AIX, an ancient city of France, the chief place of the arrondissement of the same name, in the department of the Mouths of the Rhone. It was, before the revolution of 1789, richly endowed with ecclesiastical establishments, which have since then been secularized. It stands on a plain surrounded by hills, which produce abundance of most excellent olives, which, with wine and fruits, form the most important branches of agricultural industry. There are manufactories of various rich silk goods, linen, and hardware. The ancient springs, known to the Romans, but disused till again discovered in 1704, are slightly warm, but their efficacy is not now highly valued. In 1846 the inhabitants amounted to 24,165. This city is celebrated for having given birth to two famous naturalists, Adanson and Tournefort, and to the painter Vanloo.
The arrondissement of the same name comprehends 846 square miles, or about 541,740 acres, divided into ten
cantons and 59 communes, with, in 1846, 112,254 inhabitants.