ABSTRACT
The department of the Seine-Inferieure was created in 1790 and so named because it was crossed by the downstream sections of the Seine as it flowed into the Channel. The department was bordered to the north and west by the Channel, to the north-east by the department of the Somme, to the east by the department of the Oise, and to the south by the department of the Eure. Together with the department of the Eure, it had constituted the generalite of Rouen under the ancien regime and formed the region of upper Normandy. From 1800, following the Napoleonic law of 28 Pluviose VIII (17 February 1800), the department was subdivided into five administrative arrondissements, each named after its administrative centre: Rouen, Yvetot, Le Havre, Dieppe and Neufchatel.
