Nice metropolitan area () as defined by INSEE in 2021 is the

functional urban area The functional urban area (FUA), previously known as larger urban zone (LUZ), is a measure of the population and expanse of metropolitan and surrounding areas which may or may not be exclusively urban. It consists of a city and its commuting zo ...

or commuting zone of the city of

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It covers 100 communes, has 1,103,527 inhabitants (2021) and an area of 2,073 km².Aire d'attraction des villes 2020 de Nice (017)
INSEE It partly overlaps with the

urban unit In France, an urban unit () is a statistical area defined by INSEE, the French national statistics office, for the measurement of contiguously built-up areas. According to the INSEE definition , an "unité urbaine" is a commune alone or a grou ...

(contiguously built-up area) of Nice, which covers some cities, e.g.

Antibes Antibes (, , ; ) is a seaside city in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in Southeastern France. It is located on the French Riviera between Cannes and Nice; its cape, the Cap d'Antibes, along with Cap Ferrat in Saint-Jean-Ca ...

Grasse Grasse (; Provençal dialect, Provençal in classical norm or in Mistralian norm ; traditional ) is the only Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur Re ...

and

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

, that are part of the functional area Cannes-Antibes.

Geography

The functional urban area of Nice covers the central and southern part of the

Alpes-Maritimes Alpes-Maritimes (; ; ; ) is a Departments of France, department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the France–Italy border, Italian border and Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'A ...

department (98 communes) and two adjacent communes in

Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (sometimes abbreviated as AHP; ; ; ), formerly until 1970 known as Basses-Alpes (, ), is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France, bordering Alpes-Maritimes and Italy to the east, Var to the sou ...

. The urban area of

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

Menton Menton (; in classical norm or in Mistralian norm, , ; ; or depending on the orthography) is a Commune in France, commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera, close to the Italia ...

lies adjacent to the east, the urban area of

lies adjacent to the southwest. The most populous communes in the urban area are Nice,

Cagnes-sur-Mer Cagnes-sur-Mer (, literally ''Cagnes on Sea''; ) is a French Riviera town near Nice that is in the Alpes-Maritimes department, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in southeastern France. Geography Cagnes-sur-Mer is a town in southeaste ...

Carros Carros (; ) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France. Carros is one of sixteen villages grouped together by the Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur tourist department as the ''Route des Villages Perchés'' (Route of Perc ...

Saint-Laurent-du-Var Saint-Laurent-du-Var (; Occitan: ''Sant Laurenç de Var'', Italian: ''San Lorenzo del Varo'') is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera. History The town was founded in the ...

, La Trinité,

Vence Vence (; ) is a commune set in the hills of the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France, north of Nice and Antibes on the Mediterranean coast. Ecclesiastical history The first known Bishop ...

and

Villeneuve-Loubet Villeneuve-Loubet (; ; ) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. It lies between Cagnes-sur-Mer and Antibes, at the mouth of the river Loup, ten kilometres west of ...

, all of which are on or close to the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

coast. Transportation is based on a railway line and vital

A8 autoroute The A8 autoroute, also known as La Provençale, is a -long highway in France that runs between Aix-en-Provence and the A7 to the Côte d'Azur. Route The A8 is an extension of the A7 starting to the west of Aix-en-Provence at La Fare-les-Oli ...

, built from 1966.

Nice Côte d'Azur Airport Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

with more than 9 million passengers welcomed every year.

History

In the beginning of the nineteenth century, Nice was a 20,000 inhabitants city belonging to the

Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchic state or realm ruled by a king or queen. ** A monarchic chiefdom, represented or governed by a king or queen. * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and me ...

. It grew steadily to reach 48,273 inhabitants in 1861, one year after annexation to the

French Second Empire The Second French Empire, officially the French Empire, was the government of France from 1852 to 1870. It was established on 2 December 1852 by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, president of France under the French Second Republic, who proclaimed hi ...

. By the end of the century, the population was over 100,000. The urbanized area began to spread outside city limits, in La Trinité to the North,

Villefranche-sur-Mer Villefranche-sur-Mer (, ; ; ) is a resort town in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera and is located southwest of the Principality of Monaco, which is just west of the French-Italian ...

to the East and

to the West. In the meantime, old cities, about 30 km to the West, like

were experiencing regular growth as well. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, growth increased with the development of mass tourism and development of transports in the region. The consequences of the end of the

Algerian War The Algerian War (also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence) ''; '' (and sometimes in Algeria as the ''War of 1 November'') was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (Algeri ...

were also very important for the region's population, with many

Pied-Noir The (; ; : ) are an ethno-cultural group of people of French and other European descent who were born in Algeria during the period of French colonial rule from 1830 to 1962. Many of them departed for mainland France during and after the ...

s settling in the area. The growth in main cities decreased, while new town were growing very quickly like

Vallauris Vallauris (; ; Niçard subdialect: ''Valàuri'') is a seaside commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. It is located in the metropolitan area (and is today effectively an ext ...

Le Cannet Le Cannet (; ; older ) is a commune of the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France. Administration Le Cannet was part of Cannes until 1778, when it was made a separate commune. Location Le Cannet is located in the north of Canne ...

. In the 1990 census, INSEE identified two distinct

aire urbaine An ''aire urbaine'' (literal and official translation: "urban area") is an INSEE (France's national statistics bureau) statistical concept describing a core of urban development and the extent of its commuter activity. It was replaced by the c ...

s in the département :

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (sometimes abbreviated as AHP; ; ; ), formerly until 1970 known as Basses-Alpes (, ), is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France, bordering Alpes-Maritimes and Italy to the east, Var to the sou ...

, 5 in Var and 122 in

.Aire urbaine 2010 de Nice (007)
/ref> At the 2020 zoning, the functional area of Cannes-Antibes was separated from that of Nice. The table below shows the evolution of the seven most important

communes A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

parts of nowadays ''aire urbaine'' of Nice (census data).

Organisation

This statistic-based metropolitan area is divided into multiple administrative divisions. Among them are: *

Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur The Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur () is the ''métropole'', an Communes of France#Intercommunality, intercommunal structure, centred on the Communes of France, city of Nice. It is located in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department, i ...

, that groups 51 communes, not all of them belonging to the metropolitan area. This agglomeration community is 1,480 square kilometers large and hosts 546,000 inhabitants. *

Communauté d'agglomération de Sophia Antipolis The Communauté d'agglomération de Sophia Antipolis (CASA) is the ''communauté d'agglomération'', an intercommunal structure, centred on the city of Antibes. It is located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur ...

, 24 communes, 10 of which in the metropolitan area of Nice *

Communauté d'agglomération du Pays de Grasse Communauté d'agglomération du Pays de Grasse is an Communes of France#Intercommunality, intercommunal structure, centred on the Communes of France, city of Grasse. It is located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, in the Pro ...

, 23 communes, 5 of which in the metropolitan area of Nice * Communauté de communes Alpes d'Azur, 34 communes, not all of them part of the metropolitan area of Nice * Communauté de communes du Pays des Paillons, 11 communes, all part of the metropolitan area of Nice

References

Metropolitan areas of France Nice {{AlpesMaritimes-geo-stub

Geography

History

Organisation

See also

References