The region logotype displays the coat of arms created in the 1990s and which combines the coats of arms of the old provinces making up Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. According to the 2015 census, 5,007,977 people live in the region. It is bounded to the east by the France–Italy border, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea and by the Principality of Monaco, to the north by Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and to the west by Occitanie, with the Rhône marking its westernmost border. It encompasses six departments in Southeastern France: Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Alpes-Maritimes, Bouches-du-Rhône, Hautes-Alpes, Var and Vaucluse.

The region Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur and its departments on the background of historical territories Previously known by the acronym PACA, the region adopted the name Région Sud as a commercial name or nickname in December 2017. The region is roughly coterminous with the former French province of Provence, with the addition of the following adjacent areas: the former papal territory of Avignon, known as Comtat Venaissin the former Sardinian-Piedmontese County of Nice annexed in 1860, whose coastline is known in English as the French Riviera and in French as the Côte d'Azur and the southeastern part of the former French province of Dauphiné, in the French Alps. Its prefecture and largest city is Marseille. Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur ( French pronunciation: ⓘ commonly shortened to PACA English: Provence-Alps-French Riviera), also known as Région Sud ( Southern Region), is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France, the far southeastern on the mainland.

2019 highway map of dordogne france