Alpes-Maritimes

Department

Nice & Côte d'Azur

Flag

Coat of arms

Location of Alpes-Maritimes in France

Coordinates: 43°50′N 7°10′E / 43.833°N 7.167°ECoordinates: 43°50′N 7°10′E / 43.833°N 7.167°E

Country

France

Region

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

Government

• President of the General Council

Éric Ciotti (UMP)

Area

• Total

4,299 km² (1,660 sq mi)

Population (2013)

• Total

1,080,771

• Rank

20th

• Density

250/km² (650/sq mi)

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

• Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km²

Alpes-Maritimes (French pronunciation: [alp.ma.ʁi.tim]; Occitan: Aups Maritims; Italian: Alpi Marittime) is a department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in the extreme southeast corner of France.

The inhabitants of the department are called Maralpins, but are usually referred to as Azuréens (inhabitants of the Côte d'Azur).

The Alpes-Maritimes department is surrounded by the departments of Var in the southwest, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in the north-west, Italy, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. It surrounds the Principality of Monaco on the west, north, and east.

Its topography is very mixed. As its name suggests, most of the department is a constituent part of the overall topographic Alps - including the Maritime Alps - but it also has the distinction of being a coastal district with its Mediterranean coast. The coastal area, urbanized and densely populated (shaded in red on the map), includes all the cities in an almost continuous conurbation from Cannes to Menton, while the larger but sparsely populated mountainous area (light green) is fully rural with the exception of the three large resorts of Valberg (created in 1936), Auron (created in 1937), and Isola 2000 (created in 1971).

The highest point of the department is the Cime du Gélas (3143 m) on the Franco-Italian border which dominates the Vallée des Merveilles further east. In fact the summit of Monte Argentera is certainly higher at 3297 m above sea level but it is located in Italian territory. There is also Mount Mounier (2817 m) which dominates the south of the vast Dôme de Barrot which is formed of a mass of more than 900 m thick red mudstones deeply indented by the gorges of Daluis and Cians. Except in winter, four passes allow passage to the north of the Mercantour/Argentera mountain range whose imposing 62 km long barrier covered in winter snow which is visible from the coast. From the west the Route des Grandes Alpes enters the Cayolle Pass (2326 m) first on the way to the Alps and the sources of the Var in the commune of Entraunes. Then the route follows the Col de la Bonette - the highest pass in Europe at 2715 m - to connect to the valley of the Tinée then the Ubaye. Further east, the Lombard pass (2350 m) above Isola 2000 allows access to the shrine of Saint-Anne de Vinadio in Italy. Finally, at its eastern end, the Col de Tende (1871 m) links with Cuneo in Italy.

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Wikipedia