After voters rejected candidates from the big political parties in the first-round result, contenders Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen remain to contend the presidency.
For the first time, the two remaining candidates in the French presidential run-off are not from the major political parties.
Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen are presenting themselves as political outsiders and they couldn't be more different.
Voters will choose between Mr Macron, a pro-European liberal, who has never been elected before, and Ms Le Pen, an anti-immigration, anti-EU nationalist.
The campaign has become particularly bitter as its climax draws near.
In a fiery televised debate in Paris, the two contenders did not hide their disdain for each other, exchanging insults and clashing over their competing visions for France for much of the two and a half hour contest.
Ms Len Pen played up Mr Macron's background as a former investment banker and painted him as the candidate of the elite.
"The political choice the French have to make is clear: Mr. Macron is the candidate of globalisation gone wild, of neoliberalisation, uncertainty, social brutality, the dog-eat-dog war, the economic wrecking of big companies, the dismembering of France by big financial interests - and all this guided by Mr Hollande."
Mr Macron accused his rival of not offering solutions.
"What we're asking our citizens today is whether they want your spirit of defeatism, because that's what you bring. What you're telling our citizens is globalisation is too hard for us, Europe is too hard, so we are going to fall back and just close our borders. We'll exit the Euro, exit Europe, because others can succeed but not us.' It's a spirit of defeat in the fight against terrorism, because this fight - every country is facing it. Every democracy has to confront it. But you just say 'no' again 'we're going to exit and reinstate borders' - as if it solves our problems."
39-year-old Macron is France's youngest presidential candidate.
If he wins, he'll also be the country's youngest and first independent modern president.
The former economic minister launched his En Marche party only last year and has swiftly grown in popularity.
In contrast, Marine Le Pen is an experienced politician, having grown up in one of the country's most notorious political families.
Until recently she was the leader of the National Front, a party founded by her father Jean-Marie.
Her move away from the party is seen by some as an attempt to distance herself from some of its right-wing views, and to widen her appeal to voters.
Some of the sharpest exchanges in the latest debate surround the issue of terrorism, which polls show is a major preoccupation for the French.
Ms Le Pen has cast herself as tougher on the issue, reeling off a series of antiterrorism measures.
She has vowed to pull France out of the EU and tighten its borders immediately if elected.
"Security and terrorism is a vital issue, vital, which is totally absent from your manifesto, totally absent. There are no proposals that stand up to scrutiny. That means that the physical security of our fellow citizens and the fight against Islamist fundamentalism, you don't want to wage it. And I know why you don't want to wage it. To fight terrorism first of all we need to get back our national borders, straight away, right now and and that's something I would do straight away after taking power."
Mr Macron accused Ms Le Pen of spreading fear.
"This great fear: who has been manipulating it since the beginning? It's you. Who plays with the fears of our citizens, on terrorism and so on? It's you. The great priestess of fear is in front of me."
At one point, Ms Le Pen accused Mr Macron of bowing down to German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
"The reality is that you went to see Mrs. Merkel for her blessing because you can't imagine doing anything without Mrs. Merkel's approval. It's so true that when you were asked how you would face Merkel, you said 'I won't face her, I'll be with her'. I'm going to tell you what's going to happen, Mr Macron. Whatever happens France will be governed by a woman, it'll be either me or Mrs Merkel."
Opinion polls have consistently put Mr Macron ahead of Ms Le Pen, but his lead has now narrowed.
An estimated 18 per cent of voters remain undecided.
University of Sydney's School of Social and Political Science, Professor Simon Tormey says Mr Macron is a safe frontrunner.
He says Mr Macron's young cosmopolitan outlook is appealing to French voters, particularly the younger demographic, while Ms Le Pen's negative rhetoric does her no favours.
"They like him because he's really got an optimistic message but also he's basically got that Parisian, cosmopolitan sophistication, he's from a banking background. People trust that he understands what's needed in order for France to get back on its feet in economic terms."
But Professor Tormey warns it's not just winning the presidency that is the key focus for Mr Macron.
The next challenge would be to secure a majority in the National Assembly if he becomes president
The mid-June election will determine how the country will be governed for the next five years.
'Without having that support in the Assemble Nationale he won't be able to get any of his domestic reforms through so you've got another set of elections coming up in June where for the first time his on kind of movement party will be presenting candidates and i think i am a bit sceptical about how well they are going to do i think that we will find that we will have a very fractured Assemble Nationale and it's going to be very hard work for him to maintain a governing coalition."
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