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 of 39.4% for the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. The National Office of Forests (ONF) manages 86,000 hectares. The main species exploited are Scots pine, black pine, larch, pubescent oak (or white oak), and beech. Fir and spruce are less common. The 2003 heat wave caused the decline of many species of trees, consequently accelerating the return of Mediterranean oaks, alders and linden. Industry is relatively small in terms of business establishments but has several relatively large companies. At the end of 2004 the department had 937 establishments with 17 exceeding fifty employees. This is particularly the case of the historic plant