Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

This article is about the region. For the traditional province, see Provence.

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
—  Region of France  —
Flag Logo
Country	France
Prefecture	Marseille
Departments	6 Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Hautes-Alpes Alpes-Maritimes Bouches-du-Rhône Var Vaucluse
Government
– President	Michel Vauzelle (PS)
Area
– Total	31,400 km2 (12,123.6 sq mi)
Population (2010-01-01)
– Total	4,951,388
– Density	157.7/km2 (408.4/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
– Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
NUTS Region	FR8
Website	regionpaca.fr

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (French pronunciation: [pʁɔ.vɑ̃s alp kot da.zyʁ]; Provençal: Provença-Aups-Còsta d'Azur / Prouvènço-Aup-Costo d'Azur) or PACA is one of the 27 regions of France.

It is made up of:

• the former French province of Provence
• the former papal territory of Avignon, known as Comtat Venaissin
• the former Sardinian-Piedmontese county of Nice, whose coastline is known in English as the French Riviera, and in French as the Côte d'Azur
• the southeastern part of the former French province of Dauphiné, in the French Alps.

It encompasses six departments in south-eastern France, bounded to the east by the Italian border, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea and by the principality of Monaco, to the north by Rhône-Alpes, and to the west by Languedoc-Roussillon, with the Rhône river marking its westernmost border. The six departments are:

• Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
• Hautes-Alpes
• Alpes-Maritimes
• Bouches-du-Rhône
• Var
• Vaucluse

The region logo displays the coat of arms created in the 1990s and which combines the coats of arms of the old provinces making up Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.

Economically the region is the third most important in France just behind Île-de-France and Rhône-Alpes. Its GDP in 2006 was € 130,178 million ($US 163,600 million) and per capita GDP was € 27,095 ($US 34,051).

Major communities

The largest cities in the region are Marseille, Nice, Toulon, and Aix-en-Provence, each with a population exceeding 100,000 inhabitants as of the 1999 census. The richest part of the Region is Nice's metropolitan area.

Marseille, the largest city in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.

• Aix-en-Provence
• Antibes (includes Juan-les-Pins)
• Arles
• Aubagne
• Avignon
• Cannes
• Draguignan
• Fréjus
• Grasse
• Hyères
• La Seyne-sur-Mer
• Le Cannet
• Mandelieu-la-Napoule
• Marseille
• Mougins
• Martigues
• Nice
• Toulon
• Villeneuve-Loubet

External links

• Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur at the Open Directory Project
• Conseil régional Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Official website
• NotreProvence.fr Discover the Provence on NotreProvence.fr (fr)
• FranceSouth.com Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Guide

Coordinates: 44°00′N 6°00′E / 44°N 6°E / 44; 6