HAUTE-VIENNE

dpartement, Limousin rgion, west-central France. It is situated on the northwestern slopes of the Massif Central and was created mainly from the historical province of Marche, to which were added parts of the provinces of Limousin, Poitou, and Berry. The dpartement is bisected into northern and southern portions by the westward-flowing Vienne River, which traverses rolling uplands and flows through Limoges, the capital, after being joined from the east by the much-dammed Maulde and Taurion rivers. The north is watered by the Gartempe River, a tributary of the Cher River. In the south the mountains rise to 2,398 feet (731 m) at Mount Gargan. Between the Vienne and Gartempe river valleys, the Blond Mountains in the west rise above the Limoges Plateau to more than 1,600 feet (500 m), while the Ambazac Mountains in the east rise to more than 2,300 feet (700 m). Winters are cold, with heavy snowfall. Summers are usually fine and warm. The dpartement is largely agricultural, with the cultivation of fodder crops predominant. Potatoes and beets are also grown, and there is horse and cattle raising; but the chestnut, once a mainstay of the rural economy, has declined. Kaolin (china clay) is quarried near Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche and elsewhere for the important porcelain industry at Limoges, which also manufactures footwear and nonelectrical machinery. Saint-Junien is a centre of leather industries. Solignac has a fine Romanesque abbey church; and Saint-Junien is also notable for its church, begun in the 12th century. The Impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir was born at Limoges, which has a fine museum of ceramics. The dpartement has three arrondissementsLimoges, Bellac, and Rochechouartand is in the educational division of Limoges. Area 2,131 square miles (5,520 square km). Pop. (1990) 353,593.