
Spain
Belgium
England
Germany
5 - France regions
© Marco Bottigelli/Moment/Getty Images
Up until 2015, how many provincial regions were there in France?
36
28
22
11
6 - La Loire
MathieuRivrin/Moment/Getty Images
France is a patchwork of rivers, but do you know which one is the longest?
La Seine
La Loire
La Rhine
La Garonne

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7 - France how big
Harald Nachtmann/Moment/Getty Images
Just how big is France, anyway?
248,573 sq mi
136,456 sq mi
432, 980 sq mi
330, 546 sq mi
8 - Martinique
Matteo Colombo/Moment/Getty Images
How many overseas regions are considered part of France?
2
3
4
5
9 - Marseille
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Next to Paris, what's the largest city in France by population?
Nice
Rennes
Marseille
Le Mans

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10 - River Garonne Toulouse
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Do you know which of these cities is on the River Garonne?
Paris
Toulouse
Lyon
Nice
11 - Bordeaux wine
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Which town is famous for its wine?
Reims
Le Havre
Nantes
Bordeaux
12 - Germany and France
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What natural feature separates Germany and France?
Bay of Biscay
Mont Blanc
The Alps
The Rhine river

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13 - French Riviera
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You'd find which of these towns on the French Riviera?
Colmar
Cannes
Versailles
All of the above
14 - English Channel
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What do they call the English Channel in France?
Chaîne Anglaise
La Manche
Le Pass
L'Eau du Nord
15 - Marseilles
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Which city is at the point where La Rhone meets the sea?
Marseilles
Toulon
Burgundy
Dunkirk

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16 - Normandy
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Do you know what Normandy is?
A region
A town
A metropolitan area
A state
17 - Brittany
MathieuRivrin/Moment/Getty Images
What is the westernmost region of France?
Hauts-de-France
Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Brittany
Occitanie
18 - Corsica
© Allard Schager/Moment/Getty Images
Do you know which part of France was a part of Italy until 1769?
Occitanie
Alsace
Lorraine
Corsica

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19 - French departments
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French regions are subdivided into departments. Any guess as to how many departments there are?
45
70
101
110
20 - Arrondissements
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What are the departments in France divided into?
Counties
Arrondissements
Subsections
Divisions
21 - Dunkirk
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Head to the North of France. What's the northernmost city in the coutnry?
Dunkirk
Saint-Pierre
Avignon
Nancy

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22 - Alps
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The Alps are a natural border between France and what country?
Switzerland
Italy
Belgium
Spain
23 - La Baule
Volanthevist/Moment Open/Getty Images
Where will you find the longest beach in France at about 5.5 miles?
Courbevoire
La Rochelle
La Baule
Cergy
24 - Jura Mountains
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There's a mountain range along the French-Swiss border. What is it?
Jura Mountains
Carpathian Mountains
Ural Mountains
Tatra Mountains

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25 - A10 France
Kryssia Campos/Moment Open/Getty Images
If you wanted to take a drive through France, what's the longest road you could travel?
A10
A89
A4
A17
26 - border with France
© Allard Schager/Moment/Getty Images
How many countries share a border with France in total?
6
7
8
10
27 - Paris
Nikada/E+/Getty Images
Before Paris was Paris, it was which Roman city?
Lutetia
Galily
Nord
Melun

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28 - Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Andrea Pistolesi/Stone/Getty Images
Of France's 13 regions, which is the largest?
Grand Est
Pays de la Loire
Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Hauts-de-France
29 - Lyon
Gary Yeowell/Stone/Getty Images
What French city was once the capital of Gaul?
Burgundy
Lyon
Strasbourg
Rennes
30 - Vosges mountains
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France is on one side of the Vosges mountains. What country is on the other?
Corsica
Spain
Andorra
Germany

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31 - Dijon
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What's the easternmost city here?
Dijon
Paris
Lourdes
Calais
32 - Toulouse
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What's the most populous town in Occitanie?
Albi
Bordeaux
Toulouse
Nice
33 -Côte d'Azur
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Do you know the name of the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France?
Côte d'Ivoir
La Manche
La Poubelle
Côte d'Azur

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34 - Montignac
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Which town is closest to the Lascaux Caves?
Montignac
Marseilles
Monpellier
Grenoble
35 - south france
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What's the southernmost town in all of France?
Nimes
Angers
Lille
Lamanère