Niort (; Poitevin: ''Niàu''; oc, Niòrt; la, Novioritum) is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the

Deux-Sèvres Deux-Sèvres () is a French department. ''Deux-Sèvres'' literally means "two Sèvres": the Sèvre Nantaise and the Sèvre Niortaise are two rivers which have their sources in the department. It had a population of 374,878 in 2019.

department, western France. It is the

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...

of Deux-Sèvres. The population of Niort is 58,707 (2017) and more than 177,000 people live in the urban area.

Geography

The town is located on the river

Sèvre Niortaise The Sèvre Niortaise () is a long river in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Pays de la Loire regions in western France, flowing into the Atlantic Ocean. Its source is in the Deux-Sèvres department, near Sepvret, north of Melle. It flows through t ...

and is a centre of

angelica ''Angelica'' is a genus of about 60 species of tall biennial and perennial herbs in the family Apiaceae, native to temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, reaching as far north as Iceland, Lapland, and Greenland. They gr ...

cultivation in France. Near Niort at Maisonnay there is one of the tallest radio masts in France (height: 330 metres).

Transport

Niort has a railway station on the

TGV The TGV (french: Train à Grande Vitesse, "high-speed train"; previously french: TurboTrain à Grande Vitesse, label=none) is France's intercity high-speed rail service, operated by SNCF. SNCF worked on a high-speed rail network from 1966 to 19 ...

route between Paris and

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. With ...

, Gare de Niort. Direct TGV to

Paris Montparnasse Gare Montparnasse (; Montparnasse station), officially Paris-Montparnasse, one of the six large List of Paris railway stations, Paris railway termini, is located in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, 14th and 15th arrondissement of Paris, 15th ar ...

station takes 2 hours and 15 minutes. Niort is a road and motorway junction, connected to Paris and

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

by the A10 motorway, with

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

by the A83, and with

by the N11. It is the largest French city to offer free mass transit.

Population

The population data in the table and graph below refer to the commune of Niort proper, in its geography at the given years. The commune of Niort absorbed the former commune of Souché in 1964, Sainte-Pezenne in 1965, Saint-Florent in 1968 and Saint-Liguaire in 1971.

Economy

Niort is the French capital of

mutual insurance A mutual insurance company is an insurance company owned entirely by its policyholders. Any profits earned by a mutual insurance company are either retained within the company or rebated to policyholders in the form of dividend distributions or ...

and bank companies, with the headquarters of MAAF, MAIF, MACIF, SMACL and regional branches of national mutual companies such as

Groupama Groupama an abbreviation for Groupe des Assurances Mutuelles Agricoles ( en , Group of Mutual Agricultural Insurances) is a French insurance group headquartered in Paris with operations in 10 countries. It is listed in the 2007 ICA Global 300 ...

Banque Populaire Groupe Banque Populaire ("People's Bank") was a French group of Cooperative banking, cooperative banks. The central entity was controlled by 15 independent regional banks and also operated under the CASDEN and the Crédit Coopératif subsidiaries. ...

. Niort is a main financial centre of France (fourth ranked after Paris,

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

and

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

Chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

and

aeronautics Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design, and manufacturing of air flight–capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. The British Royal Aeronautical Society identifies ...

are the main industries. Niort is a major administrative and commercial centre.

Notable people

Niort is the birthplace of the following people: * Mickaël Brunet, footballer * Achille-Félix Montaubry (1826–98),

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

singer associated with

opéra comique ''Opéra comique'' (; plural: ''opéras comiques'') is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged from the popular '' opéras comiques en vaudevilles'' of the Fair Theatres of St Germain and St Laurent (and to a l ...

and operetta * Gaston Chérau (1872–1937), writer, a member of the

Académie Goncourt The Société littéraire des Goncourt (Goncourt Literary Society), usually called the Académie Goncourt (Goncourt Academy), is a French literary organisation based in Paris. It was founded in 1900 by the French writer and publisher Edmond de Go ...

Aurélien Capoue Aurélien Jacques Capoue (born 28 February 1982) is a French former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. International career Capoue made his debut for Guadeloupe at the CONCACAF Gold Cup Finals in June 2007 against Haiti. He h ...

, footballer *

Étienne Capoue Étienne René Capoue (born 11 July 1988) is a French professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for La Liga club Villarreal. He is a French youth international, having earned caps at under-18, under-19, and under-21 level, ...

, footballer *

Françoise d'Aubigné, marquise de Maintenon Françoise d'Aubigné (27 November 1635 – 15 April 1719), known first as Madame Scarron and subsequently as Madame de Maintenon (), was a French noblewoman who secretly married King Louis XIV. Although she was never considered queen of France ...

(1635–1719), second wife of

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

* Henri-Georges Clouzot (1904–1977), film director * Paul Collomp (1885–1943), French

hellenist Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

and

papyrologist Papyrology is the study of manuscripts of ancient literature, correspondence, legal archives, etc., preserved on portable media from antiquity, the most common form of which is papyrus, the principal writing material in the ancient civilizations ...

