Nièvre

Nièvre is a department in the centre of France, in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region. It is named after the Nièvre river, a tributary of the Loire. Its prefecture and largest city is Nevers.
History.
Nièvre is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790 with Nevers as its capital. It was formed from part of the old province of "Nivernais" and its name was written at first as Nyèvre.
It was divided in nine districts: Nevers, Saint-Pierre-le-Moutier, Decize, Moulins-Engilbert, Château-Chinon, Corbigny, Clamecy, Cosne and La Charité.
In 1800, with the creation of the "arrondissements" in France, the nine districts were changed into four "arrondissements": Nevers, Château-Chinon, Clamecy and Cosne.
On 10 September 1926, the "arrondissement" of Cosne was eliminated but in 1943 it became again an "arrondissement" of the department.
Geography.
Nièvre is part of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region. It has an area of . The highest point of the department is Mont Préneley (), high; it is in the "commune" Glux-en-Glenne.
The department borders with six departments in three regions:
There are three main geographical zones in the department:
The main rivers in the department are the Loire, that makes most of the western border, with its tributaries Allier and Aron; and the Yonne, with its tributary Cure.
Climate.
The Köppen climate classification type for the climate at Nevers is an "Oceanic climate" (also known as Maritime Temperate climate) and of the subtype "Cfb".
It rains in all seasons but precipitations are more important in the eastern zone, in the Morvan, and weaker in the Loire valley.
Administration.
Nièvre is managed by the "Departmental Council of Nièvre" in Nevers. The department is part of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region.
Administrative divisions.
There are 4 "arrondissements" (districts), 17 "cantons" and 309 "communes" (municipalities) in Nièvre.
The following is a list of the 17 cantons of the Nièvre department (with their INSEE codes), following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:
Demographics.
The inhabitants of Nièvre are known, in French, as "Nivernais" (women: "Nivernaises").
Nièvre had a population, in 2014, of 213,569, for a population density of inhabitants/km2. The "arrondissement" of Nevers, with 118,087 inhabitants, is the "arrondissement" with more inhabitants.
Evolution of the population in Nièvre
The 10 "communes" with more inhabitants in the department are: