ARDECHE, a department in the south of France, formerly Vivarais. The granitic chain of the Cévennes occupies a large part of it. The culminating point of that group is 5970 feet above the sea, and is named Mount Mezenc. Sandstone forms the lower portions of the district, over which lie beds of a coal formation, limestone, and chalk; but the continuity of these beds is disturbed by the cones of extinct volcanoes, part of the remarkable belt that passes from Puy de Dôme, through Cantal and Haute Loire, towards the Rhone at Rochemont. The surface = 2081 square miles; and the population, by the census of 1851, 386,505. The department contains three arrondissements; Tournon, Largentière, and Privas. Its chief rivers are the Rhone, Loire, Cance, Doux, Erioux, and Ardèche. The mineral products are iron, antimony, coal, &c. Wine, chestnuts, and olives, are abundant, but corn is rather deficient. The mulberry is much cultivated for the rearing of silkworms.