Europe · Western Europe
How to draw France from memory
France comes in 2 separate pieces on the map. The main body is roughly as wide as it is tall; sketch that first, then place the smaller pieces relative to it. It ranks among the hardest countries to draw: the border carries far more detail than a freehand stroke can capture, so anything above 50 is a strong result.
- Difficulty
- hard
- Population
- 67.1 m
- Code
- FRA
- Attempts
- 213
- Avg score
- 22
- Best
- 54
Draw France
Practice · draw from memory
France
A four-step strategy for France
- 01
Start by fixing the overall footprint. France is close to square overall, so a lopsided sketch loses points fast.
- 02
Anchor one unmistakable feature — the straightest border section or the sharpest cape — and draw outward from it in a single continuous stroke.
- 03
Finish the main landmass completely, then add the remaining 1 piece as separate strokes. Scoring counts total covered area, so an unclosed island can hurt more than a missing one.
- 04
Submit, read the nine-sector grid, and redraw immediately. The sector readout names the region you under-drew, and a second attempt typically gains 10–20 points.
OliveHawk
SlateHawkQuick facts
- Continent
- Europe
- Subregion
- Western Europe
- Outline pieces
- 2
- Detail score
- 4.16
Three things that go wrong when people sketch France
Each one is measured off the outline the game scores, not copied from a reference atlas: the proportions, the straight sections and the way the shape breaks into pieces are all properties of the coordinates your stroke gets compared against.
7% of the country is not the mainland
The outline is made of 2 separate pieces, and the largest one carries only 93% of the area. Sketched without the rest, the shape is short by that much even when the mainland is perfect — place the outlying piece first, then draw the mainland around it.
It narrows sharply toward the north
The outline is 2.5× wider at the bottom of the shape than at the top, so the broad part belongs in the south. Most failed sketches here put the wide section at the wrong end.
France is close to square
Width against height comes out at 1.09 to 1, so the shape neither runs away sideways nor stretches vertically. Set that box first: with a near-square country almost every lost point comes from the coast detail inside it, not the footprint.
Answer key: the real shape of France
- Box on the canvas
- 440 × 403 units
- Width to height
- 1.09 : 1
- Separate landmasses
- 2
- Longest straight run
- Nothing over 8% of the perimeter
- Coast against silhouette
- 1.47× the wrapping outline
Open it after you have drawn France at least once. Seeing the shape first replaces the recall the score is meant to measure with tracing, and tracing always scores higher than remembering.
Why France is scored this way
Country Drawing does not compare your sketch to a picture of France. It scales and centres both your stroke and the real border into the same box, fills them, and measures how much of the two shapes overlap relative to their combined area. That means you are never punished for drawing France small, off to one side, or rotated slightly — only for getting the shape itself wrong. The nine-sector grid then splits the real border into a 3×3 mesh and reports coverage per cell, which is how it can tell you that you lost the whole coastline rather than just handing you a number.
France by the numbers
France covers 551,695 km², which makes it the 47th largest of 190 countries in the game and the 3rd largest in Europe. The capital is Paris at about 46°N, 2°E, and it sits in Western Europe. It touches Andorra, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Spain and Switzerland, and 93% of its area sits in one main landmass. The rest of the perimeter is water.
Next to France: its land neighbours
Size is what the outline has to fill, so comparing the countries that share this border side by side is the fastest way to get the proportions into your head before you draw.
| Country | Area | Population | Capital | Pieces | vs France |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Francethis page | 551,695 km² | 67.1 m | Paris | 2 | — |
 Andorra | 468 km² | 77 k | Andorra la Vella | 1 | <0.01× |
 Belgium | 30,528 km² | 11.5 m | Brussels | 1 | 0.06× |
 Germany | 357,114 km² | 83.1 m | Berlin | 1 | 0.65× |
 Italy | 301,336 km² | 60.3 m | Rome | 3 | 0.55× |
 Luxembourg | 2,586 km² | 620 k | Luxembourg | 1 | <0.01× |
 Monaco | 2.02 km² | 39 k | Monaco | 1 | <0.01× |
 Spain | 505,992 km² | 47.1 m | Madrid | 1 | 0.92× |
 Switzerland | 41,284 km² | 8.6 m | Bern | 1 | 0.07× |
Draw these next
Countries near France share border conventions and coastline styles, which makes them the most useful follow-up practice.
Working through one country at a time is slow. Take the blank map of europe and label the whole region from memory — it shows you which neighbours you have never actually seen.
France drawing questions
How big is France?
France covers 551,695 km², ranking 47th of 190 countries here by land area and 3rd in Europe. That is 1.1 times the area of Spain.
What is the capital of France?
The capital is Paris at about 46°N, 2°E. The game scores the shape of the border rather than the position of any city, so the capital and its coordinates are here to help you place France on a blank map.
Is France hard to draw?
It is rated hard, and carries more outline detail than 75% of the 190 borders in this game. The shape has to be placed as 2 landmasses, with no straight edge longer than 8% of the perimeter to anchor it.
Which countries border France?
France shares a land border with Andorra, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Spain and Switzerland. The remaining perimeter is coast, which is the part that usually costs points.