CENTRE

county, central Pennsylvania, U.S., located in both the Allegheny Plateau and the Appalachian Ridge and Valley regions and roughly bisected by the Allegheny Mountains. Centre county, named for its location as the geographic centre of the state, is bounded to the west by Moshannon Creek and the West Branch Susquehanna River. Other waterways include Foster Joseph Sayers Lake and Beech, Penns, Bald Eagle, and Black Moshannon creeks. The county also contains Bald Eagle, Nittany, and Tussey mountains, as well as a number of state parks and state forests. Centre county was created in 1800. It was a national iron-making centre until the mid-19th century. Adjoining the borough of State College, University Park is the seat of Pennsylvania State University (founded 1855). Boalsburg contains the Pennsylvania Military Museum. The county seat is Bellefonte. The main economic activities are retail trade, health care and research services, glass and electronics manufacture, bituminous coal mining, and agriculture. Area 1,108 square miles (2,869 square km). Pop. (1990) 124,812; (1996 est.) 131,489. rgion, encompassing the central French dpartements of Cher, Indre, Indre-et-Loire, Loir-et-Cher, Loiret, and Eure-et-Loir and coextensive with the former provinces of Berry, Touraine, and Orlanais. The capital of the rgion is located at Orlans. The rgion has an area of 15,116 square miles (39,151 square km) and is bounded by the dpartements of Eure to the northwest, Yvelines and Essonne to the northeast, Seine-et-Marne to the north, Yonne, Nivre, and Allier to the east, Creuse and Haute-Vienne to the south, Vienne to the southwest, and Maine-et-Loire, Mayenne, and Orne to the west. Centre lies in the Paris Basin and is bisected by the Loire River, which flows east to west. Mount Saint-Marien in Cher reaches an elevation of 1,653 feet (504 m) and is the highest point in the rgion. Centre rgion is sparsely populated. As in most rural areas of France, the population declined by more than 11 percent between 1891 and 1946. Because of its proximity to Paris, a magnet for job seekers, its growth has subsequently remained at a level below the national average. Demographic recovery has favoured the northern dpartements neighbouring Paris, such as Loiret, Eure-et-Loir, and Loir-et-Cher. Centre is a leading producer of wheat, barley, and corn (maize), and it also produces Sauvignon, Pinot, and Cabernet grapes. Industrial crops are widely cultivated and include sugar beets, rapeseed (colza), and sunflowers. The rgion has benefited from the decentralization of Parisian industries since 1945. It has factories manufacturing such products as ball bearings, automotive parts, tires, and plastics. The nuclear reactors generating power at Dampierre-en-Burly (Loiret), Saint-Laurent-des-Eaux (Loir-et-Cher), and Avoine-Chinon (Indre-et-Loire) have reduced the region's imports of energy. The service sector is highly developed and employs approximately one-half of the work force. Tourism is centred on the chateaus of the Loire valley. Pop. (1990) 2,371,036. industrial district in Hainaut province, southwestern Belgium. It lies in the upper valley of the Haine River and is centred on the town of La Louvire between Mons and Charleroi. The coal mines that gave rise to the district are now closed, but heavy industry continues in the form of blast furnaces and steelworks at La Louvire, a petroleum refinery at Felay, and an automobile assembly plant at Seneffe-Manage. The Centre Canal serves the district and has antique canal lifts of archaeological interest. At Mariemont, north of Morlanwelz, the 16th-century castle built by Mary of Hungary, Charles V's sister, is open to the public.