Welcome to Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur!
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur is the most popular holiday region in the south of France. It covers a large area from the Mediterranean Sea in the south up to the French Alps in the north and extends west to east along the coast from the river Rhône all the way to the Italian border. Its identity as a geographical region being a legacy of the Roman Empire, the Provence includes the French Riviera and is famous for its sunny weather, colourful countryside, long-standing traditions and local language (Provençal). The region's favourable climate makes the variety of available local produce second to none. Flowers, fruits and vegetables all grow in abundance, the sea's fish and shellfish stocks are rich and all this without forgetting those two most Provençal of industries: wine-making and perfumery.
Perhaps best known for the many fashionable resorts along the Côte d'Azur, the Provence's other main attractions include the Old Port of Marseille, the ancient cities of Aix-en-Provence and Avignon, as well as a plethora of sun-baked villages and mountaintop towns. So why not follow in the footsteps of Vincent van Gogh and see for yourself why Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur is such a special and inspirational destination?
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (Occitan: Provença-Aups-Còsta d'Azur, commonly shortened to PACA, English: Provence-Alps-French Riviera, also known as Région Sud) is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France, the far southeastern on the mainland. Its prefecture and largest city is Marseille. The region is roughly coterminous with the former French province of Provence, with the addition of the following adjacent areas: the former papal territory of Avignon, known as Comtat Venaissin, the former Sardinian-Piedmontese County of Nice annexed in 1860, whose coastline is known in English as the French Riviera and in French as the Côte d'Azur, and the southeastern part of the former French province of Dauphiné, in the French Alps. Previously known by the acronym PACA, the region adopted the name Région Sud as a commercial name or nickname in December 2017. 5,007,977 people live in the region according to the 2015 census.It encompasses six departments in Southeastern France: Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Alpes-Maritimes, Bouches-du-Rhône, Hautes-Alpes, Var and Vaucluse. It is bounded to the east by the France–Italy border, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea and by the Principality of Monaco, to the north by Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and to the west by Occitanie, with the Rhône marking its westernmost border. The region logotype 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. The region's economy is the third largest in France, just behind Île-de-France and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Its GDP in 2015 was €168.2 billion (US$190.5 billion) while its per capita GDP was €30,863 (US$34,950).