TURKEY IN EUROPE. TURKEY in Europe is bounded on the north by Austria, Servia, and Bulgaria; on the west by Montenegro and the Adriatic; on the south by Greece and the Archipelago; and on the east by the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmora, the Bosphorus, and the Black Sea. Excluding Bulgaria, Bosnia, and Herzegovina, the area is now reduced to 70,000 square miles, and the population to 5,000,000. The province of Eastern Rumelia, while remaining under the mili tary authority of the Sultan, has been granted by the Treaty of Berlin (1878) the privilege of being ruled by a Christian GovernorGeneral. Bosnia and Herzegovira are, by the same treaty, to be occupied and administered by Austria-Hungary. The southern portions of the provinces of Albania and Thessaly are to be ceded to Greece. CHIEF TOWNS.-Constantinople (700,000), founded by Constantine, 330 A.D. It is beautifully situated, and its harbour is one of the finest in the world. Adrianople (62,000), named after the Emperor Adrian, was formerly the capital. It has manufactures of silk, cotton, and wool. Salonika (ancient Thessalonica), at the head of a gulf bearing the same name, has considerable commerce. There are many interesting Roman antiquities. Gallipoli, on the Dardanelles, the chief naval station of Turkey, has manufactures of morocco leather. Philippopolis, on the Maritza, is noted for its manufactures and transit trade. Bosna-Serai, capital of Bosnia, has manufactures of jewellery, firearms, leather, and woollens. Mostar is the chief town of Herzegovina. BULGARIA BULGARIA, lying between the Danube and the Balkan Mountains, is governed by a Prince chosen by the people and approved of ly the Sultan and the Great Powers of Europe. The area is 25,000 square miles; the population, 2 millions. CHIEF TOWNS.-Tirnova, near the centre of the province, is the seat of government; Sophia (30,000), on the Iskar, is the largest town; Widdin, Rustchuk, and Silistria, on the Danube; Varna, on th Black Sea. This province, although still tributary to Turkey, is practicall independent. THE KINGDOMS OF SERVIA AND ROUMANIA AND THE PRINC )• PALITY OF MONTENEGRO, FORMERLY TURKISH PROVINCES. SERVIA. Servia lies south of the Danube and west of Roumania and Bulgaria. Area, 19,000 square miles; population, one and three-quarter millions. It is a constitutional monarchy, governed by a native prince. PRINCIPAL TOWNS.--Belgrade (26,000), the capital, at the confluence of the Save with the Danube. Semendria, on the Danube, near the mouth of the Morava. ROUMANIA. Roumania was declared independent by the Treaty of Berlin, 1878. It is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy. Religion, Greek Church. Its area is 51,000 square miles; population 5 millions. Provinces. Wallachia, Moldavia, Chief Towns. Jassy, Galatz, Ismail. CHIEF TOWNS.--Bucharest (221,000) is a flourishing town; Jassy, on a tributary of the Pruth, the chief town of Moldavia; Galatz an im portant steamboat station. The Roumanians are the descendants of Roman colonists and speak a language resembling Latin. MONTENEGRO. Montenegro (Black Mountain) is a highland country covered with forests. This principality was declared independent by the Treaty of Berlin (1878). It is governed by an hereditary prince. Area, 3,600 square miles; population, 236,000. The capital, Cettigne, is a mere village with 2,000 inhabitants. SURFACE. The surface of the country, generally speaking, is mountainous, but diversified with rich and beautiful valleys, and extensive and fertile plains. The CLIMATE is, in general, delightful, but the country is sometimes visited by the plague. The SOIL is very rich, but agriculture is despised and neglected by the Turks. MANUFACTURES.-Manufactures and commerce are in a neglected state, and chiefly in the hands of Greeks, Armenians, and Jews. RELIGION AND GOVERNMENT.-The Turks are Mohammedans. The government is despotic. In 1877 the Sultan issued a decree with the view of forming a Legislative Assembly. This law is at present in abeyance. The provinces are ruled by Pachas, who are charged with capricious and oppressive treatment of their subjects. EDUCATION.