Editing Creuse (section)

{{short description|Department of France}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox settlement
<!-- See Template:Infobox settlement for additional fields and descriptions -->
| name                     = Creuse
| native_name              = [[Occitan language|Occitan]]: ''Cruesa'' or ''Crosa''
| native_name_lang         = fr<!-- ISO 639-2 code e.g. "fr" for French. If more than one, use {{lang}} instead -->
| type                     = [[Departments of France|Department of France]]
| image_skyline            = Guéret - Préfecture de la Creuse.jpg
| image_alt                = 
| image_caption            = [[Prefectures in France|Prefecture]] building of the Creuse department, in Guéret
| image_flag               = Drapeau fr département Creuse.svg
| flag_alt                 = 
| image_shield             = Blason Bourbon-La Marche.svg
| shield_alt               = 
| nickname                 = 
| motto                    = 
| image_map                = Creuse-Position.svg
| map_alt                  = 
| map_caption              = Location of Creuse in France
| pushpin_map              = 
| pushpin_label_position   = 
| pushpin_map_alt          = 
| pushpin_map_caption      = 
| coordinates              = {{coord|46|07|20|N|1|54|46|E|region:FR_type:adm2nd_scale:2000000|display=inline,title}}
| coor_pinpoint            = 
| coordinates_footnotes    = 
| subdivision_type         = Country
| subdivision_name         = France
| subdivision_type1        = [[Regions of France|Region]]
| subdivision_name1        = [[Nouvelle-Aquitaine]]
| established_title        = 
| established_date         = 
| founder                  = 
| seat_type                = [[Prefectures in France|Prefecture]]
| seat                     = [[Guéret]]
| parts_type               = [[Subprefectures in France|Subprefectures]]
| parts_style              = para
| p1                       = [[Aubusson, Creuse|Aubusson]]
| government_footnotes     = 
| leader_party             = [[The Republicans (France)|LR]]
| leader_title             = [[President of the Departmental Council]]
| leader_name              = Valérie Simonet<ref>{{cite web|title=Répertoire national des élus: les conseillers départementaux|url=https://www.data.gouv.fr/fr/datasets/r/601ef073-d986-4582-8e1a-ed14dc857fba|website=data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises|date=4 May 2022|language=fr}}</ref>
| unit_pref                = Metric<!-- or US or UK -->
| area_magnitude           = 
| area_footnotes           = {{ref|area|1}}
| area_total_km2           = 5565
| area_note                = 
| elevation_footnotes      = 
| elevation_m              = 
| elevation_min_m          = 
| elevation_max_m          = 
| population_total         = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_total}}
| population_as_of         = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_as_of}}
| population_footnotes     = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_footnotes2}}
| population_rank          = [[List of French departments by population|101st]]
| population_density_km2   = auto
| population_demonym       = 
| population_note          = 
| blank_name_sec1          = [[Departments of France|Department number]]
| blank_info_sec1          = 23
| blank_name_sec2          = [[Arrondissements of France|Arrondissements]]
| blank_info_sec2          = [[arrondissements of the Creuse department|2]]
| blank1_name_sec2         = [[Cantons in France|Cantons]]
| blank1_info_sec2         = [[cantons of the Creuse department|15]]
| blank2_name_sec2         = [[Communes in France|Communes]]
| blank2_info_sec2         = [[communes of the Creuse department|256]]
| timezone1                = [[Central European Time|CET]]
| utc_offset1              = +1
| timezone1_DST            = [[Central European Summer Time|CEST]]
| utc_offset1_DST          = +2
| postal_code_type         = 
| postal_code              = 
| area_code_type           = 
| area_code                = 
| iso_code                 = 
| website                  = 
| footnotes                = {{note|area|1}} French Land Register data, which exclude [[estuary|estuaries]], and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>
}}

'''Creuse''' ({{IPA|fr|kʁøz|-|LL-Q150 (fra)-GrandCelinien-Creuse.wav}}; {{langx|oc|Cruesa}} or {{lang|oc|Crosa}}) is a [[departments of France|department]] in central France named after the river [[Creuse (river)|Creuse]]. After [[Lozère]], it is the second least populated department in [[France]]. It is bordered by [[Indre]] and [[Cher (department)|Cher]] to the north, [[Allier]] and [[Puy-de-Dôme]] to the east, [[Corrèze]] to the south, and [[Haute-Vienne]] to the west. In 2020, the population of this department is 115,995, while the official estimates in 2022 is 113,711.

[[Guéret]], the [[Prefectures in France|Prefecture]] of Creuse has a population approximately 12,000, making it the largest settlement in the department. The next biggest town is [[La Souterraine]] and then [[Aubusson, Creuse|Aubusson]]. The department is situated in the former [[Provinces of France|Province]] of [[County of La Marche|La Marche]]. Creuse is one of the most rural and sparsely populated departments in France, with a [[population density]] of {{convert|21|/km2|/mi2|disp=preunit|people|people|abbr=on}}, and a 2019 population of 116,617 - the [[Departments in France|second-smallest]] of any [[Departments in France|Departments]] in [[France]].<ref name=pop2019>[https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/fichier/6011060/dep23.pdf Populations légales 2019: 23 Creuse], INSEE</ref> The land use is mostly agricultural and the department is well known for its [[chestnut]] and [[hazelnut]] production, and for the [[Charolais cattle|Charolais]] and [[Limousin cattle]] breeds.