RUSSIA. 



considerably revived, though by no means so extensive 

 as is desired. 



Tin- commerce of the Black Sea, especially of O 

 it is to be hoped, will now be greatly increased. The 

 uncertainty of a rupture between Russia and Turkey, 

 and the agitation of the question, whether Odessa 

 should remain a free port or not, have done incalcul- 

 able mischief to the commerce of that town ; but as 

 t iii-s i- points seem to be nearly settled, a great and fa- 

 vourable change may perhaps be anticipated. 



POPULATION. 



In the early periods of Russian history, the popula- 

 tion of the territories of the great Dukes and Tsars 

 must have advanced very slowly, owing to the devas- 

 tations caused by domestic feuds, foreign invasions, 

 wars, want of cultivation, and consequent scarcity of 

 provisions. Its increase must also have been retarded 

 among a people dwelling amid unlimited forests, and 

 boundless deserts, from want of a regular and perma- 

 nent government, from the oppression of imposts, or 

 rather of the commissioners, from frequent fires, from 

 furious attacks of wolves, and other wild animals, and 

 from the ignorance and indolence of the inhabitants. 

 It would lead us into too minute details to enter upon 

 the various conjectural data respecting the population 

 of the empire in early periods, as nothing accurate is 

 known previous to the year 1722, when the first cen- 

 sus was taken by order of Peter the Great. Of late 

 years much attention has been given to the population of 

 the Russian empire, and we shall endeavour here to com- 

 press the most valuable part of it under a succinct view. 



The following account is taken from the appendix of 

 Lyall's pamphlet on the military colonies. 



TABLE showing the Progressive Increase qfjhe Popula- 

 tion of the Russian Empire, by Births, by Conquests, 

 and by the Introduction of Foreign Colonies. 



The births to the deaths in tome provinces are as KUMU. 

 13 to 10; 20 t <> i ."o to JO. Consequently, in ^ , ' 



the year, of 30,o<o,uon ioul, only a few more than Population. 

 600,000 die, while above 1,000,000 are born. From 

 the year 1722 to J ?!-', i. e. in 70 year*, (Geographical 

 Did Binary of the Rustian Empire, vol. v. p. lC7.) 

 ia increased her population from 14 to 35 millions. 

 It has been calculated that she doubles her population 

 in somewhat less than half a century. (Tooke's View 

 of the Rutsian Empire ;) and Mr. Stchekatof, the au- 

 thor of the celebrated Russian Dictionary, just referred 

 to, calculating that she is still destined to continue her 

 march in augmenting her population by births and by 

 the conquest of new territories, prophesies that, in 1892, 

 the population of Russia will amount to 230,000,000 

 souls. 



\Vc shall next present the reader with some tabular 

 views by Hassell, Crome, and Herrmann. The sub- 

 sequent table is translated from Hassell. 



Where there is no number under census, the state- 

 ment is taken from the works referred to below ; and 

 indeed from them this table is composed. Geographi- 

 cal Dictionary of the Russian Empire; Yablovskii'sA'cw 

 Russian Geography; Vsevolojskii's Diclionnaire Gco- 

 graphiqite-Historique de la Russie ; Crome's Allgemeine 

 Uebersicht der Slaatskriifie, 1818; Dupin in the Re- 

 vue Encyclopedique, &c. ; and Herrmann's Works, 

 spoken of in the sequel. 



The following statement of the population of Russia 

 occurs in the St. Pctersburgh Journal. 



Year. Population. 



1800 33,159,* 



1801 34,043,357 



1802 :U,893,828 



1803 35,134,177 



1804 36,043,483 



1806 41,253,483 



It will be remarked, that the old division of Asia and Europe is followed both in this and also in a table from Crome' ; a circumstance 

 which accounts for their great variation from modern authors. 



