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|region= Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
|departement= Alpes-Maritimes (06)
|mayor= Jacques Peyrat
(UMP) (since 1995)
|area= 71.92 km²
|date-population= 2004 estimate
|population= 347,100
|population-ranking=
(5th in France)
|date-density= (2004)
|density= 4,826/km²
|UU-area= 721 km²
|UU-area-date= 1999
|UU-pop= 888,784
|UU-pop-date= 1999
|AU-area= 2,268 km²
|AU-area-date= 1999
|AU-pop= 933,080
|AU-pop-date= 1999
|intercom-details2= Community of Agglomeration Nice Côte d'Azur
|}}
Nice (pronounced nis ) (Occitan: Niça or Nissa; Italian: Nizza) is a city in southern France located on the Mediterranean coast, between Marseille and Genoa, with 933,080 inhabitants in the metropolitan area at the 1999 census. The city is a major tourist center and a leading resort on the French Riviera (Côte d'Azur).
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Administration

Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur région, Nice is a commune and the préfecture (administrative capital) of the Alpes-Maritimes département.

History

There were settlements in the Nice area approximately 400,000 years ago: the site of Terra Amata shows one of the earliest uses of fire and construction of houses.

Nice (Nicaea) was founded in the 5th century BC by the Greeks of Marseille and received the name of Νικαία ("Nikaia") in honour of a victory over the neighbouring Ligurians (Nike being the goddess of victory). It soon became one of the busiest trading stations on the Ligurian coast; but as a city it had an important rival in the Roman town of Cemenelum, which continued to exist as a separate city till the time of the Lombard invasions, and has left its ruins at Cimiez, which is now a quarter of Nice.

In the 7th century Nice joined the Genoese League formed by the towns of Liguria. In 729 it repulsed the Saracens; but in 859 and 880 they pillaged and burned it, and for the most of the 10th century remained masters of the surrounding country.

During the Middle Ages Nice had its share in the wars and disasters of Italy. As an ally of Pisa it was the enemy of Genoa, and both the King of France and the Emperor endeavoured to subjugate it; but in spite of all it maintained its municipal liberties. In the course of the 13th and 14th centuries it fell more than once into the hands of the Counts of Provence; and at length in 1388 the commune placed itself under the protection of the Counts of Savoy.

The maritime strength of Nice now rapidly increased until it was able to cope with the Barbary pirates; the fortifications were largely extended and the roads to the city improved. During the struggle between Francis I and Charles V great damage was caused by the passage of the armies invading Provence; pestilence and famine raged in the city for several years. It was in Nice that the two monarchs in 1538 concluded, through the mediation of Pope Paul III, a truce of ten years.

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In 1543 Nice was attacked by the united forces of Francis I and Barbarossa; and, though the inhabitants repulsed the assault which succeeded the terrible bombardment, they were ultimately compelled to surrender, and Barbarossa was allowed to pillage the city and to carry off 2,500 captives. Pestilence appeared again in 1550 and 1580.

In 1600 Nice was taken by the duke of Guise. By opening the ports of the countship to all nations, and proclaiming full freedom of trade, Charles Emmanuel in 1626 gave a great stimulus to the commerce of the city, whose noble families took part in its mercantile enterprises. Captured by Catinat in 1691, Nice was restored to Savoy in 1696; but it was again besieged by the French in 1705, and in the following year its citadel and ramparts were demolished.

The treaty of Utrecht in 1713 once more gave the city back to Savoy; and in the peaceful years which followed the "new town" was built. From 1744 till the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748) the French and Spaniards were again in possession. In 1775 the king of Sardinia destroyed all that remained of the ancient liberties of the commune. Conquered in 1792 by the armies of the French republic, the county of Nice continued to be part of France until 1814; but after that date it reverted to Sardinia.

thumb Abbey of St Pons, founded 778, rebuilt in the 11th century: A Romanesque abbey with a Baroque belltower]]
By a treaty concluded in 1860 between the Sardinian king and Napoleon III it was again transferred to France, and the cession was ratified by over 25,000 electors out of a total of 30,700 although the plesbicite was most likely sabotaged by the French.

The dawn of the 20th century was the arrival of a modern mode of transport. In 1900, the Tramway de Nice electrified its horse drawn tramway and spread its network to Menton and Cagnes-sur-Mer, equipping the city of a modern mode of transport.

In the second half of the 20th century, Nice bore the influence of mayor Jean Médecin (mayor from 1947 to 1965) and his son Jacques (mayor from 1966 to 1990). On October 16 1979 23 people died when the coast of Nice was hit by a tsunami. As accusations of political corruption against Jacques Médecin grew, he fled France in 1990 and was arrested in Uruguay in 1993, leading to his extradition in 1994. He was then convicted of several counts of corruption and associated crimes and sentenced to prison.

