Deux-Sèvres was one of the 83 original départements created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. Departmental borders were changed in 1973 when the inhabitants of the little commune of :fr:Le Puy-Saint-Bonnet|Puy-Saint-Bonnet became formally associated with the rapidly growing adjacent commune of Cholet. Cholet is in the neighbouring department of Maine-et-Loire. In order to avoid the associated communes being administered in separate departments, Puy-Saint-Bonnet was transferred into Maine-et-Loire. Deux-Sevres features in Son Excellence Eugene Rougon, a novel by Emile Zola in his Rougon-Macquart series, when Rougon visits Niort, the departmental capital, to open a new rail line to Angers.
Geography and economics
The climate is mild, the annual temperature averaging 11 degrees Celsius. The département remains rural: three-quarters of the area consists of arable land. Wheat and oats are the main products grown, as well as potatoes, apples, and walnuts. Niort is the center for growing vegetables and angelica. Some beetroot is grown in the district of Melle. Vineyards are numerous in the north, and there are some in the south. The département is also well known for the breeding of cattle, mules, and horses. The Parthenaisbreed of cattle is named after the town of Parthenay in the north of the département. Also, dairy products are produced in significant quantities. Some quarries are in operation, as well as lime extraction operations. Textiles, leather-tanning, and flour milling were the traditional industries of Niort, the capital and major city. Nowadays, Niort, with 60,000 inhabitants, is an important commercial and administrative center. In particular it is one of the main financial centers in France. Niort is the national headquarters of some of the major insurance companies in France, , and regional headquarters of others such as Groupama. The regional headquarters of several national banks, including Banque Populaire and Crédit Agricole, are also located there. The services sector is also heavily represented in Niort, in consulting, accounting, brokerage and software. Chemistry, pharmacy and aeronautics are the main industries. Textiles and shoe making, furnitures, mechanics, automotive, chemistry, food industry and food packaging are the major industries outside of the capital. The unemployment rate in the département is very low especially in the north-west, where many small and medium companies are developing rapidly. The south-west of the département attracts tourists with the Marais Poitevinnatural area; the Atlantic coast is close at hand.
Niort in the south of the département is connected to Paris and Bordeaux by the A10 motorway, with Nantes by the A83, with La Rochelle and Poitiers by the N11. Another important road in the north of the département is the Route nationale 149, which runs roughly east–west from Bressuire to Poitiers, passing around the outskirts of Parthenay. This section of the RN149 forms part of the European route E62 from Nantes to Genoa. The road originally ran from Nantes, but has been bypassed in various stages by the new RN249dual carriageway. The old section from Nantes to Bressuire has been either renamed or downgraded to the D149. The north and south of the département are connected by relatively minor roads, with the D743 and D748 linking Niort to Parthenay and Bressuire respectively, whilst the D938 connects to Thouars. The département has two railway stations on the TGV route between Paris and La Rochelle, with a journey from Niort to Paris taking 2h15. It is also served by several TER Nouvelle-Aquitaineregional railway routes, including a route from Poitiers via Niort to La Rochelle, a route from Niort to Saintes, and a route from Tours to Thouars and Bressuire. A railway bus service operated as part of the TER Nouvelle-Aquitaine network follows the RN149 from Poitiers to Nantes, calling at Parthenay and Bressuire. Additionally the département provides the Réseau des Deux-Sèvres, an inter-urban bus service that connects the towns and villages of the département. There are no airports with scheduled airline service within the département, although is used for private movements. The nearest commercial airports are at Poitiers, La Rochelle and Nantes.
