Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of 71.92 km2 (28 sq mi). The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of over 955,000 on an area of 721 km2 (278 sq mi). Located on the south east coast of France on the Mediterranean Sea, Nice is the second largest French city on the Mediterranean coast. Nice was included in UNESCO’s world heritage list in 2021 as “Winter resort town of the Riviera” because of its architectural, landscape and urban heritage.
The area of today’s Nice is believed to be among the oldest human settlements in Europe. One of the archaeological sites, Terra Amata, displays evidence of a very early usage of fire. Around 350 BCE, Greeks of Marseille founded a permanent settlement and called it Nikaia, after Nike, the goddess of victory. The city is host to numerous architectural highlights, museums, cultural habitats and events of all kinds all year round.
Nice is the seat of the Chambre de commerce et d’industrie Nice Côte d’Azur. It manages the Nice – Côte d’Azur Airport and the Cannes – Mandelieu Airport, as well as the Port of Nice. Investors from France and abroad can benefit from the assistance of the Côte d’Azur Economic Development Agency Team Côte d’Azur. Among tourists, Nice is the second most popular French city after Paris, a fact which, combined with the difficulties of land travel at long distance (partly because of the Alps), allows it to have the second busiest airport in France in terms of passenger numbers.
Nice has one conference centre: the Palais des Congrès Acropolis. The city also has several business parks, including l’Arenas, Nice the Plain, Nice Méridia, Saint Isidore, and the Northern Forum. In addition, the city features several shopping centres such as Nicetoile, Nice TNL, Nice Lingostière, Northern Forum, St-Isidore, the Trinity (around the Auchan hypermarket) and Cap3000 in Saint-Laurent-du-Var.
The cuisine of Nice is especially close to those of Provence but also Liguria and Piemont and uses local ingredients (olive oil, anchovies, fruit and vegetables) but also those from more remote regions, in particular from Northern Europe, because ships which came to pick up olive oil arrived full of food products, such as dried haddock.