The Seine, the Yonne, the Marne, and the Grand Morin are navigable, and, with the canals of the Loing and the Ourcq and those of Chalifert, Cornillon and Chelles, which cut off the wind ings of the Marne, form a total waterway of over 200 m. Seine et-Marne has 3 arrondissements (Melun, Meaux and Provins), 29 cantons and 534 communes. It forms the diocese of Meaux (archi episcopal province of Paris), and part of the region of the V. army corps and of the academie (educational division) of Paris, where is its court of appeal. Melun, the capital, Meaux, Fontaine bleau, Coulommiers, Provins, Nemours and Montereau (qq.v.), are the chief towns. Lagny (pop. 6,933), has an abbey-church of the i3th century ; Brie-Comte Robert has a church of the early 13th century; Ferrieres, a 13th century church; Moret-sur-Loing preserves 15th century fortifications including two remarkable gateways; St. Loup-de-Naud a church of the early 12th century; Jouarre a church of the 25th century, built over a loth century crypt; and Vaux-le-Vicomte has the famous château built by Fouquet, minister of Louis XIV.
a department of France, formed in 1790 of part of the old province of Ile-de-France, and traversed from south-east to north-west by the Seine, which is joined by the Oise. Pop. (1931) 1,365,616. Area, 2,184 sq. miles. It is bounded by the departments of Seine-et-Marne on the east, Loiret on the south, Eure-et-Loir on the west, Eure on the north-west and Oise on the north. It encloses the department of Seine, and with it forms the centre of the Paris basin. The Epte on the north west is almost the only natural boundary of the department. The streams (all belonging to the basin of the Seine) are : (right) Yeres, Marne, Oise and Epte; (left) Essonne (joined by the Juine, which passes Etampes), Orge, Bievre and Mauldre. Seine et-Oise belongs in part to the Pliocene tableland of Beauce in the south and to that of Brie in the east. In the centre are the wooded hills of the Hurepoix which make the charm of Versailles, Marly and St. Germain. In the north-west, in the Vexin, the culminating point (690 ft.) is reached, while the lowest point, where the Seine leaves the department, is little more than 4o ft. above the sea.
Seine-et-Oise is a flourishing agricultural and horticultural de partment. Wheat, oats, potatoes and sugar-beet are important crops. Versailles, Rambouillet, Argenteuil are among the many market-gardening and horticultural centres, and wine is grown at Argenteuil and elsewhere. Forests occupy about 190,000 ac., the largest being that of Rambouillet (about 32,000 acres). There are mineral springs at Enghien and Forges-les-Bains. Important industrial establishments are the national porcelain factory at Sevres; and the government powder-mills of Sevran and Bouchet.
The railways of all the great companies of France (except the Midi) traverse the department. The Seine and the Oise, and the canals of Ourcq and Chelles provide about 120 m. of water way. Seine-et-Oise is divided into four arrondissements (Ver sailles, Corbeil, Pontoise, Rambouillet) with 4o cantons and 692 communes. It forms the diocese of Versailles under the arch
bishop of Paris, and part of the educational division (academie) of Paris and is under the command of the military government of Paris, where is its court of appeal.
The chief towns are Versailles, the capital, Corbeil, Sevres, Etampes, Mantes, Pontoise, Rambouillet, Argenteuil, Poissy, St. Cloud, St. Cyr, St. Germain-en-Laye, Meudon, Montmorency, Rueil and Marly-le-Roi (qq.v.). Montfort-l'Amaury has a Renais sance church, a 16th century gateway and a ruined chateau once the seat of the family of Montfort ; Montlhery preserves the keep (13th century) and other ruins of a fortress which commanded the road from Paris to Orleans; Roche-Guyon, seat of the family of that name, has two chateaux, one a feudal stronghold, the other also mediaeval but altered in the i8th century; Vigny has a Gothic 55th century chateau; Ecouen, a chateau of the 16th century once the property of the Conde family; Dampierre has a 17th century chateau once the property of Charles, cardinal of Lorraine ; Maisons-Laffitte, a chateau of the same period once belonging to the family of Longueil. The chateau of Malmaison (i8th century) is famous as the residence of the Empress Josephine.
Of the many churches the most interesting are those of Jouy-le Moutier (I ith and 12th centuries) ; Beaumont-sur-Oise (13th century) ; Taverny (12th and 13th centuries) ; Longpont (re mains of an abbey-church dating from the nth to the 13th centuries). Near Cernay-la-Ville are remains of a Cistercian abbey and near Levy-St.-Nom those of the abbey of Notre-Dame de la Roche, including a church (13th century) with stalls which are among the oldest in France and the tombs of the Levis Mirepoix family.
a department of the north of France, formed in 1790 of four districts (Vexin normand, Bray, Caux and Roumois) belonging to the province of Normandy. Pop. (i93i), 905,278. Area, 2,448 sq.m. Seine-Inferieure is bounded north-west and north by the English channel for a dis tance of 8o m., north-east by Somme, from which it is separated by the Bresle, east by Oise, south by Eure and the estuary of the Seine, which separates it from Calvados. The department consists of a portion (Pays de Caux) of the chalk plateau of western France, through which the Seine has sawn its way near the southern boundary. From the slopes of the plateau many small streams drain seawards, the most important being the Argues, emerging at Dieppe, and the Bresle at Le Treport on the north-eastern boundary. In the comparatively regular outline of the coast there are a few breaks, as at Le Treport, Dieppe, St. Valery-en-Caux, Fecamp and Havre, the Cap de la Heve, which commands this last port, and Cape Antifer, 12 or 13 m. farther north. Le Treport, Dieppe, Veules, St. Valery, Veulettes, Fecamp, Yport, Etretat and Ste. Adresse (to mention only the more im portant) are fashionable watering-places. Forges-les-Eaux (in the east of the department) has cold chalybeate springs.