Deux-Sèvres

Deux-Sèvres is a department in western France, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region.

Deux-Sèvres means literally "Two Sèvres": the Sèvre Nantaise and the Sèvre Niortaise; these are two rivers which flow through the department.

History
Deux-Sèvres is one of the 83 French departments made during the French revolution, on 4 March 1790.

The new department had six districts: Melle, Niort, Saint-Maixent, Parthenay, Thouars and Châtillon (today Mauléon). The capital (now prefecture) was Niort alternating Saint-Maixent and Parthenay but soon only Niort was the only capital.

In 1800, with the creation of the arrondissements in France, the six districts were changed into four arrondissements: Melle, Niort, Parthenay and Thouars. Thouars was changed by Bressuire in 1804.

On 10 September 1926, the arrondissements of Bressuire and Melle were eliminated. On 1 June 1942, Bressuire was again an arrondissement.

The borders of the department were changed in 1973 when the inhabitants of the little commune of Puy-Saint-Bonnet joined the commune of Cholet in the neighbouring department of Maine-et-Loire.

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

The highest point of the department is Terrier de Saint-Martin,  high, in the commune of Saint-Martin-du-Fouilloux.

The department is bordered by the departments: Maine-et-Loire, Vienne, Charente, Charente-Maritime and Vendée.

The main rivers in the department are:
  Sèvre Niortaise, that flows through the southern part of the department and ends in the Atlantic Ocean.
  Sèvre Nantaise, that flows through the northern part of the department and is tributary of the Loire river.
  Thouet, that is also a tributary of the Loire.

Climate
The climate of Niort is an oceanic climate with template summers, Cfb (Marine West Coast Climate) in the Köppen climate classification.

The average amount of precipitation for the year in Niort is . The month with the most precipitation on average is September with  of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is July with an average of .

The average temperature for the year in Niort is . The warmest month, on average, is July with an average temperature of . The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of .

Administration
The department is managed by the Departamental Council of the Deux-Sèvres in Niort. Deux-Sèvres is part of the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine.

Administrative divisions
There are 3 arrondissements (districts), 17 cantons and 293 communes (municipalities) in Deux-Sèvres.

 INSEEcode Arrondissement  Capital  Population(2014) Area(km²)  Density(Inh./km²)  Communes 791  Bressuire  Bressuire 96,703  1,622.6    53 792  Niort  Niort  212,425  2,791.6    163 793  Parthenay  Parthenay  64,425  1,585.1    77

The following is a list of the 17 cantons of the Deux-Sèvres department, following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

 Autize-Egray (7901)
 Bressuire (7902)
 Celles-sur-Belle (7903)
 Cerizay (7904)
 Frontenay-Rohan-Rohan (7905)
 La Gâtine (7906)
 Mauléon (7907)
 Melle (7908)
 Mignon-et-Boutonne (7909)
 Niort-1 (7910)
 Niort-2 (7911)
 Niort-3 (7912)
 Parthenay (7913)
 La Plaine Niortaise (7914)
 Saint-Maixent-l'École (7915)
 Thouars (7916)
 Le Val de Thouet (7917)

Demographics
The inhabitants of Deux-Sèvres are known, in French, as Deux-Sévriens (women: Deux-Sévriennes).

Deux-Sèvres has a population, in 2014, of 373,553, for a population density of  inhabitants/km2. The arrondissement of Niort, with 212,425 inhabitants, is by far the largest. The other two, Bressuire and Parthenay, have respectively 96,703 and 64,425 inhabitants.

Evolution of the population in Deux-Sèvres

The 10 main cities in the department are:

 City  Population  (2014) Arrondissement Niort  58,311  Niort Bressuire  19,300  Bressuire Parthenay  10,367  Parthenay Thouars  9,241  Bressuire Mauléon  8,463  Bressuire Chauray  6,828  Niort Saint-Maixent-l’École  6,537  Niort Nueil-les-Aubiers  5,628  Bressuire Aiffres  5,486  Niort La Crèche  5,471  Niort

Economy
The department is still a very rural area, with a large proportion of the land of the department used for farming. Wheat and oats are the main products grown, as well as potatoes, apples, and walnuts. There are many vineyards in the north.

Gallery

Related pages
 Arrondissements of the Deux-Sèvres department
 Communes of the Deux-Sèvres department

References

Other websites

 Departamental Council website  
 Prefecture website