Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

Region of southeast France, comprising the départements of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Hautes-Alpes, Alpes-Maritimes, Bouches-du-Rhône, Var, and Vaucluse; area 31,400 sq km/12,123 sq mi; the administrative centre is Marseille; population (1999 est) 4,506,200. The Côte d'Azur, on the Mediterranean, is a tourist centre. Provence was an independent kingdom in the 10th century, and the area still has its own traditional language, Provençal.

The region is mountainous but its river valleys are fertile. It includes the Southern Alps, the French Riviera, the salt marsh and lagoon area of theCamargue, and the urbanized area of Marseille, Toulon, Aix-en-Provence, and the lower valley of the Rhöne River and its Mediterranean delta.