CORDIS Archive

A few figures for the region

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur identity card

Population (1999 census): 4,506,253 inhabitants, i.e. 7.5 % of the total population of France.

Provence - Alpes - Côte d'Azur comprises six departments:

• Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (04),
• Hautes-Alpes (05),
• Alpes Maritimes (06),
• Bouches-du-Rhône (13),
• Var (83),
• Vaucluse (84).

It has 963 , 34 of which have more than 20,000 residents, which represents more than 58.3 % of the regional population. 90 % of inhabitants live in the three large cities of Marseille, Nice and Toulon, or in the numerous medium sized towns with more than 2,000 inhabitants. Five urban centres (Marseille/Aix, Nice, Toulon, Avignon, Cannes/Grasse/Antibes) house 61.8 % of the population. Four of France's 29 population centres with more than 200,000 inhabitants are situated in the region. Provence - Alpes - Côte d'Azur is one of the most urbanised regions in France.

Fully equipped with communication systems, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur lies at the centre of the Mediterranean sphere; it is the gateway to northern Europe and the bridgehead for euro-mediterranean cooperation, with its neighbours and countries lying along the shores of the Mediterranean. Our region itself has no less than 800 km of coastline.

• 1,242 km of railway line to which was added the new TGV-Mediterranean network in June 2001.
• Two of France's major international airports (Nice-Côte d'Azur and Marseille-Provence).
• The largest sea port in France (the independent port of Marseille).
• 762 km of motorway and 1966 km of major roads.
• Multi-modal logistics platforms: for river transport: the Tellines in Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône (a navigable route between the sea and Châlon-sur-Saône); rail-road: Le Cannet in Marseille (1.1 million tonnes a year) and Avignon-Champfleury (1.4 million tonnes a year) to which will soon be added the Grans-Miramas platform (Southern Key).

Six universities: University of the Mediterranean, University of Provence in Marseille, University of Aix-Marseille III in Aix-en-Provence, University of Nice-Sophia-Antipolis, University of Toulon and the Var in la Garde, University of Avignon and the Vaucluse.
10,000 researchers and professors - researchers within ten or so research organisations.

Research and development (R&D): Sophia-Antipolis International Centre (06), the Château-Gombert Technopole (13), the Luminy Science Park (13), the Arbois Mediterranean Europôle (13), the Agroparc in Avignon (84) and Toulon-Var Technologie (83). The Mediterranean Technology Association is involved in R&D development studies for in the region.

Economics: From an economic point of view, the region is characterised by several large business sectors which are:

• The aeronautical industry, the leading sector in the region in terms of R&D, with the presence of large companies in the Marignane (Eurocopter) and Cannes (Alcatel Space) areas.

• The chemical industry, the second largest production industry in the region, with 600 companies and a turnover of 6.8% billion euros, with two industrial centres (a petrochemical zone in the west of the region and a fine chemistry zone in Var and around Nice).

• The micro-electronics industry, the leading national region for the production of semi-conductors, characterised by the presence of large companies (ST Microé lectronics, Gemplus, Atmel), and three geographic areas (areas at Rousset and La Ciotat for smart cards and the Nice - Sophia-Antipolis area for telecommunications)

• The food industry, the largest production industry in the region, covering 30% of companies with a very large proportion of very small and medium sized businesses and 19% of the region's industrial workforce (19,000 employees); the two main areas are Avignon and Antibes-Nice.