a department of France, formed out of the ancient duchy of Nivernois. It extends in north latitude from 46° 52' to 47° 36' and in east longitude from 2° 39' to 4° 6'. It is bounded on the north by the departments of the Loiret and of the Yonne, on the east by the Côte d'Or and Saône-Loire, on the south by the Saône-Loire and the Allier, and on the west by the Cher. In extent it is 2953 square miles, or 686,119 hectares, and is divided into four arrondissements, twenty-five cantons, and 330 communes, the population of which amounts to 240,250 persons. It is generally a hilly district, and on the eastern side it is mountainous. Nearly one third of the surface is covered with forests; and as the cultivation is bad, it does not produce a sufficiency of corn for the supply of the people, what it does yield consisting mostly of oats, rye, and barley, with very little wheat. Some of the meadows on the banks of the rivers feed cows, which, with the produce of the forests, furnish the chief commodities with which the people are enabled to buy corn. There are some mines of iron, the working of which, and converting the raw material into common utensils, furnish the chief employment to the scanty population. Some wine is grown, but mostly of inferior quality, and not adequate to the consumption. By its rivers and canals the department is well supplied with cheap means of conveyance for its wood and its iron. The fisheries on the rivers and the lakes are productive, and in part supply fish to Paris. The department elects two deputies for the legislative body. The capital is the city of Nevers.