Cannes Population and Area (Alpes-Maritimes)
Largest city in France 2026: up-to-date figures for Cannes (Alpes-Maritimes)
Cannes: Population and Area
With 75,105 inhabitants (INSEE total population in force on January 1, 2026), Cannes is the 71st most populous town in France in 2026 and the 3rd most populous in the Alpes-Maritimes department, out of 163 communes. It covers 20 km² (8,238th largest area in France, 70th largest in the department), with a population density of 3,828 inhabitants per km², or 35 times the national average (110 inhabitants/km²), which ranks it 210th in France for density.
Cannes is located in the Alpes-Maritimes department (06), in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, where it ranks 7th by population out of 946 communes. The most populous town in the Alpes-Maritimes department is Nice (360,710 inhabitants); the department is home to 1,142,503 people over 4,299 km².
See the full ranking of communes in the Alpes-Maritimes department and the regional ranking: largest city in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.
Towns of similar size in the Alpes-Maritimes department: Nice (pop. 360,710), Antibes (pop. 78,612), Cagnes-sur-Mer (pop. 53,819), Grasse (pop. 51,830), Le Cannet (pop. 42,297).
Sources: INSEE, official population figures in force on January 1, 2026 (total population); areas: IGN / Observatoire des territoires; INSEE code 06029. Rankings are calculated across the 34,858 communes of metropolitan and overseas France in our database.
Cannes, a major city of festivals
The third-largest town in the Alpes-Maritimes by population, behind Nice and Antibes, Cannes is known around the world for its international film festival, held since 1946 and now hosted at the Palais des Festivals, at the end of the Croisette. Its territory also includes the Lérins Islands, Sainte-Marguerite and Saint-Honorat.
A town born of winter tourism
A small fishing port until the 19th century, Cannes owes its rise to the British aristocracy, who turned it into a winter resort after Lord Brougham settled there in the 1830s: villas, luxury hotels and the Boulevard de la Croisette then shaped the town. Today its strengths are business and conference tourism, festivals and trade shows, and a population of second-home owners and retirees. Its permanent population changes little, while the number of people present rises sharply during major events and in summer, on a compact and dense territory.