Nièvre

For the river, see Nièvre (Loire).

Nièvre
Department
Prefecture building of the Nièvre department, in Nevers
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Nièvre in France
Coordinates: 47°05′N 03°30′E
Country	France
Region	Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Prefecture	Nevers
Subprefectures	Château-Chinon Clamecy Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire
Government
• President of the General Council	Marcel Charmant
Area 1
• Total	6,817 km2 (2,632 sq mi)
Population  (2021)
• Total	202,417
• Rank	87th
• Density	30/km2 (77/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Department number	58
Arrondissements	4
Cantons	17
Communes	309
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km².

Nièvre (IPA: [njɛvʁ] ) is a department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, central France named after the River Nièvre.

Covering an area 6,817 square kilometres (2,632 sq mi), Nièvre is landlocked between six other departments: Yonne to the north, Côte-d'Or to the east, Saône-et-Loire to the south-east, Allier to the south, Cher to the west, and Loiret to the north-east.

History

Nièvre is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from the former province of Nivernais.

Geography

Nièvre is part of the current region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, although historically it was not part of the province of Burgundy.

The department is crossed by the river Loire, the longest river in France. Industry developed around cast iron foundries using the ample supply of wood then available. Coal mining also developed during the Middle Ages around Decize and continued until the last mine closed in 1974. Forestry is now an important provider of employment. Tourists are attracted by the numerous historic sites. The Canal du Nivernais waterway is popular with houseboating enthusiasts.

Demography

Nièvre is a rural department with about 33 inhabitants per km². The main cities are Nevers, Cosne-sur-Loire, Varennes-Vauzelles, Marzy, Decize, Imphy, Clamecy and La Charité. Only two cities reach 10 000 inhabitants. It indicates the characteristic of the department, which is predominantly rural. The department is slowly losing its population since the 1970s, at the rate of 5 000 to 7 000 people a year. Abandoned houses can be seen in villages and the price of peripheral real estate is one of the lowest in France.

Population development since 1801:

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1801 232,590 —     1806 241,739 +0.77% 1821 257,990 +0.43% 1831 282,521 +0.91% 1841 305,346 +0.78% 1851 327,161 +0.69% 1861 332,814 +0.17% 1872 339,917 +0.19% 1881 347,576 +0.25% 1891 343,576 −0.12% 1901 323,783 −0.59% 1911 299,312 −0.78% 1921 270,148 −1.02%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1931 255,195 −0.57% 1936 249,673 −0.44% 1946 248,559 −0.04% 1954 240,078 −0.43% 1962 245,921 +0.30% 1968 247,702 +0.12% 1975 245,212 −0.14% 1982 239,635 −0.33% 1990 233,278 −0.34% 1999 225,198 −0.39% 2006 222,218 −0.19% 2011 218,341 −0.35% 2016 209,161 −0.86%
source:

Wines

Nièvre is also well known for its white wine, Pouilly Fumé. The vineyards are scattered around villages including Pouilly-Sur-Loire, which lends its name to the appellation, Tracy sur Loire, Boisgibault, Saint Andelain. The word fumé is French for "smoky", and it is said the name comes from the smoky or flinty quality of these wines. The only grape allowed in the Pouilly-Fumé AC is Sauvignon blanc, which produces wines that are generally crisp, tart, and somewhat grassy.

Politics

In common with most French wine-producing departments, Nièvre is traditionally a left-wing department. The results of the second round of voting in presidential elections reflect this consistently:

• In the 2007 presidential election, Ségolène Royal received 52.91% of the department's votes, as against a national per centage of just 46.94%.
• In the 1995 presidential election, Lionel Jospin received 57.07% of the department's votes, as against a national per centage of just 47.36%.
• In the 1981 presidential election, François Mitterrand received 62.91% of the department's votes, as against a national per centage of 51.76%.

Nièvre's best-known political representative was François Mitterrand who served as a senator and a deputy for the department, and as mayor of Château-Chinon for 22 years before his election to the presidency in 1981.

Current National Assembly Representatives

Constituency		Member	Party
	Nièvre's 1st constituency	Perrine Goulet	La République En Marche!
	Nièvre's 2nd constituency	Patrice Perrot	La République En Marche!

Tourism

• 
  Ducal Palace in Nevers
• 
  Commandry of the Knights Templar in Villemoison
• 
  Notre-Dame of La Charité-sur-Loire
• 
  Château de Villemolin
• 
  Abbey of Corbigny

Sport

The Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours hosted the Formula One French Grand Prix from 1991 to 2008, the Bol d'Or from 2000 to 2014, and the French round of the Superbike World Championship since 2003. USO Nevers is a professional rugby team that plays in Rugby Pro D2.

See also

• Cantons of the Nièvre department
• Communes of the Nièvre department
• Arrondissements of the Nièvre department
• Parc naturel régional du Morvan

External links

• (in French) Prefecture website
• (in French) General council website
• (in English) Template:Curlie
• Official website of the Departmental Touristic Agency of Nièvre in Burgundy