NIEVRE  , a

department of central France, formed from the old province of Nivernais with a small portion of the Orleanais . It is bounded N.W. by Loiret, N. by Yonne, E. by Cote d'Or, E. and S.E. by Saone-et-Loire, S. by Allier and W. by Cher . Pop . (1906) 313, 972 . Area, 2659 sq . M . Nievre falls into three regions differing in elevation and in geological formation . In the east are the granitic mountains of the Morvan, one of the most picturesque portions of France, containing Mont Prenelay (2789 ft.) and several lesser heights . The north and centre are occupied by plateaus of jurassic limestone with a maximum elevation of 1400 ft . The west and south-western part of the department is a district of plains, composed mainly of tertiary formations with alluvial deposits, and comprising the valleys of the Loire and the Allier . The lowest level of the department IS 446 ft., at the exit of the Loire . Nievre belongs partly to the basin of the Loire, partly to that of the Seine .

The

watershed dividing these two basins follows the general slope of the department from S.E. to N.W.—from Mont Prenelay to the Puisaye, the district in the extreme north-west . Towards the west the limits of Nievre are marked by the Allier-Loire valley—the Loire striking across the south-west corner of the department by Decize and Nevers and then continuing the line of its great affluent the Allier northwards by Fourchambault, La Charite, Pouilly and Cosne . Secondary feeders of the Loire are the Nievre, which gives its name to the department, and the Aron, whose valley is traversed by the Nivernais Canal . The largest tributary of the Seine in Nievre is the Yonne, which rises in the south-east, passes by Clamecy, and carries along with it the northern part of the Nivernais Canal . The Cure, the principal affluent of the Yonne (with which, however, it does not unite till after it has left the department), is the outlet of a lake, Lac des Settons, which serves as a reservoir for the regulation of the river and the canal . Owing to its greater elevation and the retention of the rain-water on its impermeable surface in the shape of ponds and streams, Morvan shows a mean temperature 6° F. lower than that of the western district, which, in the valley of the Loire, is almost identical with that of Paris (52° F.) . At Nevers the annual rainfall amounts to only 21 in., but in Morvan it is nearly three times as great . The principal cereals are oats and wheat; potatoes are XIX . 22 also largely grown . Much land is given over to pasture and the cultivation of various kinds of forage, and the fattening of cattle is a thriving agricultural industry . The Nivernais and Charolais are the chief breeds . The rearing of sheep and draught-horses is also of importance .

Vines are grown in the valley of the Loire and in the neighbourhood of Clamecy . The

white wines of Pouilly on the Loire are widely known . Nievre abounds in forests, the chief trees being the oak, beech, hornbeam, elm and chestnut . Coal is mined at Decize, and gypsum, building stone, and kaolin are among the quarry products . The best-known mineral springs are those of Pougues and St Honoree Of the iron-works for which Nievre is famous, the most important are those of Fourchambault . At Imphy there are large steel-works . The government works of La Chaussade at Guerigny make chain-cables, anchors, armour-plates, &c . There are also manufactories of agricultural implements and hardware, potteries, manufactories of porcelain, and faience (at Nevers), tile-works, chemical works, paper-mills and saw-mills, as well as numerous tanneries, boot and shoe factories, cask manufactories and oil works (colza, poppy and hemp) . In the Morvan district a large part of the population is engaged in the timber industry; the logs carried down by the streams to Clamecy are then put into boats and conveyed to Paris . A great deal of the traffic is by water: the canal along the left bank of the Loire runs through the department for 38 m., and the Nivernais canal for 78 M . The chief railway is that of the Paris-Lyons-Mediterranee Company, whose main line to Nimes follows the valley of the Loire and Allier throughout the department . Nievre is divided into 4 arrondissements (Nevers, Chateau-Chinon, Clamecy and Cosne being their capitals), 25 cantons, 313 communes .

It forms the

diocese of Nevers, and part of the educational district of Dijon and of the region of the VIII. corps d'armee . Its court of appeal is at Bourges . The most noteworthy towns are Nevers, the capital, Clamecy, Fourchambault, Cosne, La Charite and Decize . Varzy and Tannay have fine churches of the 14th, and the 12th, 13th and 16th centuries respectively, and there is an interesting church, chiefly Romanesque in style, at St Pierre-le-Mofitier .