County of Nice

County of Nice flag

County of Nice coat of arms

The County of Nice or Niçard Country (French: Comté de Nice / Pays Niçois, Italian: Contea di Nizza / Paese Nizzardo, Niçard Occitan: Comtat de Niça / País Niçard) is a historical region of Occitania (and France since 1860), located in the south-eastern part, around the city of Nice.

Its territory lies between the Mediterranean Sea (Côte d'Azur), Var River and the southernmost crest of the Alps. It was initially a part of the ancient County of Provence, then it became in 1388 a part of the Duchy of Savoy (that became the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1720). The region received the name County of Nice during the fifteenth century, after being integrated into Savoy. From 1388 to 1861 the history of the County of Nice was fully integrated with the history of Italy. Its historical capital city is Nice.

It was included in France in 1860, during the Italian wars of Independence, against the wish of Giuseppe Garibaldi (born in Nice). He strongly opposed the cession of the Nizzardo to France (arguing that was not done with "universal" vote) and in 1866 there were popular riots in the city, promoted by "Garibaldini" in favor of the unification of Nice with Italy.

The Italian Irredentism has claimed the County because of the former sovereignty of Savoy, which was the core of the Italian state; nevertheless, the local language of the County of Nice is Niçard Occitan, not Italian. During WWII Nice was included administratively in the Kingdom of Italy.

Since 1861 the County has matched with the Arrondissement of Nice that is the biggest part of the the Alpes-Maritimes department, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Nevertheless the name County of Nice is still used today for this cultural and historical region that has kept its whole personality.

Population: 506,694 inhabitants (1999)

A map of the County of Nice showing the area of the Kingdom of Savoia annexed in 1860 to France (light brown) and to Italy (yellow). The red area was already part of France before 1860.

See also

• Bishopric of Nice
• Provence
• Italia irredenta
• Nizzardo Italians

Sources

• Amicucci, Ermanno. Nizza e l’Italia. Mondadori Editore. Milano, 1939.
• Barelli Hervé, Rocca Roger. Histoire de l'identité niçoise, Nice: Serre, 1995. ISBN 2-84410-223-4

External links

• Template:Fr Territorial changes in the history of the County of Nice
• Template:Fr (oc) Dances and traditional musics used in the County of Nice
• Map of the Kingdom of Sardinia