Urban Community of Marseille Provence Métropole

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Communauté Urbaine Marseille Provence Métropole

Geography

Administration
Country	France
Region	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Department	Bouches-du-Rhône
No. of communes	18
Chief-town	Marseille
President	Jean-Claude Gaudin (UMP) (2000-present)
Founded	July 7, 2000
Budget	approx. € 250 million (2004)¹
Statistics
Population
- 1999	981,769 (81.3% in the city of Marseille)
- Density	1,623/km²
Land area	604.75km²
Web site
www.marseille-provence.com
¹ After compensatory transfer of local tax euros to the communes of the Urban Community.

The Urban Community of Marseille Provence Métropole (French: Communauté Urbaine Marseille Provence Métropole) is the intercommunal structure gathering the city of Marseille (in Provence, southern France) and some of its suburbs.

The Urban Community of Marseille Provence Métropole only partly encompasses the metropolitan area of Marseille (see infobox at Marseille article for the metropolitan area) because the other independent communes of the metropolitan area (such as Aix-en-Provence) refused to join in with the city of Marseille, which is perceived as poor and unruly by the wealthier suburbs. Some other suburban communes (such as Aubagne, Gardanne, and Martigues) which are ruled by the French Communist Party have also refused to join in with Marseille which is ruled by the center-right UMP.

Consequently, the other parts of the metropolitan area have formed different intercommunal structures, such as:

Community of Agglomeration of the Aix-en-Provence Country (Communauté d'agglomération du Pays d'Aix-en-Provence): 332,653 inhabitants
Agglomeration community of Pays d'Aubagne et de l'Etoile (Communauté d'agglomération Pays d'Aubagne et de l'Etoile)
Community of Agglomeration of the West of the Étang de Berre (Communauté d'agglomération de l'Ouest de l'Étang de Berre): 65,637 inhabitants, with Martigues in it
etc.

As of the beginning of 2005, some communes within the Urban Community of Marseille Provence Métropole are talking of seceding from the Urban Community, complaining of heavy taxes imposed by the city of Marseille.