Provence Provence Provence (, ; ; "Prouvènço" , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône River to the west to the Italian border to the east, and is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the south. It largely corresponds with the modern administrative "région" of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, and includes the "départements" of Var, Bouches-du-Rhône, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and parts of Alpes-Maritimes and Vaucluse. The largest city of the region is Marseille. The Romans made the region the first Roman province beyond the Alps and called it "Provincia Romana", which
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur an urban population of 1,005,230, making it the fifth-most populous city in France. The absolute majority of the population speaks French and there are many minority languages. According to the 1999 Census, 4.39 % (or 197.820 people) spoke English and 2.63% (or 118.512 people) spoke Italian with their relatives, friends or peers. Other minority languages were Spanish (2.38%, 107.247 people), Arabic (2.22%, 100.037 people), Provençal (2.20% or 99.136 people) and Corsican (0.58% or 26.135 people). According to a 2009 study, nearly 40% of all newborns in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur in 2007 had at least one parent of an immigrant background, mostly