Creuse

Creuse () is a department in central France in the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It is named after the Creuse river that flows through the department.

History
Creuse is one of the 83 French departments made during the French revolution, on 4 March 1790. It was created mainly with lands of the old province of County of La Marche.

The new department had seven districts: La Souterraine, Guéret, Boussac, Évaux, Felletin, Bourganeuf and Aubusson. The capital (now prefecture) was Guéret alternating with Aubusson, but soon only Guéret remained as capital.

In 1800, with the creation of the arrondissements in France, the seven districts were changed into four arrondissements: Guéret, Aubusson, Bourganeuf and Boussac.

On 10 September 1926, the arrondissements of Bourganeuf et Boussac were eliminated.

Geography
Creuse is part of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. It has an area of .

The department is surrounded by 6 departments in 3 regions:
 Nouvelle-Aquitaine region
 Corrèze department
 Haute-Vienne department
 Centre-Val de Loire region
 Cher department
 Indre department
 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region
 Allier department
 Puy-de-Dôme department

The department is in the northwestern part of the Massif Central; the Millevaches plateau is in the southeastern part of the department. The highest point is in Forêt de Châteauvert (), "commune" of Saint-Oradoux-de-Chirouze, southeastern of the department and in northeastern Massif Central; it is   high; the lowest point is in the valley of the Creuse river,  high.

The main river in the department is the Creuse, a tributary of the Vienne river and that gives its name to this the deparment; it flows through the department from the southeast to the northwest.

Administration
The department is managed by the Departamental Council of the Creuse in Guéret. Creuse is part of the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine.

Administrative divisions
There are 2 arrondissements (districts), 15 cantons and 258 communes (municipalities) in Haute-Vienne.
 INSEEcode Arrondissement  Capital  Population(2014)  Area(km²)  Density(Inh./km²)  Communes 231  Aubusson  Aubusson 37,123  2,538.8    118 232  Guéret  Guéret  83,458  3,026.5    140

The following is a list of the 15 cantons of the Creuse department (with their INSEE codes), in France, following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

 Ahun (2301)
 Aubusson (2302)
 Auzances (2303)
 Bonnat (2304)
 Bourganeuf (2305)
 Boussac (2306)
 Dun-le-Palestel (2307)
 Évaux-les-Bains (2308)
 Felletin (2309)
 Gouzon (2310)
 Le Grand-Bourg (2311)
 Guéret-1 (2312)
 Guéret-2 (2313)
 Saint-Vaury (2314)
 La Souterraine (2315)

Demographics
The inhabitants of Creuse are known, in French, as Creusois (women: Creusoises).

Creuse has a population, in 2014, of 120,581, for a population density of  inhabitants/km2. The arrondissement of Guéret, with 83,458 inhabitants, is by far the largest. The other arrondissement, Aubusson, has 37,123 inhabitants.

Evolution of the population in Dordogne

The main cities in the department are:

 City  Population(2014) Arrondissement Guéret  13,342  Guéret La Souterraine  5,295  Guéret Aubusson  3,591  Aubusson Bourganeuf  2,725  Guéret Sainte-Feyre  2,470  Guéret Saint-Sulpice-le-Guérétois  1,987  Guéret Saint-Vaury  1,791  Guéret Felletin  1,700  Aubusson Gouzon  1,575  Guéret Ahun  1,466  Guéret
Gallery

Related pages
 Arrondissements of the Creuse department

References

Other websites

 Departamental Council website 
 Prefecture website 
 Tourism office of Creuse