Which chemical element was named after France?

Francium is the chemical element named after France.

Francium is a radioactive chemical element with the symbol Fr and atomic number 87. Marguerite Perey discovered it in 1939 at the Curie Institute in Paris while studying actinium. She identified it as a previously unknown product of radioactive decay and named it francium after France.

Francium occurs naturally only in extremely small amounts because its isotopes are highly radioactive and decay quickly. The most stable naturally occurring isotope, francium-223, has a half-life of about 22 minutes. As a result, scientists have never obtained a visible sample of the element in ordinary laboratory quantities.

Francium is an alkali metal, placing it in the same group as lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, and caesium. It is expected to be highly reactive, although its rarity makes direct study difficult. Francium should not be confused with gallium, which was named for France through the Latin name Gallia but is a different element.