Marseille (/mɑːrˈseɪ/; French: [maʁsɛj] (About this sound listen), locally [mɑχˈsɛjə]; English alternative spelling: Marseilles; Provençal: Marselha [maʀˈsejɔ, -ˈsijɔ]) is the second-largest city of France. The main city of the historical province of Provence, today it is the capital of the department of Bouches-du-Rhône and region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It is located on France's south coast, covering an area of 241 km2 (93 sq mi) and had a population of 852,516 in 2012.[1] Its metropolitan area, which covers 3,173 km2 (1,225 sq mi) is the third-largest in France after Paris and Lyon, with a population of 1,831,500 as of 2010.[3]

Known to the ancient Greeks and Romans as Massalia[4] (Greek: Μασσαλία, Massalía),[5][6] Marseille was an important European trading centre and remains the main commercial port of the French Republic. Marseille is now France's largest city on the Mediterranean coast and the largest port for commerce, freight and cruise ships. The city was European Capital of Culture in 2013 and European Capital of Sport in 2017; it hosted matches at the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2016. It is home to Aix-Marseille University.

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