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Creuse (département)

Creuse
Department
Prefecture building of the Creuse department, in Guéret
Prefecture building of the Creuse department, in Guéret
Flag of Creuse
Flag
Coat of arms of Creuse
Coat of arms
Location of Creuse in France
Location of Creuse in France
Coordinates: 46°35′N 2°3′E / 46.583°N 2.050°E / 46.583; 2.050Coordinates: 46°35′N 2°3′E / 46.583°N 2.050°E / 46.583; 2.050
Country France
Region Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Prefecture Guéret
Subprefectures Aubusson
Government
 • President of the General Council Jean-Jacques Lozach (PS)
Area
 • Total 5,565 km2 (2,149 sq mi)
Population (2013)
 • Total 120,872
 • Rank 100th
 • Density 22/km2 (56/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Department number 23
Arrondissements 2
Cantons 15
Communes 258
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2

Creuse (French pronunciation: ​[kʁøz]; is a department in central France named after the river Creuse.

Creuse is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from the former province of La Marche.

The County of Marche was a medieval French county, approximately corresponding to the modern département of Creuse. Marche first appeared as a separate fief about the middle of the 10th century, when William III, Duke of Aquitaine, gave it to one of his vassals named Boso, who took the title of count. In the 12th century, the countship passed to the family of Lusignan. They also were sometimes counts of Angoulême and counts of Limousin. With the death of the childless Count Guy in 1308, his possessions in La Marche were seized by Philip IV of France. In 1316 the king made La Marche an appanage for his youngest son the Prince, afterwards Charles IV. Several years later in 1327, La Marche passed into the hands of the House of Bourbon. The family of Armagnac held it from 1435 to 1477, when it reverted to the Bourbons. In 1527 La Marche was seized by Francis I and became part of the domains of the French crown. It was divided into Haute Marche and Basse Marche, the estates of the former continuing until the 17th century. From 1470 until the Revolution, the province was under the jurisdiction of the parlement of Paris.


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