France is the largest country in the European Union by total area.
France covers about 551,700 square kilometres in metropolitan Europe, and its overseas regions and territories make its total area substantially larger. The European Union’s geographic ranking normally identifies France as its largest member state, ahead of Spain and Sweden.
France’s mainland territory is often called metropolitan France. It has coastlines on the Atlantic Ocean, the English Channel, the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. France also has overseas departments and regions in the Caribbean, South America, the Indian Ocean and elsewhere, giving it a global geographic presence.
This question can cause confusion because Russia is larger than France but is not an EU member. Ukraine is larger than metropolitan France in some comparisons, but it is not a European Union member. France joined the European Economic Community, the EU’s predecessor, in 1958.