The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million [ 4 ] [ 3 ] on an area of km 2 sq mi. Nice is approximately 13 kilometres 8 mi from the principality of Monaco and 30 kilometres 19 mi from the FrenchโItalian border. Nice's airport serves as a gateway to the region. The area of today's Nice contains Terra Amata , an archaeological site which displays evidence of a very early use of fire , years ago.
Around BC, Greeks of Marseille founded a permanent settlement and called it Nikaia , after Nike , the goddess of victory. Its strategic location and port significantly contributed to its maritime strength. From , it was a dominion of Savoy , then became part of the French First Republic between and , when it was returned to the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia , the legal predecessor of the Kingdom of Italy , until its annexation by France in The natural environment of the Nice area and its mild Mediterranean climate came to the attention of the English upper classes in the second half of the 18th century, when an increasing number of aristocratic families began spending their winters there.
In , following its refurbishment, the city's main seaside promenade, the Promenade des Anglais "Walkway of the English" , was inaugurated by Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught ; it owes its name to visitors to the resort.
Nice's appeal extended to the Russian upper classes. The first known hominid settlements in the Nice area date back about , years homo erectus ; [ 13 ] the Terra Amata archeological site shows one of the earliest uses of fire, construction of houses, as well as flint findings dated to around , years ago.
The city soon became one of the busiest trading ports on the Ligurian coast; but it had an important rival in the Roman town of Cemenelum , which continued to exist as a separate city until the time of the Lombard invasions. In the 7th century, Nice joined the Genoese League formed by the towns of Liguria. In the city repulsed the Saracens ; but in and again in the Saracens pillaged and burned it, and for most of the 10th century remained masters of the surrounding country.