Jacques Peyrat, the mayor of Nice since 1995, is a member of the UMP party and former member of the Front National.

In 2003, local head prosecutor Éric de Montgolfier alleged that some judicial cases involving local personalities had been suspiciously derailed by the local judiciary, which he suspected of having unhealthy contacts, through Masonic lodges, with the very people that they are supposed to prosecute or judge. A controversial official report stated that de Montgolfier had made unwarranted accusations.

Culture

Nice has a distinct culture due to its unique history. The local language Niçard (Nissart) is an (italian) Ligurian dialect, still spoken by a minority and there as well as Occitan. Strong Italian and (less) Corsican influences make it less unintelligible than other non-extinct Provençal dialects that exist around.

Local food culture, which includes pissaladière, a pie with onions and anchovies paste; socca, a kind of pancake made from chickpea flour; bouillabaisse and fish soup; "Stockfish"
(traditionally pronounced as "Stoquefiche" (French spelling) with special emphasis on the first "e"), farcis niçois, vegetables stuffed with breadcrumbs; and salade niçoise, a tomato salad with green peppers of the "Corne" breed, baked eggs, tuna or anchovies and olives.

In the recent decades Nice, as the rest of France, has received immigrants from other parts of the world, mainly Northern and Western Africa as well as southeastern Asia.

Traditions are still alive, especially in the folk music and the dances. The most famous is the farandole.

Education

Nice is home of the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis and EDHEC Business School.

Transport

The city is served by Côte d'Azur International Airport and has a railway station. Public transport within the city and to neighbouring areas is provided by the Ligne d'Azur bus company. A tramway, the Tramway de Nice, is currently under construction and is expected to begin operation in 2007.
The ferry companies SNCM and Corsica Ferries operate from the Nice harbour and sail to several towns on Corsica.
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Twinnings

* Active Twinnings:
** Cuneo, Italy
** Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
** Gdansk, Poland
** Hangzhou, China
** Laval, Canada
** Nuremberg, Germany
** Szeged, Hungary
** Saint Petersburg, Russia
** Yalta, Ukraine
** Thessaloniki, Greece
** Louisiana, USA State

* Other twinnings:
** Alicante, Spain
** Houston, Texas, USA
** Kamakura, Japan
** Cape Town, South Africa
** Libreville, Gabon
** Manila, Philippines
** Miami, Florida, USA
** Netanya, Israel
** Noumea, New Caledonia, France
** Phuket, Thailand
** Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
** Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
** Sorrento, Italy
** Saint Denis, Réunion, France
** Antananarivo, Madagascar

* Pact of friendship
** Xiamen, China

Miscellaneous

Births

Nice was the birthplace (patrie in French) of:
* Andre Massena (1758-1817), Duke of Rivoli, Prince of Essling, soldier in the armies of Napoleon and a Marshal of France
* Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1885), nationalist revolutionary and Italy's most famous soldier of the Risorgimento
* Melchior de Vogue (1848-1910), author
* Albert Calmette (1863-1933), physician, bacteriologist and immunologist
* Marcel Journet (1867-1933), tenor
* Robert Caesar Childers (1838-1876), British Orientalist scholar
* René Dreyfus (1905-1993), Grand Prix driver
* Jean Behra (1921-1959), Formula One driver
* Simone Veil (born 1927), lawyer and politician
* Yves Klein (1928-1962), artist
* Christian Wolff (born 1934), American composer of experimental classical music
* Max Gallo (1932), author and politician
* Le Clezio (1940), author
* Didier Van Cauweleart (1960), author, winner of the Goncourt in 1994
* Catherine Ségurane, heroin of the siege of Nice in 1543

Places of interest

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* Promenade des Anglais : the street running along the edge of the water, with strong nightlife and nice views
* Château
* Monument aux morts
* The port
* Marché aux fleurs (flower market): runs every day of the week selling all the best produce of the area
* Old Nice
* Cathédrale Sainte-Réparate, 17th century
* L'église Saint-Jacques, 17th century
* Musée Jules-Chéret
* Musée Masséna
* Museum of Natural History
* Naval Museum
* Galerie des Ponchettes
* Musée Chagall (Cimiez)
* Musée Matisse (arenas of Cimiez where one can also see Roman ruins)
* Église Russe
* Grand Hôtel Impérial

Sources and References

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External links

* Nice official site
* Nice Convention & Visitors Bureau
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* A few views of Nice in Old Postcards

Category:5th century BC establishments

lad:Nice
scn:Nizza