Nièvre () is a department in the

Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (; , sometimes abbreviated BFC; Arpitan: ''Borgogne-Franche-Comtât'') is a region in Eastern France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions, from a merger of Burgundy and Franche-Comté. The new region ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

, central-east

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. Named after the river

Nièvre Nièvre () is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, central-east France. Named after the river Nièvre, it had a population of 204,452 in 2019.Populations légales 2019: 58 Nièvre
INSEE Its prefecture is

Nevers Nevers ( , ; la, Noviodunum, later ''Nevirnum'' and ''Nebirnum'') is the prefecture of the Nièvre department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in central France. It was the principal city of the former province of Nivernais. It is sou ...

. Covering an area 6,817 square kilometres (2,632 sq mi), Nièvre is landlocked between six other departments:

Yonne Yonne () is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the river Yonne, which flows through it, in the country's north-central part. One of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté's eight constituent departments, it is l ...

to the north, Côte-d'Or to the east, Saône-et-Loire to the southeast, Allier to the south, Cher to the west and

Loiret Loiret (; ) is a department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of north-central France. It takes its name from the river Loiret, which is contained wholly within the department. In 2019, Loiret had a population of 680,434.< ...

to the northeast.

History

Nièvre is one of the original 83 departments created during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

on 4 March 1790. It was created from the former province of

Nivernais Nivernais (, ) was a province of France, around the city of Nevers, which forms the modern department of Nièvre. It roughly coincides with the former Duchy of Nevers.region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

, although historically it was not part of the province of Burgundy. The department is crossed by the river

Loire The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône ...

, 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.

Demographics

Nièvre is a rural department with about 31 inhabitants per km². Only one city (Nevers) has more than 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 900 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:

Principal towns

The most populous commune is

, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 6 communes with more than 4,000 inhabitants:

Wines

Nièvre is also well known for its

white wine White wine is a wine that is fermented without skin contact. The colour can be straw-yellow, yellow-green, or yellow-gold. It is produced by the alcoholic fermentation of the non-coloured pulp of grapes, which may have a skin of any colour. ...

Pouilly Fumé Pouilly may refer to: * Pouilly, Moselle, a commune in the Moselle department, France * Pouilly, Oise, a commune in the Oise department, France It can also refer to * Pouilly-sur-Loire, a commune in the Nièvre department in central France ** Po ...

. 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. There is also a confidential production of red pinot noir wine near La Charité sur Loire.

Politics

The President of the Departmental Council is

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

Fabien Bazin, elected in July 2021. The Departmental Council of Nièvre has 34 seats. The left-wing coalition led by the Socialist Party has 20 seats. 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 Marie-Ségolène Royal (; born 22 September 1953) is a French politician who was the Socialist Party candidate for the Presidency of France in the 2007 election. Royal was president of the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council from 2004 to 201 ...

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 Lionel Robert Jospin (; born 12 July 1937) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002. Jospin was First Secretary of the Socialist Party from 1995 to 1997 and the party's candidate for President of France in ...

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%. This historical tendency has been recently and dramatically reversed as the far-right Front National party has come out ahead in all the elections since 2015. In the 2017 and 2022 presidential elections, Marine le Pen won most votes in the first rounds. However the two députés of the department belong to République En Marche, the party of Emmanuel Macron. Nièvre's best-known political representative was François Mitterrand who served as a senator and a deputy for the department, as well as mayor of Château-Chinon for 22 years before his election to the presidency of France in 1981.

Representation in Parliament

National Assembly

In the 2017 legislative election, Nièvre elected the following representatives to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

Senate

In the 2017 Senate election, Nièvre elected Patrice Joly (

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

) and Nadia Sollogoub (

miscellaneous right Miscellaneous right (', ''DVD'') in France refers to right-wing candidates who are not members of any large party. This can include members of small right-wing parties, dissidents expelled from their party for running against their party's candi ...

) to the Senate.

Tourism

File:F06.Nevers.Palais Ducal.1161.JPG, Ducal Palace in

File:La commanderie de Villemoison - Vue d'ensemble - 002.jpg,

Commandry In the Middle Ages, a commandery (rarely commandry) was the smallest administrative division of the European landed properties of a military order. It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.Anthony Luttrell and G ...

of the Knights Templar in Villemoison File:2012-07-21 20-23-03 3-33 3-49 4-03 4-12 4-23 4-34-PA00112826-La Charité sur Loire ShiftN.jpg, Notre-Dame of

La Charité-sur-Loire La Charité-sur-Loire (before 1961: ''La Charité'') is a commune in the Nièvre department and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of eastern France. Geography La Charité-sur-Loire lies on the right, eastern bank of the river Loire, about 25 km n ...

File:Chateau-de-Villemolin-0484.jpg, Château de Villemolin File:Abbaye St Leonard a Corbigny DSC 0414.jpg, Abbey of

Corbigny Corbigny () is a commune in the Nièvre department in central France. Geography Corbigny is located at the western end of the Morvan hills and is one of the five entry points of Parc naturel régional du Morvan. The river Anguison, a tributary ...

Sport

The

Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours is a motor racing circuit located in central France, near the towns of Magny-Cours and Nevers, some from Paris and from Lyon. It staged the Formula One French Grand Prix from 1991 (succeeding Circuit Paul Rica ...

hosted the

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

French Grand Prix The French Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de France), formerly known as the Grand Prix de l'ACF (Automobile Club de France), is an auto race held as part of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's annual Formula One World Championsh ...

from 1991 to 2008, the

Bol d'Or The Bol d’Or is a 24-hour endurance race for motorcycles, held annually in France. The riding of each bike is now shared by a team of three riders. History The Bol d’Or, first organized by Eugene Mauve, in 1922, was a race for motorcycles ...

from 2000 to 2014, and the French round of the

Superbike World Championship Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette-class road racing series based on heavily modified production motorcycles, also known as superbike racing. The championship was founded i ...

since 2003. USO Nevers is a professional rugby team that plays in Rugby Pro D2.

References

External links

Prefecture website

Departmental council website
*
Official website of the Departmental Touristic Agency of Nièvre in Burgundy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nievre 1790 establishments in France Departments of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté States and territories established in 1790