-Until lately the Turks were almost wholly uneducated. In 1869 a minister of public instruction was appointed, and a law passed providing for a school system. Government has published a number of school books. Few of the lower classes, however, send their children to school. HISTORICAL SKETCH. The Turks are of Tartar origin. About the year 800, they took possession of a part of Armenia, which was called from that circumstance Turkomania. They afterwards extended their conquests over Syria, Asia Minor, Egypt, and Europe. In 1360, they took Adrian ople, and in 1453, Constantinople, which put an end to the Roman empire in the East. The conquest of the Crimea and Morea soon followed; and in 1440, they captured Otranto in Italy. Rhodes was taken in 1522 by Soliman the Magnificent, the terror of Europe; and iu 1529, Buda. In the same year Vienna was besieged, but it was saved by the advance of Charles V. In 1683 they again attacked Vienna with an army of 200,000 men, but were repulsed with great slaughter by the Poles under Sobieski. The power of the Turks, which once threatened to enslave all Europe, has long been on the decline. Austria drove them out of Hungary in 1686; Greece secured its independence in 1830; while, as the result of the late war with Russia (1877-8), Roumania, Servia, and Montenegro have become independent. Bosnia and Herzegovina are to be " occupied and administered" by Austria, and Bulgaria has been constituted a tributary principality with a Christian government. PRINCIPAL RIVERS OF EUROPE, WITH THE CITIES ON OR NEAR THEM. Garonne-Bordeaux, Toulouse. Seine-Le Havre, Rouen, Paris, Somme-Abbeville, Amiens. Maas or Meuse-Rotterdam, Liege, Moselle Treves, Metz, Nancy Neckar- Manheim, Heidel berg. Gotha-Gottenburg. Oder-Stettin, Frankfurt, Breslau. Warta-Posen. Vistula-Danzig, Thorn, Warsaw, Pregel-Konigsberg. Neva-St. Petersburg. Ural-Orenburg. Volga-Astrakhan, Saratov. Kama-Perm. Oka-Nijni-Novgorod. Moskva--Moscow. Don-Azov. Dnieper Kherson, Kiev,] Smo- Maritza-Adrianople, Philip- Aar-Bern, Lucerne (Reuss), Po-Ferrara, Turin. Zurich (Limmat). Weser-Bremen. Elbe-Cuxhaven, Altona, Ham burg, Magdeburg, Dresden. Spree-Berlin. Moldau-Prague. Tiber-Rome. Arno-Pisa, Florence. ASIA. ASIA is the largest, the most populous, and in many respects the most interesting of the great divisions of the globe. It was here that the human race was first planted; and here occurred almost all the interesting events recorded in the Bible. Here, too, the great empires of antiquity rose and fell; and from Asia the elements of society, civilization, and learning, were spread over the other divisions of the earth. Asia is bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the south by the Indian Ocean, and on the west by Europe, the Mediterranean, Isthmus of Suez, and Red Sea. Its length, from the western extremity of Asia Minor (Cape Baba) to the eastern coast of Corea, is about 6,000 miles; and its breadth, from Cape Romania to Cape Severo or the North East Cape, is about 5,300 miles. The Continent of Asia extends from 1° 22' to 78° N.L., and from 26° E.L. to 170° W.L. Its AREA may be estimated at 16.500,000 square miles, and its "POPULATION at 800,000,000. For its great NATURAL divisions, see page 13. GENERAL DIVISIONS. Asiatic Russia, extends over the entire north of Asia. See page 350. The south of Asia, like the south of Europe, consists of three great projections or peninsulas, which comprise Arabia, India within the Ganges, or Hindostan, and India beyond the Ganges, or the IndoChinese peninsula, the most southerly portion of which forms the narrow peninsula of Malaya or Malacca. In the middle regions of Asia, to the west, are the Turkish dominions, including Asia Minor, Armenia, Syria, and the Holy Land; and to the south-west, Arabia, Persia, and Afghanistan. In the centre, are Turkestan and Chinese Tartary; and to the east, the vast and populous empire of China. Near the eastern coast is the insular empire of Japan, corresponding to the British Islands on the west coast of Europe. CHINA. The AREA of China and its dependencies may be estimated at about a fourth, and its POPULATION, at more than one-half of the whole continent of Asia. See page 12. HINDOSTAN OR BRITISH INDIA.-About three-fifths of this vast and important country is subject to the British crown-and with • Asiatic Russia now (1874) extends as far south as latitude 39°. the exception of five small settlements of the French,a and four of the Portuguese-the remaining two-fifths are under native princes, who are more or less under British influence and control. Two of these are called Independent States, namely, Nepaul, and Bootan on the north-east frontier; and the others are called Protected States. CHINESE INDIA.-Chinese India, or India beyond the Ganges, is divided into Burmah and Malacca on the west; Siam and Laos in the middle; on the east the kingdom of Anam or Cochin-China, including Tonquin and Siampa, and on the south Cambodia and French Cochin-China. The British possessions in this part of India, are stated in pages 340 and 344. TABLE OF THE PRINCIPAL COUNTRIES OF ASIA. a The portion of Hindostan possessed by the French and Portuguese may be estimated at 2,000 square miles; and the population at about 700,000. See page 342, |