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 arise ...

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 France is divided into eighteen administrative regions (french: régions, singular ), of which thirteen are located in metropolitan France (in Europe), while the other five are overseas regions (not to be confused with the overseas collecti ...

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 pref ...

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. U ...

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 Regions of Italy, 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 Muss ...

(eastern slopes) and the

French department In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety-s ...

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, it ...

(western slopes). The Maritime Alps are drained by the rivers Roya,

Var Var or VAR may refer to: Places * Var (department), a department of France * Var (river), France * Vār, Iran, village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Var, Iran (disambiguation), other places in Iran * Vár, a village in Obreja commune, Ca ...

and

Verdon Verdon may refer to: People * Verdon (surname) Places France * Verdon, Dordogne, in the Dordogne ''département'' * Verdon, Marne, in the Marne ''département'' * Vinon-sur-Verdon, an old French town in the département of Var, Provence-Alpes- ...

and their tributaries on the French side; by the

Stura di Demonte Stura di Demonte ( la, Stura) is a long river in northwestern Italy (Piedmont). Geography The river is a tributary to the river Tanaro, which is a tributary of the river Po. Its source is in the Alps, near the border with France. It flows thr ...

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 drai ...

and Po on the Italian side. There are many attractive perched villages, such as

Belvédère Belvédère (; oc, Barver; it, Belvedere) is a Communes of France, commune in the Vésubie valley north of Nice in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in southeastern France. The village of Belvédère is located at the entran ...

at the entrance to the spectacular

Gordolasque The Gordolasque is a mountain river that flows from the Mercantour National Park in the Alpes-Maritimes department of southeastern France. It is long. Its source is in the Maritime Alps, near the Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, ...

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 creek,

Col de Tende Col de Tende ( it, Colle di Tenda; elevation 1870 m) is a high mountain pass in the Alps, close to the border between France and Italy, although the highest section of the pass is wholly within France. It separates the Maritime Alps from the Lig ...

- which connects them with the

Ligurian Alps The Ligurian Alps are a mountain range in northwestern Italy. A small part is located in France. They form the south-western extremity of the Alps, separated from the Apennines by the Colle di Cadibona. The Col de Tende and the Vermenagna valley ...

- 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 the ea ...

and

valley (south) *

Col d'Allos Col d'Allos (elevation ) is a high mountain pass in the Alps in the department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in France. It connects Barcelonnette in the Ubaye Valley and Colmars. It lies parallel to the Col de la Cayolle and Col de la Bonette west ...

- which connects them with

Provence Alps and Prealps The Provence Alps and Prealps (''Alpes et Préalpes de Provence'' in French) are a mountain range in the south-western part of the Alps, located in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (France). Provence Alps and Prealps encompass the south-western area o ...

- and Ubaye (west); *

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 ...

(which connects them with the

Cottian Alps The Cottian Alps (; french: Alpes Cottiennes ; it, Alpi Cozie ) are a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps. They form the border between France (Hautes-Alpes and Savoie) and Italy (Piedmont). The Fréjus Road Tunnel and Fréjus Rai ...

) and

(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 Mercantour National Park (french: Parc national du Mercantour) a French national park located in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Alpes-Maritimes departments. Since it was created in 1979, the park has proven popular, with 800,000 visitors annu ...

'' (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. Overvie ...

'' - 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