Charente-Inférieure

Charente-Inférieure, a maritime department of France, formed principally from the former provinces of Saintonge, Aunis, and a small portion of Poitou. The Bay of Biscay washes its western boundary. Area, 2625 sq. m. Pop. (1866) 479,529; (1891) 456,202. It is watered on its boundaries by the Sèvre-Niortaise and the Gironde, and in the centre by the navigable Charente and the coast-stream Sendre. The surface is level; the soil, near the coast protected from the sea by dikes, is mostly chalky and sandy, but very fertile. The commerce is mainly in brandy and sea-salt; the evaporation from the salt-marshes from which the latter is taken renders some parts of the coast very unhealthy. The oyster and pilchard fisheries are important. The chief harbours are those of Rochefort and Tonnay-Charente. La Rochelle is the chief town.