Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur second most important city in the region with a city proper population of about 350,000 and an urban population exceeding 1 million. Marseille, with an urban area of 2 million inhabitants, is the largest and capital city of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. It is also the second most populated city in France, just behind Paris and the city with the third largest metropolitan population in France, behind Paris and Lyon respectively. Along with Nice and Marseille the region is also made internationally popular with Cannes which, though not a large city (population of 73,603 in 2012), hosts the annual Cannes Film
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence the population, 32.8% of available housing in the department are second homes. The department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence is one of the least densely populated of France with barely more than 20 inhabitants per km. The population is concentrated mainly in the valleys of the Durance, the Bléone (up to Digne) and the nearby flat lands. The rest of the department is sparsely populated (less than 10 inhabitants per km over most of the territory). Half of the Communes have less than 200 inhabitants, 17 communes have less than 50 and many villages have been abandoned. The towns are small: only Digne-les-Bains