NICE, FRANCE
Nice is a city in southern France located on the Mediterranean coast, between Marseille, France, and Genoa, Italy, with 1,197,751 inhabitants in the metropolitan area at the 2007 estimate. The city is a major tourist centre and a leading resort on the French Riviera (Côte d'Azur). It is the historical capital city of the County of Nice.
Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur région, Nice is a commune and the préfecture (administrative capital) of the Alpes-Maritimes département. However, it is also the largest city in France that is not a regional capital; the much larger Marseille is its regional capital.
Nice has a Mediterranean climate : the city enjoys mild temperatures most of the year; rainfall is very moderate and mainly concentrated in the darkest part of the year (September to March). Summer is hot, dry, and sunny. Rainfall is rare in this season, and a typical July month only records one or two days with measurable rainfall. Temperatures seldom go below 20°C, and frequently reach 30°C. Average annual maximum is about 35°C. The absolute maximum recorded temperature in Nice was 37.7°C on the 1st of August 2006.Autumn generally starts sunny in September and becomes more cloudy and rainy towards October, while temperatures usually remain above 20°C until November where days start to cool down to around 17°C.
Nice is the seat of Chambre de commerce et d'industrie Nice Côte d'Azur. It manages both the Nice - Côte d'Azur Airport, the Cannes - Mandelieu Airport as well as the Port of Nice. Nice has the second market of national interest of France, the first port cement-manufacturer of France as well as a great number of museums and hotels. Nice is the second most popular French city among tourists after Paris, which, combined with the difficulties of the terrestrial communications at long distance (because of the Alpes), allows Nice to have the second busiest airport of France in terms of passenger numbers (close to 10,000,000 passengers in 2005).
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