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Charente, river, France

(Encyclopedia)Charente, river, 220 mi (354 km) long, rising near Limoges, W France, and flowing W to the Bay of Biscay. The river flows past Angoulême (the head of navigation), Cognac, Saintes, and Rochefort, and ...

Institut de France

(Encyclopedia)Institut de France ăNstētüˈ də fräNs [key], cultural institution of the French state. Founded in 1795 by the Directory, it replaced five learned societies that had been suppressed in 1793 by the...

Gironde, department, France

(Encyclopedia)Gironde zhērôNdˈ [key], department, SW France, on the Bay of Biscay. Bordeaux is the capital. ...

Gironde, estuary, France

(Encyclopedia)Gironde, estuary, c.45 mi (70 km) long and from 2 to 7 mi (3.2–11.3 km) wide, formed by the Garonne and Dordogne rivers, which join c.14 mi (23 km) N of Bordeaux. Sand banks and a high tidal range h...

Fort-de-France

(Encyclopedia)Fort-de-France fôr-də-fräNs [key], city, capital of the French overseas dept. of Martinique, West Indies. It is a ...

Jura, department, France

(Encyclopedia)Jura zhüräˈ [key], department (1990 pop. 249,600), E France, in Franche-Comté, bordering on Switzerland. Lons-le-Saunier is the capital. The area is a major producer of Gruyère cheese and a cente...

Montmorency, town, France

(Encyclopedia)Montmorency, town (1990 pop. 21,003), Val d'Oise dept., N France, a suburb N of Paris. J. J. Rousseau lived there (1756–62), first at the nearby “Hermitage,” a cottage on the estate of his frien...

Meuse, department, France

(Encyclopedia)Meuse möz [key], department (1990 pop. 196,344), NE France, in Lorraine, bordering on Belgium. Bar-le-Duc, the capital, and Verdun are the chief towns. Its industries include the manufacture of metal...

Moselle, department, France

(Encyclopedia)Moselle mōzĕlˈ [key], department (1990 pop. 1,011,400), NE France, bordering on Luxembourg and Germany. Metz is the capital. ...

Oise, department, France

(Encyclopedia)Oise wäz [key], department (1990 pop. 733,200), N France, in Picardy. Beauvais is the capital. ...