Aix-en-Provence a UFO in 1981 that is taken seriously by GEIPAN, the department within the French Space Agency responsible for investigating aerospace phenomena. Aix-en-Provence is officially twinned with the following seven cities (in alphabetical order): In addition, Aix has international cooperations, partnerships and exchanges with the following cities from all over the world: Aix-en-Provence was the birthplace of: Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence (; , ; ), or simply Aix (; medieval Occitan "Aics"), is a city-commune in the south of France, about north of Marseille. A former capital of Provence, it is in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône,
Alpes-de-Haute-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 Provence, it had a population of 161,916 in 2013. Its main cities are Digne-les-Bains (prefecture), Manosque, Sisteron, Barcelonnette, Castellane and Forcalquier. Inhabitants of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence are called the Bas-Alpins or Bas-Alpines referring to the department of Basses-Alpes which was the former name of the department until 1970. Bounded in the east by Italy, the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department is surrounded by the departments of Alpes-Maritimes, Var, Vaucluse, Drôme, and Hautes-Alpes. It can be divided into