Arrondissement of Parthenay

The arrondissement of Parthenay is an arrondissement of France, in the Deux-Sèvres department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. Its capital is the city of Parthenay.
History.
When the Deux-Sèvres department was created on 1790, Parthenay was one of the original districts.
Geography.
The territory of the present "arrondissement" of Parthenay is the historical region of Gâtine vendéenne; several "communes" are named after this region: La Boissière-en-Gâtine, Mazières-en-Gâtine, Saint-Paul-en-Gâtine, Vernoux-en-Gâtine.
Parthenay is the central "arrondissement" of the department. It is bordered to the north by the "arrondissement" of Bressuire, to the east by the Vienne department, to the south by the "arrondissement" of Niort and to the west by the Vendée department.
It has an area of , and a population of 64,425 inhabitants for a density of inhabitants/km².
Composition.
Cantons.
After the reorganisation of the cantons in France, cantons are not subdivisions of the "arrondissements" so they could have "communes" that belong to different "arrondissements".
In the "arrondissement" of Parthenay, there are 2 cantons with all their "communes" in the "arrondissement": La Gâtine and Parthenay. The following table shows the distribution of the "communes" in the "arrondissement":
Communes.
The "arrondissement" of Parthenay has 77 "communes"; they are (with their INSEE codes)ː