The Maritime Alps (french: Alpes Maritimes ; it, Alpi Marittime ) are a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have ari ...

in the southwestern part of the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

. They form the border between the French region of

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (; or , ; commonly shortened to PACA; en, Provence-Alps-French Riviera, italic=yes; also branded as Région Sud) is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France, the far southeastern on the mainland. Its pre ...

and the

Italian regions The regions of Italy ( it, regioni d'Italia) are the first-level administrative divisions of the Italian Republic, constituting its second NUTS administrative level. There are twenty regions, five of which have higher autonomy than the rest. ...

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

and

Liguria Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...

. They are the southernmost part of the

Geography

Administratively the range is divided between the Italian provinces of

Cuneo Cuneo (; pms, Coni ; oc, Coni/Couni ; french: Coni ) is a city and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Northern Italy, the capital of the province of Cuneo, the fourth largest of Italy’s provinces by area. It is located at 550 metres (1,804 ft) in ...

and

Imperia Imperia (; lij, Inpêia or ) is a coastal city and '' comune'' in the region of Liguria, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Imperia, and historically it was capital of the ''Intemelia'' district of Liguria. Benito Mussolini created the ...

(eastern slopes) and the French department of

Alpes-Maritimes Alpes-Maritimes (; oc, Aups Maritims; it, Alpi Marittime, "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, ...

(western slopes). The Maritime Alps are drained by the rivers Roya, Var and Verdon and their tributaries on the French side; by the Stura di Demonte and other tributaries of the

Tanaro The Tanaro (; pms, Tane ; ; la, Tanarus), is a long river in northwestern Italy. The river begins in the Ligurian Alps, near the border with France, and is the most significant right-side tributary to the Po in terms of length, size of dra ...

and Po on the Italian side. There are many attractive perched villages, such as Belvédère at the entrance to the spectacular Gordolasque valley, some concealing unexpected architectural riches (for example in the south there are numerous churches decorated with murals and altarpieces by primitive Niçois painters).

Borders

The borders of the Maritime Alps are (anticlockwise): *

Vermenagna The Vermenagna is a long river in northwestern Italy (Piedmont). Geography The Vermenagna is a tributary to the river Gesso, in the river Po basin. Its source is a small lake higher than 2000 m close to the Rocca dell'Abisso, not faraway ...

creek, Col de Tende - which connects them with the Ligurian Alps - and Roya (east); *

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

and Var valley (south) * Verdon, Col d'Allos - which connects them with Provence Alps and Prealps - and

Ubaye The Ubaye (; oc, Ubaia) is a river of southeastern France. It is long and flows through the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department. Its drainage basin is .Maddalena Pass The Maddalena Pass (Italian: ''Colle della Maddalena'' French: ''Col de Larche'', historically ''Col de l'Argentière'') (elevation 1996 m.) is a high mountain pass between the Cottian Alps and the Maritime Alps, located on the border between I ...

(which connects them with the Cottian Alps) and Stura di Demonte (north).

Peaks

The main peaks of the Maritime Alps are:

Mountain passes

The chief passes of the Maritime Alps are:

Nature conservation

The French '' Mercantour National Park'' (central area:68,500 ha + peripheral area:140,000 ha) is part of the Maritime Alps as well as the ''Parco naturale delle Alpi Marittime'', an Italian regional nature park of 28,455 ha.''Parco delle Alpi Marittime'', web-site of the park o
www.parks.it
(accessed on April 2012)

References

* {{Reflist

Maps

* Italian official cartography (''

Istituto Geografico Militare The ''Istituto Geografico Militare'' (IGM), or Military Geographic Institute, is an Italian public organization, dependent on the Italian Army general staff (''Stato Maggiore dell'Esercito''). It is the national mapping agency for Italy. Over ...

'' - IGM); on-line version
www.pcn.minambiente.it
* French official cartography (''

Institut Géographique National An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes can ...

'' - IGN); on-line version:
www.geoportail.fr
Mountain ranges of the Alps Mountain ranges of Piedmont Mountains of Alpes-Maritimes Mountain ranges of Liguria es:Alpes Marítimos y prealpes de Niza it:Alpi Marittime e Prealpi di Nizza