a city in central France at the confluence of the Yèvre and Auron rivers; a port on the Berry Canal, which links Bourges with the Loire. It is the administrative center of the department of Cher. The population is 70, 800 (1968). Bourges is a transportation center. The city’s industry is represented by machine building, including aircraft building, the production of instruments, leather and food enterprises, and sawmills. Bourges is the center of the historic province of Berry.