Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur - it's all in a name

France could soon be bidding farewell to the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (PACA for short).

Only the name though, rather than the actual geographical area.

The region, located in the south of the country (as the name suggests) is one of 26 in mainland France, with another four overseas.

Plans are afoot to change its name from the apparently poetic but cumbersome current mouthful to something a little more snappy and up-to-date.

Well that's if the president of the region, Michel Vauzelle, gets his way.

Vauzelle says the naming of the region, and in particular the use of the epithet "PACA" since the time of Charles de Gaulle, has been the butt of many a joke, to the detriment of the local population.

As far as he's concerned it's far from being funny and time for a change to something that better reflects the area and its population.

"Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur is a beautiful name," he says. "But it's too long and not very practical."

In his search for an alternative, Vauzelle commissioned an Internet poll during the second half of July in which 10,000 local people were asked their views on what would be a preferable replacement, and the initial results are in.

"Provence" (well that certainly is short) and "Provence-Méditerranée"" apparently topped the list, with "Alpes Méditerranée", "Provence Azur" and "Sud" (even shorter) also remaining in the running.

The next step will be to set up a committee of experts or so-called "wise men" (and women presumably) who will examine the results before drawing up a short list to be put to the local population (at large) some time in the autumn.

For those of you still scrambling to locate Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur or PACA on a map, it incorporates six departments in the south of France: Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Alpes-Maritimes, Bouches-du-Rhône, Hautes-Alpes, Var, and Vaucluse.

And of course it also includes some of the major cities in the south, among them Marseille, Nice and Toulon

It boasts a population of over 4.8 million, which, if you do the maths, means that less than 0.2 per cent have so far expressed an opinion on the name change.

But that evidently is enough for Vauzelle and the rest of the regional council to press ahead with the campaign.