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Provence is a region of southeastern France on the
Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative
région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. The traditional region of
Provence comprises the départements of Var, Vaucluse, and
Bouches-du-Rhône and parts of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and
Alpes-Maritimes. The Romans, who conquered it in the 2nd Century B.C.,
named it Provincia Nostra ("our province") or simply
Provincia ("the province"), and the name in French thus
became Provence.
Most
of Provence has a Mediterranean climate, characterized by hot, dry
summers, mild winters, little snow, and abundant sunshine. Within
Provence there are micro-climates and local variations, ranging from
the Alpine climate inland from Nice to the continental climate in the
northern Vaucluse. The winds of Provence are an important feature of
the climate, particularly the mistral, a cold, dry wind which,
especially in the winter, blows down the Rhone Valley to the
Bouches-du-Rhône and the Var Departments, and often reaches over one
hundred kilometres an hour.
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