Marseille is the prefecture of the department of Bouches-du-Rhône and region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It is located on the Mediterranean coast near the mouth of the Rhône. The city covers an area of 241 km2 and had a population of 870,018 in 2016. Its metropolitan area, which extends over 3173 km2 is the third-largest in France after those of Paris and Lyon, with a population of 1,831,500 as of 2010.