It stands at the head of the steam navigation of the Vistula, and is the industrial and trading centre of Poland. Lodz, the "Manchester" of Poland, has extensive cotton and other textile manufactures.

South Russia contains several important commercial centres, such as Odessa (450), Kishineff (126), Nickolaiev (92), Kherson (59), Taganrog (59), and Rostov (119).

ODESSA, on the Black Sea, is the chief seaport of southern Russia, and has a vast trade, chiefly in the export of corn. Much wool, flax, timber, and other commodities of south-western Russia are sent abroad from this port, chiefly in British vessels. Kishineff, the capital of Bessarabia, is also a great centre of trade, which is mainly carried on by the numerous Jews in the town. Nikolaiev, at the mouth of the Bug, is a naval station, the " Portsmouth" of the Black Sea. Kherson, at the mouth of the Dnieper, is an important corn and timber port; here John Howard, the philanthropist, died in 1790. Taganrog, on the shore of the Sea of Azov, near the delta of the Don, exports large quantities of corn from the "Black Earth Zone," the chief agricultural region of Russia, and coal from the Donets coalfield. Rostov is a great riverport on the Don.

East Russia includes the old Khanates of Kazan and Astrakhan, and contains the towns of Kazan (144), Saratov (137), Astrakhan (122), Samara (90), Orenburg (73), and Perm (45).

The famous Crimean port of Sebastopol, the fortifications of which were destroyed after its capture by the allied French and English armies in 1855, has been re-fortified, and will soon be what it formerly was, "the Gibraltar" of Russia. Kertch is a seaport on the eastern coast of the Crimea, near the strait which leads into the Sea of Azov

Kazan is a large city to the east of the Volga, and is the centre of the trade with the Siberian provinces. Saratov, on the west bank of the Volga, and Samara, some 250 miles further north on the east bank, are both large manufacturing towns and important stations on the trade route between Russia and Central Asia. Further east, on the banks of the Ural, is the frontier mart of Orenburg, and further north, on the European side of the Central Urals, is Perm, the industrial capital of the Ural mining regions. Perm has large iron and copper works, and is the depôt for most of the mineral products of the Urals. Astrakhan, the chief port for the commerce of the Caspian, is on the Volga, nearly 50 miles above its mouth.

TURKEY IN EUROPE.

The European territories of the TURKISH EMPIRE were formerly much more extensive than at present.

Before 1878, they included Roumania to the north, and Servia to the south, of the Danube. The present Kingdom of Greece was a province of the Turkish Empire from the commencement of the 16th century till 1830. Nearly one-half the territories which still nominally form part of European Turkey, are practically independent. Bulgaria and Eastern Roumelia form a self-governing Principality. Bosnia and Herzegovina are both occupied and administered by Austria. Austrian soldiers also occupy the Sanjak, or district, of NoviBazar, although the civil administration is still Turkish. Crete was placed in 1898 under the protection of Great Britain, Italy, France, and Russia. The district of MACEDONIA is always more or less in a state of revolt, and will no doubt be liberated from Turkish rule at a very early date.

BOUNDARIES: Turkey in Europe is bounded on the north by Austria, Servia, and Roumania; on the west, by the Adriatic Sea and the Mediterranean; on the south, by Greece, the Ægean Sea, and the Sea of Marmora ; and on the east, by the Black Sea.

EXTENT: The area of European Turkey is estimated at 125,289 square miles, or more than twice the size of England and Wales. Only one-half of this area is directly under Turkish rule.

The OTTOMAN EMPIRE includes, besides Turkey Proper and its Dependencies in Europe, much larger territories in Asia; while, in Africa, the Porte is still the supreme power in the Vilayet of Tripoli, and Egypt is nominally a feudatory State. The total area of the Turkish Empire is nearly 14 million square miles (30 times the size of England and Wales), and the population is estimated to number about 40 millions.

