A year after France saw its map simplified from 22 regions to 13, one which was unchanged has opted to simplify its name. Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur has voted to call itself Region Sud.
The diverse region stretches along France’s southeast Mediterranean coast from well west of Marsailles to the Italian border east of Nice, and into the highest alps. Provence includes hundreds of picturesque villages including the Luberon area.
The regional council approved the change unanimously at the request of regional president Renaud Muselier, who says he hated PACA, the acronym the old name was often shortened to because it “means nothing and devalues the region,” while he acknowledged that “Provence-Alpes-Côtes d’Azur is complicated to say so ‘Region Sud’ works much better.”
In a tweet he sent after the name change passed, Muselier said “Our territory is the sun, the sea, the mountains, the good living. It was essential to give our region a name that values all our assets: the south.”
