The Pays de Nice, or Nice Country, is a natural region of which country?

The Pays Niçois, or Pays de Nice (in Niçois: Pais nissart or País niçard; in French: Pays niçois) is a natural region of France, located at its southeastern edge. In its broadest sense, it is bordered to the north by the Maritime Alps, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea, to the west by the Var River, and to the east by the Italian border.

Owned by the Counts of Provence during part of the Middle Ages, from 1388 to 1860 it belonged to the House of Savoy (County of Savoy, Duchy of Savoy, then Kingdom of Sardinia), with a French interruption between 1793 and 1814. Initially called the "new lands of Provence" by the rulers of Savoy, in 1526 this territory took the name of the County of Nice. It was annexed to France in 1860 and has since been the eastern part of the Alpes-Maritimes department, roughly corresponding to the arrondissement of Nice. Today, the term "Pay-Nîme" is often used to refer to the former county of Nice, and by extension, the entire Alpes-Maritimes department.

However, according to the definition of geographer Frédéric Zégierman, the Pays-Nîme, near the sea, is distinct from the mountainous regions of the Nice Prealps, which include the Mercantour and the Haute-Var valley. The Pays-Menton and the Roya Valley are generally considered part of the Pays-Nîme, although they are linguistically and culturally distinct.