COASTS: The total length of coast-line is estimated at 1,500 miles, equal to an average of 1 mile of coast to every 83 square miles of area.

The chief Capes are Kaliakra and Emineh on the east, Monte Santo on the south, and Linguetta or Giossa on the west.

The principal Inlets are the Gulf of Burgas on the east; the Gulfs of Saros, Kavala, Orphani, Mte. Santo (Hagion Horos)), Kassandra, and Salonica, on the south; and the Gulf of Arta, between Turkey and Greece, on the west.

The most important Straits and Channels are: The Strait of Constantinople, leading from the Sea of Marmara to the Black Sea; the Dardanelles, connecting the Ægean Sea with the Sea of Marmara; and the Strait of Otranto, joining the Ionian and Adriatic Seas.

ISLANDS: The islands of the Archipelago belong, for the most part, to the kingdom of Greece; but those that lie near its northern and eastern shores are Turkish. The large island of Crete, or Candia, to the south of the Archipelago, belongs to Turkey.

CRETE (or Candia) is, after Cyprus, the largest island in the Eastern Mediterranean, and has an area of over 3,300 square miles. Though mountainous, its soil is naturally fertile, the valleys producing olive oil, wine, oranges, &c., while the hill-sides are covered with magnificent forests, in which numbers of wolves, wild boars, and other animals are found. The inhabitants number over 309,000, who are nearly all Greeks. The chief towns are CANDIA, the capital, RETIMA, and CANEA. Suda Biy, near Canea, is a

naval station.

The long-standing enmity between the Christians and Mohammedans, and the oppressive rule of the Turks, led to an outbreak of the former in 1896, and the Powers intervening, they compelled the Sultan to grant autonomous government to the island. So little progress, however, was made with the promised reforms, that in 1897 another outbreak took place, with the avowed object of driving the Turks from Crete; and Greece, landing troops for the assistance of the Christians, involved herself, with disastrous results, in war with Turkey. Finally, after Germany and Austria had retired from the "Concert," the remaining Powers, towards the end of 1898, compelled the Turks to evacuate the island, and installed Prince George of Greece to act as High Commissioner on their behalf. He was succeeded, in 1906, by M Zaimis, the former Prime Minister of Greece.

Off the south coast of Roumelia is the island of Thaso, or Thasos, 85 square miles in area. The other Turkish islands of the Egean Sea belong geographically to, and are described under, Asiatic Turkey.

MOUNTAINS: The country generally is mountainous, though there are some level districts of large extent. Of the mountains, the chief are the Balkan Mountains, the Dinaric Alps, and the Pindus Range.

K

The Balkan Mountains stretch across the centre of the peninsula, south of the Danube, in the direction of east and west. The average height of the main range is from 2,000 to 3,000 feet, but it attains in Yumrukchal, west of the famous Shipka Pass, an elevation of nearly 8,000 feet. From the principal chain four minor ranges are given off-one to the north, extending to the bank of the Danube at the "Iron Gate"; another south-east, between the Kara-su and the Maritza, known as the Despoto Dagh or Rhodope Mountains; a third, the Little Balkans, extending from the main range, fifty miles west of Burgas, to the neighbourhood of Constantinople; while the fourth trends westwards, rising in the lofty group of the Skhar Dagh, in Albania, the culminating point of which rises upwards of 10,000 feet above the sea, and is thus the loftiest point in the whole peninsula.

The Dinaric Alps (which are an outlying portion of the great mountain-system of the Alps) extend along the eastern shores of the Adriatic. They become united to the western extremity of the Balkan system in the group of the Skhar Dagh, already mentioned.

The Pindus Range branches off to the south from the Skhar Dagh, and extends in that direction into Greece-forming a sort of backbone to the peninsular portion of Turkey, and dividing the waters of its eastern and western seas. This range, between Albania and Thessaly, is 9,000 feet high, but the famous Mount Olympus (the classic seat of the gods of Greek mythology), near the western shores of the Gulf of Salonica, rises higher, attaining an elevation of 9,700 feet. South of Mount Olympus are Mount Ossa (Kissovo), 6,400 feet, and Mount Pelion (Plessidi), 5,300 feet above the sea-level, both in Greece.

