Draw France from Memory
Test your geography knowledge by drawing France from memory. Score 0–100 based on how accurately you sketch France's distinctive shape.
Related Countries in Europe
Why France Looks the Way It Does
France answers to a nickname that is also a geometric argument. L'Hexagone, the six-sided figure, caught on because three of the country's edges are sea — the Channel, the Atlantic, the Mediterranean — and three are land borders running along the Pyrenees, the Alps and the northeast. Behind the nickname stands a doctrine, taught in French schools for generations, that the nation's frontiers should follow the Rhine, the mountains and the sea: the natural limits of Gaul.
Historians have been unkind to the doctrine. The Hexagon was not discovered by Richelieu; it was assembled piecemeal, by treaty and conquest, and looked nothing like a hexagon for most of French history. Lorraine and Alsace were not fully joined until the eighteenth century, Nice and Savoy arrived from Piedmont-Sardinia in 1860, and Alsace-Lorraine went to Germany in 1871 and came back in 1918 — so the six-sided silhouette as drawn today is younger than the railway.
What is genuinely natural about the edges is that they are hard to cross. The Pyrenees form a watershed with no easy pass until the coastline, which is why the Spanish border runs so straight for so long; the Alps hold the Italian frontier along high crests; the Channel and the Atlantic need no explanation. The northeast is the exception, a plain with no natural stop, and it is where three wars were fought. Drawn from recall, the hexagon holds up better than most national outlines because it is a simplification that happened to stick — Brittany's fist pushes out of the northwest side, the Bay of Biscay scoops the west, and the Alps round off the southeastern corner.
Quick Facts: France
- Capital
- Paris
- Continent
- Europe
- Bordering countries
- 9 countries — Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Andorra, Monaco, United Kingdom
- Area
- 551,695 km²
What is "Drawing France from Memory"?
Drawing France from memory means sketching France's border on a blank canvas without looking at a map. Focus on the country's distinctive features and overall shape — that's what pushes your accuracy score up.
France sits in Europe and is rated ★★ out of 4 for drawing difficulty — a manageable, compact shape for a first try. It connects to 9 neighboring country pages on this site. When you hit Reveal, your sketch is scored 0–100 against the real border, so every attempt teaches you something about the outline.
France is nicknamed l'Hexagone because six broad edges — three coasts and three land borders — give the country a six-sided silhouette, a name so universal the French use it in everyday speech.
How to Draw France from Memory
Step 01
France is nicknamed l'Hexagone, and the name is the whole trick: picture a slightly stretched hexagon and sketch it loosely on the canvas. Three of the six edges are coastline — the English Channel, the Atlantic, and the Mediterranean — while the other three are land borders. Get the six-sided skeleton down before you touch any coastline detail.
Step 02
On the northwest corner, Brittany pushes into the Atlantic like a small fist thrust out sideways — draw it as a rounded knuckle of land, not a smooth curve. Below it, the Bay of Biscay sweeps the western coast inward in a long, gentle arc that runs all the way down to the Spanish border.
Step 03
The Pyrenees make the southern border with Spain almost dead straight, so the bottom-left of the hexagon is clean and flat. On the southeast, the Alps arc down toward Italy like a rounded shoulder, while Monaco is tucked right against that Mediterranean corner and the Rhône valley slices up through the middle of the country.
Six sides, one fist, one arc: draw the hexagon, punch Brittany out into the Atlantic, and let the Alps curl toward Italy.
How France Is Scored
When you hit Reveal & compare, your sketch is measured against France's real border, point by point, in the same canvas space. Three numbers come back:
Matched — the share of the real border your drawing covered. 100% means you traced every part of the outline.
Extra — how much of your drawing fell outside the true border. This catches sketches that are too big, mispositioned, or drifting off.
Missed — the border you didn't reach, the flip side of Matched.
The three combine into a single 0–100 accuracy score. The rating names give you a target: 80+ is Cartographer, 60+ is Border patrol, 40+ is Getting there, and below 40 is Try again.
Drawing large and roughly centered is the single fastest way to raise your score — a small sketch tucked in a corner overlaps less of the true border, so it scores lower.
FAQ
- Why is France called "L'Hexagone"?
- France's nickname "L'Hexagone" comes from the shape of its border on a map. Keep it in mind while you draw — it's a shortcut to the country's overall outline before you refine the coastlines and borders.
- Which countries are France's neighbors?
- France connects to 9 neighboring country pages on this site: Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Andorra, Monaco, and United Kingdom. Once you've drawn France, try a neighbor next — drawing two shapes side by side locks both into your mental map.
- How hard is it to draw France from memory?
- France is rated ★★ out of 4 for drawing difficulty — a manageable, compact shape for a first try. You can score your attempts immediately and watch your accuracy climb with practice.
- How is my France drawing scored?
- Your sketch is compared with France's real border, point by point, in the same canvas space. Matched is the share of the border you covered, Extra is how much of your drawing fell outside it, and Missed is the border you didn't reach. The three combine into a single 0–100 accuracy score.
- Can I draw France on mobile?
- Yes — France works on desktop, tablet, and mobile. Draw with your finger on touchscreens; no app download is required and it runs directly in your browser.