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Alpes-Maritimes is a département in the extreme southeast corner of France.
HistoryThe Romans already had a province called Alpes-Maritimes as early as 7 BC. Its capital was Cemenelum, today Cimiez, a neighborhood in the north of Nice. At its largest in 297, this province extended to Digne and Briançon, and its capital was Embrun. A département of this name existed in France from 1793 to 1815, but it had different boundaries and included Monaco and San Remo. The present département was created in 1860 when the county of Nice was annexed. It was constituted out of the county of Nice and the arrondissement of Grasse in the département of Var. In 1947, the département was enlarged by the addition of the communes of Tende and La Brigue, which had been Italian. GeographyThe department is surrounded by the French departments of Var, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, the principality of Monaco, Italy on the east, and the Mediterranean on the south. Alpes-Maritimes includes famous Riviera coastline on the Mediterranean Sea with the important towns and cities of Cannes, Nice, Juan les Pins, Saint Jean Cap Ferrat, and Antibes. Rivers include the following:
See also: List of the communes of the Alpes-Maritimes département EconomyThe economy is largely driven by tourism. Nice is second only to Paris in the number and size of its hotels. Because of the mild climate, it is a year-round tourist attraction. Other notable industry includes the perfume industry in Grasse and high-tech industry around Sophia-Antipolis. DemographicsThe inhabitants of the department are called Maralpins. When Nice became French in 1860, it was still a small town; the département had fewer than 200,000 inhabitants. However, the population grew quickly from 300,000 at the beginning of the 20th century to over a million. The population is aging because of the number of retirees who move to the coast. The population is now concentrated in the urban region that includes Cannes, Grasse, Nice, and Menton, and which constitutes 90% of the total population. CultureThe Cannes Film Festival attracts wide attention and the cream of the film industry. Juan-les-Pins hosts an annual jazz festival. TourismTourism in the department centers on the Riviera, known as the Côte d'Azur, known for its beaches and luxury hotels. Miscellaneous topicsExternal links
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