Deux, a department of France, formed out of the ancient province of the Lower Poitou. It extends from 1. 37° east, to 0. 8° west longitude, and from 46. 0° to 47. 12° north latitude. It is bounded on the north by the department of the Maine and Loire, on the east by that of Vienne, on the south by the Charente, on the south-west by the Lower Charente, and on the west by Vendée. It comprehends 2135 square miles, or 607,350 hectares, equal to 1,366,538 English acres. In 1834, of this land, 869,297 hectares were under the plough, 18,896 were vineyards, 7280 gardens, 17,466 moors, heaths, pasture, &c., 29,806 woods, and the remainder the sites of towns, rivers, morasses, and uncultivated lands. It is divided into four arrondissements, thirty-one cantons, and 356 communes. Its population in 1836 amounted to 304,105. The surface is generally level, except that a chain of hills, the highest point of which does not exceed 450 feet, extends through the department from north-west to south-east. The chief rivers are the two streams from whence the department takes its name. The Sèvres-Nantaise receives the waters of the Louine and the Chambron, and passes into Vendée; and the Sèvres-Nortaise receives the streams Landon and Guerande, and becomes navigable at Niort, and then enters Vendée. There are a great number of smaller streams, most of which reach the sea by the Loire. The agriculture is in a backward state, the oxen are used for the plough, and much of the land is in fallow. The greater part of the cultivators are metayers, dividing the produce with the proprietors. The fertility is such that nearly one half the corn grown is supplied to other districts; and much hay and clover are furnished to the departments that are contiguous. The manufacturing industry is almost exclusively confined to providing necessaries for home consumption. The breed of horses is good, and many of them, as well as of a strong breed of asses, and some mules, are articles of commerce. The only mines are of iron, the ore of which is sent into Charente to be manufactured. There are quarries from which excellent millstones are obtained. The department elects two deputies to the legislative chamber. The capital is the city of Niort, with a population in 1836 of 18,197.