PLAINS.-Bulgaria, to the north of the Balkans, forms part of the great Plain of the Lower Danube; south of the Balkans is the Plain of Adrianople, drained by the Maritza. The Plain of Thessaly, east of the Pindus Range, is drained by the Salembria, and is almost entirely within the limits of Greece.

RIVERS: The principal rivers of the Balkan Peninsula are the Danube, flowing into the Black Sea; the Maritza, Kara-su, Struma, and Vardar, flowing into the Ægean Sea; the Kalama, flowing into the Ionian Sea; the Drin and Voyussa, flowing into the Adriatic. The Salembria and other streams belong to Greece.

The DANUBE is not only the most considerable river in this region, but also the only one that is permanently navigable, and forms for some distance its northern boundary. From Belgrade to the "Iron Gates," where it breaks through the encircling mountains, this great river forms the boundary between Servia and Hungary; thence to Silistria, it flows between Bulgaria and Roumania, and finally enters the Black Sea by three great channels-the Kilia, Sulina, and St. George's. Its chief feeders below Belgrade are the Morava, which nows through Servia; the Aluta, Sereth, and Pruth, which join it from the Roumanian side; and the Isker, and other streams which flow through Bulgaria from the Balkans on the south.

The Maritza, which rises in the Despoto Dagh, or Rhodope Mountains, and flows into the Ægean Sea, has a length of 320 miles and a basin of 17,500 square miles, and is navigable during the winter for small vessels as high as Adrianople, 106 miles from the sea.

The chief Lakes are Scutari, drained by the Boyana; Ochrida, drained by the Drin; and Janina, which has no visible outlet-all three situated in Albania, and on the western side of the Pindus Mountains, within the Adriatic and Mediterranean basins.

CLIMATE: Most parts of Turkey Proper have a warm and delightful climate-much warmer than that of England, as is the case with all the countries that border on the Mediterranean; but in Bulgaria, to the north of the Balkans, the winters are severe. The vegetable productions are exceedingly rich and varied, and the country is also rich in minerals and metals.

Evergreen foliage distinguishes the southern and south-western slopes of the Turkish provinces. The vine grows luxuriantly to the south of the Balkans, and the fig, olive, and mulberry are abundant; the orange, citron, peach, plum, and other fruit trees also thrive. Corn is grown abundantly in the provinces watered by the Danube, and in Turkey Proper. Iron-ore and other minerals abound in the hilly tracts adjoining the Balkan Mountains, but they are only worked to a limited extent.

POLITICAL DIVISIONS: By the treaty of Berlin (1878), Bulgaria and Eastern Roumelia were formed into autonomous (ie., self-governing) tributary Principalities; Bosnia and Herzegovina were handed over to Austria, to be occupied and administered for an indefinite period; Roumania, Servia, and Montenegro became independent States, and acquired additional territory.

European Turkey thus includes (1) Turkey Proper, comprising the provinces still under the direct rule of the Porte; (2) the self-governing Principality of Bulgaria, of which the province of Eastern Roumelia has formed, since 1886, an integral part, under the name of South Bulgaria; and (3) Bosnia and Herzegovina, occupied and administered by Austria as a portion of the empire.

TURKEY PROPER.

TURKEY PROPER is bounded on the north by Bulgaria, Servia, and Montenegro; on the south, by the Sea of Marmara, the Dardanelles, the Ægean Sea, and Greece; on the east, by the Black Sea and the Strait of Constantinople; and on the west, by the Adriatic and the Ionian Sea. Turkey Proper has an area of 66,500 square miles, which exceeds that of England and Wales by about 8,500 square miles.