* Julien N'Da, footballer * Louis-Marcelin, marquis de Fontanes (1757–1821), poet and politician * Mamadou Camara, footballer * Pascal Depierris (born 1967), former professional footballer * Isabelle Druet (born 1979), mezzo-soprano * Mickaël James (born 1976), former professional footballer * Jacques Antoine Marie de Liniers et Brémond (Santiago Antonio María de Liniers y Bremond) (1753–1810),

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

Viceroy in the

Río de la Plata The Río de la Plata (, "river of silver"), also called the River Plate or La Plata River in English, is the estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River at Punta Gorda. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean and fo ...

Jean Sauvaget Jean Sauvaget (27 January 1901 – 5 March 1950) was a 20th-century French orientalist and historian, professor at the Collège de France. After studying at the Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales and graduating in Arabic a ...

(1901–1950), historian and orientalist * Philippe Souchard (born 1979), footballer * Mathieu Texier (born 1981), footballer

Fictional works

Niort is featured or mentioned in the following fictional works: *''

Son Excellence Eugène Rougon ''Son Excellence Eugène Rougon'' is the sixth novel in the '' Rougon-Macquart'' series by Émile Zola. It was serialized in 1876 in ''Le Siècle'' before being published in novel form by Charpentier. It was translated into English by Brian Nelson ...

'', 1876, the sixth novel in the '' Rougon-Macquart'' series by

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...

. *'' Les Diaboliques'', 1955 movie by Henri-Georges Clouzot *'' Sérotonine'', 2019 novel by

Michel Houellebecq Michel Houellebecq (; born Michel Thomas, 26 February 1956 or 1958) is a French author, known for his novels, poems and essays, as well as an occasional actor, filmmaker and singer. His first book was a biographical essay on the horror writer ...

Sports

The football team is Chamois Niortais, which plays in the

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

, the second-highest league in

French football Association football is the most popular sport in France. The French Football Federation (FFF, Fédération Française de Football) is the national governing body and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of association football in the cou ...

. Rugby team Stade Niortais celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2009. The city also is home to a professional basketball club named ASN Niort. The team plays at the second highest league in French basketball. The team celebrated its 100th birthday in 2021.

Education

Upper secondary schools: * Lycée Jean Macé * Lycée général, technologique et professionnel Paul Guérin * Lycée de la Venise Verte * Lycée professionnel Gaston Barré * Lycée professionnel Thomas Jean Main * Lycée de l'horticulture et du paysage * Lycée Saint-André / Notre-Dame (private) There is a post-secondary institution, Pôle universitaire de Niort.

International relations

Niort is twinned with: *

Atakpamé Atakpamé is the fifth largest city in Togo by population (84,979 inhabitants in 2006), located in the Plateaux Region of Togo. It is an industrial centre and lies on the main north-south highway, 161 km north of the capital Lomé. It is ...

, Togo, since 1958 *

Coburg Coburg () is a town located on the Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only in 1920. Until the revolution of 1918, it was ...

, Bavaria, Germany, since 1974 *

Wellingborough Wellingborough ( ) is a large market and commuter town in the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire in the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, 65 miles from London and from Northampton on the north side of the River Nen ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

, England,

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, since 1977 *

Springe Springe is a town in the district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated near the Deister hills, southwest of Hanover. Town structure * Springe (core settlement, seat of the mayor), population 13,184 * Bennigsen, population 4, ...

, Lower Saxony, Germany, since 1979 *

Tomelloso Tomelloso () is a municipality in the province of Ciudad Real, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It has a population of 33,548 (2005). Main sights *Posada de los Portales (late 17th century) *Town Hall, rebuilt in 1904 *Church of the ''Asunción de Nues ...

Ciudad Real Ciudad Real (, ; en, "Royal City") is a municipality of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha, capital of the province of Ciudad Real. It is the 5th most populated municipality in the region. History It was founde ...

, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain, since 1981 *

Gijón Gijón () or () is a city and municipality in north-western Spain. It is the largest city and municipality by population in the autonomous community of Asturias. It is located on the coast of the Cantabrian Sea in the Bay of Biscay, in the cent ...

, Asturias, Spain, since 1982 *

Biała Podlaska Biała Podlaska ( la, Alba Ducalis) is a city in eastern Poland with 56,498 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is situated in the Lublin Voivodeship (since 1999), having previously been the capital of Biała Podlaska Voivodeship (1975–1998). ...

Lublin Voivodeship The Lublin Voivodeship, also known as the Lublin Province ( Polish: ''województwo lubelskie'' ), is a voivodeship (province) of Poland, located in southeastern part of the country. It was created on January 1, 1999, out of the former Lublin, C ...

, Poland, since 1995

Climate

References

External links

*
Map

Movies

Calendar of Events

Foirexpo of Niort

Jobs
{{Authority control Communes of Deux-Sèvres Prefectures in France Poitou