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 Festival which has highly popularized the region. Also, Arles has become renowned as the city in which Vincent van Gogh lived and painted 300 paintings. Toulon is a large military harbour on the Mediterranean coast, with the French naval base placed there. It is the capital of the Var department in the region. Also, Aix-en-Provence has long been a university town, and to this day remains the most important educational centre in the region. Below is a list of the most populated cities in the region along with their population (city proper) according to the most recent census. This region