an arrondissement of the department of the Allier, in France, 457 square miles in extent. It is divided into five cantons and 79 communes, and contains 61,500 inhabitants. The capital is the city of the same name, situated on the right bank of the river Cher. It is surrounded with walls, and defended by a castle upon an elevation which commands the town. The inhabitants are 4800, employed in woollen manufactures. Long. 2.31. E. Lat. 46. 22. N.