CREUSE

dpartement, Limousin rgion, central France. Creuse comprises most of the historical province of Marche (q.v.), on the northwestern border of the Massif Central. It occupies much of the basin of the Creuse River, which is 160 miles (260 km) long and flows southeast to northwest, past Aubusson and near Guret, the departmental capital. High ground, rising to an elevation of more than 3,000 feet (900 m) in the southeast, is subjected to heavy rain and snow. The main activity of the dpartement is stockbreeding. Cereals and potatoes are grown in the southwest, and chestnuts abound. Despite these activities, there has been an exodus from Creuse to other parts of France. Industry, little-developed and scattered, includes mining, quarrying, spinning, metal production, and food processing. Guret, which gives its name to one of the dpartement's two arrondissements, has a museum with a collection of Limoges painted enamels; Aubusson (q.v.), a market town famous for its tapestries, gives its name to the other. Among other picturesque old towns are Auzances, Felletin, La Souterraine, and the watering place of vaux-les-Bains. The dpartement is in the educational division of Limoges. Area 2,149 square miles (5,565 square km). Pop. (1990) 131,349; (1993 est.) 128,600.