It lies on the western edge of the continent of Europe and shares its borders with six neighbouring countries: Belgium and Luxembourg to the north; Germany and Switzerland to the east; Italy to the south- east and Spain to the south-west. The geographical position of France gives the country two salient advantages. On the one hand, partly due to its excellent communications network, it is a crossroads at the heart of the European Union. It is linked to the east by the vast industrial and urban area stretching from the mouth of the Rhine, which forms the border with Germany, and to the plains of the Po River in the north-west. On the other hand it is within easy reach of the industrial centres of the United Kingdom and to the south it forms an integral part of the Mediterranean arc running from Catalonia to central Italy. The French coastline provides access by sea to Northern Europe, America and Africa via the North Sea, the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean, which are amongst the world’s busiest waterways.