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Paris est dans le nord de la France.

Paris est dans le nord de la France.
Paris is in the north of France.
From Lesson 34:Prepositions for cities and countries (à, en, au, aux)·French

Questions & Answers about Paris est dans le nord de la France.

The lesson teaches us to use en for feminine countries like France. Why does this sentence use de la France instead of en France?
Because we are saying of France, not in France. The sentence specifies that Paris is in the north of France (de la France). If you just wanted to state that Paris is inside the country, you would use the rule you learned: Paris est en France.
Why do we say dans le nord? Can I use au nord?
We use dans le nord because Paris is located inside the northern region of France. You use dans le when something is contained within a specific area. If you use au nord de la France, it usually means something is physically outside and to the north of the country, like Belgium.
Why do we need la in de la France? Why not just de France?
In English, we just say France, but in French, countries almost always need their definite article (the word for the). Because France is a feminine country, it uses la. So, we literally say of the France (de la France).
Are compass directions like nord always masculine?
Yes! All four compass directions are masculine nouns in French: le nord (the north), le sud (the south), l'est (the east), and l'ouest (the west).

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