Le Monde facts for kids

Le Monde (English:The World) is a French daily evening newspaper. It is amongst the newspapers most read in France. Its political opinion is slightly left-wing. In many countries outside France, this is the only French newspaper available.

The newspaper should not be confused with the monthly publication Le Monde diplomatique. Le Monde has 51% ownership of the monthly. Despite this, the monthly has a different editorial staff.

Le Monde was founded by Hubert Beuve-Méry. This was at the request of General Charles de Gaulle after the German army was driven from Paris during World War II. The newspaper took over the format of Le Temps, because the reputation of the latter had suffered during the Occupation. Beuve-Méry reportedly asked for total editorial independence as the condition for his taking on the project. Its first edition appeared on December 19, 1944. Le Monde has been available on the Internet since December 19, 1995. It is the principal publication of Groupe Le Monde.

In 2004, it had a circulation of 371,803 copies.