Marseille (/mɑːrˈseɪ/ mar-SAY, also spelled in English as Marseilles; French: [maʁsɛj] (listen), locally [maχˈsɛjə] (listen); Occitan: Marselha [maʀˈsejɔ, -ˈsijɔ]) is the prefecture of the department of Bouches-du-Rhône and region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur in France. It is located on the Mediterranean coast near the mouth of the Rhône. Marseille is the second largest city in France, covering an area of 241 km² (93 sq mi) and had a population of 870,018 in 2016.^[4] Its metropolitan area, which extends over 3,174 km² (1,225 sq mi) is the third-largest in France after those of Paris and Lyon, with a population of 1,760,653 as of 2017,^[3] or 3,100,329 (2019) by the broader Eurostat definition of metropolitan region.^[5]

It was known to the ancient Greeks as Massalia (Greek: Μασσαλία, romanized: Massalía) and Romans as Massilia.^[6][7] Marseille is now France's largest city on the Mediterranean coast and the largest port for commerce, freight and cruise ships. The city was European Capital of Culture in 2013 and European Capital of Sport in 2017; it hosted matches at the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2016. It is home to Aix-Marseille University.