Somme

Somme, a river of northern France, rises not far from St Quentin in the dept. of Aisne, flows in a south-west, then north-west direction, and after a course of 150 miles falls into the English Channel not far from St Valéry. It is navigable for vessels of 300 tons up to Abbeville (q.v.), and its upper course is canalised.—The department of Somme, in the north of France, formerly part of the province of Picardy, touches the English Channel on the north-west. Area, 2378 sq. m. The dept. is level, very fertile, and amongst the best cultivated districts of France. Much cider is made and poultry reared. The textile industries (wool, cotton, linen, hemp, silk spinning, and the weaving of mixed stuffs, cloth, velvet, carpets) give the principal mechanical employments; but there are also large iron-foundries, lock, soap, candle, chemical, paper, and beet-root sugar factories, distilleries, and breweries, employing in all nearly 70,000 hands. There are the five arrondissements of Abbeville, Amiens, Doullens, Montdidier, and Péronne; chief town, Amiens. Pop. (1872) 557,015; (1891) 546,495.