French nationality law is historically based on the principles of jus soli (Latin for "right of soil"), according to Ernest Renan's definition, in opposition to the German definition of nationality, Jus sanguinis (Latin for "right of blood"), formalized by Fichte.
The 1993 Méhaignerie Law required children born in France of foreign parents to request French nationality at adulthood, rather than being automatically accorded citizenship. This "manifestation of will" requirement was subsequently abrogated by the Guigou Law of 1998, but children born in France of foreign parents remain foreign until obtaining legal majority.
As in most industrialized countries, but unlike the United States, children born in France to tourists or short-term visitors do not acquire French citizenship by virtue of birth in France: residency must be proven. As immigration became increasingly a political theme in the 1980s, albeit accompanied by a lower immigration rate (see Demographics in France), both left-wing and right-wing governments have issued several laws restricting the possibilities of being naturalized.
Read more about French Nationality Law: Attribution of French Nationality, List of Past Colonies/territories, French Citizenship and Identity, Dual Citizenship, Citizenship of The European Union, Denaturalisation
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“The third day of Christmas,
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—Unknown. The Twelve Days of Christmas (l. 8–10)
“If nationality is consent, the state is compulsion.”
—Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881)
“I was not born to be forced. I will breathe after my own fashion. Let us see who is the strongest. What force has a multitude? They can only force me who obey a higher law than I.... I do not hear of men being forced to live this way or that by masses of men. What sort of life were that to live?”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)