Alpes-Maritimes (French: [alp(ə)maʁitim]; Occitan: Aups Maritims; Italian: Alpi Marittime; lit.

'Maritime Alps') is a department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the Italian border and Mediterranean coast.

Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, it encompasses the French Riviera alongside neighbouring Var.

Alpes-Maritimes has become one of the world's most attractive tourist destinations in recent decades, featuring renowned cities and towns such as Nice, Grasse, Cannes, Antibes, Menton, Èze, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin and Sainte-Agnès, as well as numerous alpine ski resorts.

In terms of politics, Alpes-Maritimes is one of France's most right-wing departments, as the majority led by The Republicans in the departmental council holds all but two of the 54 seats following the 2021 election.

The highest point of the department is the Cime du Gélas (3,143 metres, 10,312 ft) on the Franco-Italian border which dominates the Vallée des Merveilles further east.

Then the route follows the Col de la Bonette – the highest pass in Europe at 2,715 metres (8,907 ft) – to connect to the valley of the Tinée then the Ubaye.

Finally, at its eastern end, the Col de Tende (1,871 metres, 6,138 ft) links with Cuneo in Italy.

Despite this the department is also the most stormy of France with an average of 70 to 90 thunderstorm days per year, arising from the differences in temperature due to a warm sea in autumn.

As soon as one moves away from the coast, towards the west of the department, the interior plains (in particular near Grasse) the climate is a little less temperate but just as sunny.

In the Menton region, the altitude increases very rapidly inland, so the sea tempers the atmosphere much more: the maximum in summer is on average 25 °C (77 °F) and the winters are milder than in the interior and frost is very rare.

In the north of the department the climate in the Alps is mountainous, and there is decent snow cover from end of November until late April.

As of 2019, there are 10 communes with more than 20,000 inhabitants:[3] The Roman military district of Alpes Maritimae was created by Augustus in 14 BC.

It became a full Roman province in the middle of the 1st century AD, with its capital first at Cemenelum (today Cimiez, a suburb north of Nice) and subsequently at Embrun.

In 1860 Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, one of the architects of Italian unity with the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, negotiated support for Napoleon III in exchange for Savoy and the County of Nice as set forth in the Treaty of Turin.

Of the five members of the Senate who represent the department in the upper house of Parliament, four are right-wing (LR) and one is left-wing (Socialist Party, PS).

In the 2022 French presidential election, Marine Le Pen of the National Rally won a plurality in Alpes-Maritimes in the first round; incumbent Emmanuel Macron of La République En Marche!

According to the INSEE, in 2005 the GDP per capita of the Alpes-Maritimes was 27,723 euros which ranked it as the thirteenth highest department in France.

[24] The presence of the Mediterranean Sea and the French Alps under a mild sky has favoured one dominant activity: tourism, which accounts for 64,000 jobs directly in the Alpes-Maritimes.

The seaside where the majority of the population resides is one of the most popular parts of the world with many attractions: The area inland from the busy French Riviera is an excellent base for many outdoor sports: cycling, mountain biking, skiing, walking, rock climbing, canyoning, canoeing, rafting, fishing, horse riding, Adventure parks, caving and the area has the first ever underground via ferrata.

The area has internationally renowned paragliding and hang gliding flying sites at Col-de-Bleyne, Gourdon, Gréolières and Lachens.

[25] Cultural life is rich and fully described in the daily regional Nice-Matin newspaper and announced in the weekly supplement JV Wednesday.

Several engineering schools are also located in Sophia Antipolis: In addition, two major business schools are located in the region: There are is the French Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation (INRIA) and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Sophia Antipolis.

The asteroid 100122 Alpes Maritimes is named in the department's honour, on the occasion of the thousandth discovery made from its territory.