ILLE-ET-VILAINE

dpartement, Bretagne rgion, northwestern France, created from the northeastern part of the historic province of Brittany. Bounded north by the English Channel and Manche dpartement, it has an area of 2,616 square miles (6,775 square km). The coastline stretches eastward from an estuary 5 miles (8 km) west of Dinard to within 3 miles (5 km) of Mont-Saint-Michel; it includes part of the rocky Cte d'meraude, broken by the estuary of the Rance River, at the mouth of which are the towns of Dinard and Saint-Malo. In those areas in which a difference of more than 25 feet (8 m) exists between high and low tide, tidal power has been harnessed in the estuary to generate electricity. The north-flowing Rance is linked by the Ille et Rance Canal at Rennes, the departmental capital, with the Vilaine River, which flows southwestward to the Atlantic. The climate is temperate and rainy. East of the Cte d'meraude, the Marais de Dol, the flat coastal strip of the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel, has been reclaimed and is used for sheep raising and market gardening. Oysters are cultivated near Cancale, on the coast. The coastal resorts have become more important than the fishing industry to the economy of the dpartement. The Rennes basin is fertile (raising grains, especially wheat, fodder crops, and legumes). Pastoral farming has expanded, and cider-apple orchards continue to abound. Some industries have been established in the Rennes region, where a major motorworks is situated, and at Fougres, which specializes in women's footwear. Jacques Cartier, who explored Canada, was born in Saint-Malo, as was the writer Chateaubriand. The dpartement is divided into four arrondissementsRennes, Saint-Malo, Fougres, and Redonand is in the educational division of Rennes. Pop. (1990 prelim.) 798,200.