CHATEAUROUX

city, capital of Indre dpartement, Centre rgion, central France. It lies along the Indre River, south of Orlans, on the main road and railway from Paris to Toulouse. It derives its name from a castle built toward the end of the 10th century by Raoul le Large, prince of Dols. The present Chteau Raoul, occupied by the prefecture, dates from the 15th century. An 18th-century mansion, in which died Count Henri-Gratien Bertrand, a friend of Napoleon I who accompanied him into exile, houses Napoleonic collections. Chteauroux's industries produce metal equipment, chemicals, paper, textiles, pharmaceutical products, and cigarettes, and the city is the industrial centre of an extensive agricultural region. Pop. (1990) 52,949.