Marseille (
English ; ,
locally: ; ), also known as
Marseilles in English, is a city in
France. The capital of its
department of
Bouches-du-Rhône and
region of
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Marseille is located on France's south coast and is the
second largest city in France, after
Paris, with a population of 852,516 (January 2012) on a land area of . It is the 3rd-largest
metropolitan area in France after Paris and Lyon, with a population of 1,831,500 at the January 2011 census.