INHABITANTS: The population of Turkey Proper is over 6 millions, 700,000 of whom are Turks, 1,900,000 Albanians, 1,200,000 Greeks, and 1,550,000 Bulgarians and Serbs.

Race and Language: There is almost as great a diversity of races in Turkey as in Austria-Hungary, and in the provinces which are still under the direct rule of the Porte we find, besides Turks, Greeks, and Albanians (who are almost equally numerous, and form about 70 per cent. of the whole population), numbers of Serbs, Bulgarians, Roumanians, Armenians, Magyars, Gipsies, Jews, and Circassians. The languages spoken are as diverse as the people, and commercial intercourse with Turkey and the adjoining Danubian countries requires almost polyglot powers of speech and of correspondence. Turkish is, of course, the official language in Turkey Proper.

Religion and Education: The Turks themselves, and some of the other peoples in Turkey, are Mohammedans, but nearly all the rest are members of the Greek Church. Besides the Greek Church, six other non-Mohammedan

creeds are recognised by the Turkish Government, and have their own ecclesiastical rule. Public education, although encouraged, has not made much progress, and the limited instruction given in the public schools and colleges (which are attached to most of the mosques, and in which the education given is free) is based on the Koran.

INDUSTRIES: Turkey is a badly governed country, and the pursuits of industry are hence at a low ebb. About three-fourths of the people are engaged in agriculture, which is carried on in a most primitive fashion.

1

Its great natural capabilities-in soil, climate, and vegetation—are for the most part neglected. In the northern districts, large numbers of oxen and sheep are reared on the rich natural pastures. In the towns, the preparation of morocco leather is pursued with considerable skill. There are works in metal upon a scale of some magnitude in the larger towns. In Albania and the other mountain districts the people are chiefly shepherds.

Nature has been prodigal towards Turkey, on whom she has bestowed both agricultural and mineral riches. Using these earth-gifts with intelligence, Turkey would figure among the richest and most productive countries; but the science of agriculture does not exist, and the varied productions of the soil are simply gathered in their routine. In many provinces considerable stretches of the most luxuriant country are given up to unprofitable pastures. Thanks to the fertility of the soil, the production exceeds the consumption, although the harvest of a single ordinary year is not equal to one-tenth of what it would be with a more intelligent cultivation. The fertility of the land in Turkey has to make up for deficient labour and the want of intelligence in agricultural work; hardly anywhere is either manure or straw used, while the agricultural implements are wretched."

COMMERCE: The amount of the foreign trade is considerable, and a large portion of it is carried on with the United Kingdom. Greeks, Armenians, and Englishmen are the chief agents in this trade. The annual value of the imports is about 22 millions sterling; that of the exporis, about 14 millions sterling.

Exports and Imports: Fruits (chiefly raisins and figs), wheat and corn, olive-oil, wine, wax, honey, raw silk and silk cocoons, sponges, attar of roses, minerals, and other natural produce-with wool, tobacco, morocco leather, and carpets (the latter worked by the women of the nomad tribes who occupy portions of Asiatic Turkey)-form the exports of Turkey. The chief imports are cotton, woollen and linen manufactures, wheat and flour, coal and iron, coffee and sugar, petroleum, &c.

millions. millions

The exports from Turkey to Great Britain amount to about 5% millions sterling; and the imports of British produce into Turkey to about 6 The imports from Asiatic to European Turkey amount to about 3 sterling a year, and the exports to 4 millions.

The chief ports are Constantinople, Salonica, Enos, and Gallipoli. The means of internal communication are defective; there are no canals or navigable rivers in Turkey Proper, few of the wretchedly-constructed roads

1. "Only a small proportion of the arable land is | under cultivation, owing principally to the want of roads and me ins of conveyance, which preclude the possibility of remunerative exportation."-The

Statesman's Year Book, 1891, p. 1011.

2. The money of account in Turkey is the piastre. Circulating value ad.; 110.7 piastres £i sterling at par value.