a department on the N.W. coast of France, lying between N. Lat. 47° 38' and 48° 37', and W. Long. 1° and 2° 14', bounded N. by the sea and the department of Manche, E. by Mayenne, S. by Loire Inférieure, and W. by Morbihan and Côtes-du-Nord, containing an area of 2597½ square miles. It is traversed E. and W. by a range of low hills, which decline on the one side to the English Channel, and on the other to the Bay of Biscay. Its principal rivers are the Ille and Vilaine. The former joins the Vilaine at Rennes, after a course of 18 miles through the department, and the latter which rises in Mayenne, flows past the towns of Vitre, Rennes, and Redon. This stream is tidal up to the port of Redon, and is navigable for barges as far as Rennes. The country, in many parts, is flat and marshy, with a number of stagnant lakes, a circumstance that renders the atmosphere very humid, while the prevalence of westerly winds keeps the temperature mild. Its soil is thin and not very fertile. Of 1,661,221 acres contained in the department, there are 980,150 arable, 327,262 waste (marsh, lakes, roads, &c.), 184,297 grass, 135,361 wood, 33,132 gardens and orchards, and 1020 vines and tobacco. The cereals consist of rye, oats, barley, flax, and hemp, none of which are raised to great extent. The annual amount of grain is about 1,200,500 quarters, or 2 quarters to each individual, a sum so small that importation must be carried on from the more fertile districts around. Both apples and pears are grown in large quantities, and make excellent cider or perry. Tobacco is raised at St Malo, and the vine is seen here and there throughout the country. It has been generally remarked, that agriculture is here in a very low state, from the smallness of the farms, few of which exceed 60 acres, while the average extent is 18 acres. The manufactures of the department are confined to linen, canvass, and cordage; the former is spun into excellent thread. The minerals of the department are few; granite, slate, and glass-quartz form the most profitable articles of mining, while iron is worked but with little success.

The cattle and horse trade is, perhaps, the most lucrative and extensive in the department, and both the oxen and horses of the country are justly celebrated. They belong to the small Breton breed. The former are fattened in Normandy for the Paris market, where they realize high prices. From the coast also, large supplies of deep-sea fish, lobsters, crabs, and oysters, are despatched to the metropolis and other towns. Cheese, said to equal Gruyère, is made in considerable quantities. Communication with the coast and interior is effected by means of the rivers, a canal, and the railway to Paris. The Ille-et-Rance Canal, supplied with water from the former stream, connects the town of Rennes with those of Dinan and St Malo; and the Paris railway crosses the department by Vitre and Rennes. The population of the country is of Celtic origin, and speaks a mixed dialect of Gaelic and French, known by the name of the Breton dialect. The chief towns are Rennes, the capital in the centre of the department, and St Malo, an ancient and still flourishing seaport on the English Channel. Ille-et-Vilaine is divided into the six following arrondissements, with their respective populations:

| Arrondissements | Cantons | Pop. 1851 | |-----------------|---------|-----------| | Rennes | 10 | 139,471 | | St Malo | 9 | 123,585 | | Fougères | 6 | 85,151 | | Vitre | 6 | 83,559 | | Redon | 7 | 82,287 | | Montfort | 5 | 60,615 |

Total: 43 574,618