Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (; ; ; PACA) is one of the 18 administrative regions of France. Its capital 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, 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. 4,935,576 people live in the region according to the 2012 census.
Provence Nice and the lower Alps, was detached from Provence and attached to the lands of the Duke of Savoy. The lower Alps were re-attached to France after the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, but Nice did not return to France until 1860, during the reign of Napoleon III. The administrative region of Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur was created in 1982. It included Provence, plus the territory of the Comtat Venaissin around Avignon, the eastern portion of the Dauphiné, and the former county of Nice. The Rhône river, on the western border of Provence, is one of the major rivers of France, and