structural:expansion, linguistic:translation, quality:correction
Location and borders

In the 15th century, the County of Provence was bordered by the river Var on the east and the Rhône to the west, with the Mediterranean to the south, and a northern border that roughly followed the Durance. Bordering it on the northwest were two territories that had earlier formed part of Provence, i.e., the Comtat Venaissin, centered on Avignon which was ruled by the pope from the 13th century until the French Revolution, and, just north of this, the Principality of Orange, that through inheritance became a possession of William the Silent, who became the founder of the present ruling house of the Netherlands, the House of Orange-Nassau. The principality was independent between the 12th century and 1673 when it was occupied and then annexed by Louis XIV during one of his wars with its prince, Dutch stadtholder William III, the future king of England. At the end of the 14th century, another piece of Provence along the Italian border, including Nice and the lower Alps, was detached from Provence and attached to the lands of the duke of Savoy. The lower Alps were re-attached to France after the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, but Nice did not return to France until 1860, during the reign of Napoleon III.

The administrative region of Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur was created in 1982. It included Provence, plus the territory of the Comtat Venaissin around Avignon, and the Principality of Orange, the eastern portion of the Dauphiné, and the former County of Nice.