DEUX-SVRES

dpartement, Poitou-Charentes region, western France, separated from the Bay of Biscay to the west by Vende dpartement and to the southwest by the Charente-Maritime dpartement. It is divided into the arrondissements of Niort, Parthenay, and Bressuire and is in the educational division of Poitiers. Created mainly from the historic province of Poitou but also including small portions of Aunis, Saintonge, and Angoumois, it has an area of 2,318 sq mi (6,004 sq km). In the shape of an upright rectangle, it is named after two riversSvre Niortaise and Svre Nantaisewhich flow through it. The Svre Niortaise, in the southern half, flows westward through Niort, the capital. The Svre Nantaise rises in the north central part of the dpartement and flows along the northwest border, ultimately joining the Loire at Nantes. The Thouet, another tributary of the Loire, flows northward through the medieval town of Thouars. The dpartement, which is almost entirely agricultural, has only small market towns and is an area of rural exodus. It has mild winters and warm summers, with more than 200 days of rain a year. Cattle raising predominates in the tree-bordered fields of the hilly north, and there is cultivation of cereal grains in the south. Woodlands abound in the east and on the southern border. The fertile reclaimed marshlands of the Marais Poitevin extend from the west to Niort. Parthenay and Thouars, like Niort, are among the oldest towns in France. Saint-Maixent-l' cole has a celebrated military school. The town of Melle is the centre of a region in which donkeys are bred. There is some industry at Niort. Pop. (1982) 342,812.