Corrèze

Corrèze, a French department, formed out of part of the old province of Limousin, and taking its name from a river, the Corrèze, flowing 52 miles south-westward to the Vézère. Area, 2265 sq. m.; pop. (1872) 302,746; (1891) 328,119. The chief rivers of Corrèze are the Dordogne, the Vézère, and the Corrèze. The surface of the department is mountainous, especially in the north and east, where it is broken in upon by offsets from the Auvergne Mountains, which, in Mont Odonze, attain a maximum altitude of 3129 feet above the sea. The lower slopes are clad with forests, but the district is in general sterile. Minerals, particularly coal, iron, lead, alabaster, and granite of various colours, are found. The department is divided into the three arrondissements of Tulle, Brive, and Ussel. Tulle is the chief town.