3.1.1.1.1.3 Definite articles and geographical descriptions
In English only a few countries use an article with their name (The Netherlands). In French in contrary to English articles are used with country names and continents (except for Israël, Cuba, Madagascar).
Examples
L'
Europe
a
fait
beaucoup
de
progrès.
---
Europe
has
made
many
of
progresses.
Beaucoup
de gens
confondent
l'
Amérique
avec
les États
Unis.
Many
of people
mix
America
with
the United States.
L'
Asie
est
très
grande.
Asia
is
very
big.
La
capitale
de
la
France
c'est
Paris.
The
capital
of
France
this is
Paris.
L'
Italie
est
un
beau
pays.
Italy
is
a
beautiful
land.
L'
Allemagne
se
trouve
au (a + le)
milieu de
l'Europe.
Germany
itself
finds
in the
middle of
Europe.
If the name of the country is used with the preposition en (to, in) there is no article.
No article after en
Il
habite
en
Allemagne.
He
lives
in
Germany.
Elle
va
en
Italie.
She
goes
to
Italy.
En
Europe
on
paye
moins.
In
Europe
one
pays
less.
Further please note that there are no articles with names of cities.
No article with cities
Paris
est
une
belle.
ville.
Paris
is
a
beautiful
city.
Madrid
est
la
capitale
de
l'
Espagne.
Madrid
is
the
capital
of
Spain.
With rivers again there are articles, as they are also in English.
