Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Maghrebi. This is the second-highest rate after Île-de-France (Greater Paris), where the figure was around 56%. Since the 1960s, the region has been a major immigration centre into France, mostly due to Mediterranean immigration from countries such as Portugal, Spain, Italy, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur is divided into 6 departments. These are Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Hautes-Alpes, Alpes-Maritimes, Bouches-du-Rhone, Var and Vaucluse. The largest cities in the region are Marseille (administrative capital city of the region), Nice, Toulon, and Aix-en-Provence, each with a population exceeding 100,000 inhabitants at the 1999 census. Along with Marseille, Nice is the
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence difficult, especially in winter, and particularly the communes in the Arrondissements of Barcelonnette and Castellane. They are therefore quite isolated from the rest of the department and the region. National Highway N85 between Digne-les-Bains and Castellane passes through several narrow gorges including that of "Taulanne" which is especially narrow. There are several railway lines in Alpes de Haute-Provence. These are: Old abandoned lines: The families "Simiane", "Agoult", and "Ponteves", nobles of Provence Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (; "Alps of Upper Provence"; Occitan: "Aups d'Auta Provença") is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. Formerly part of the province of