278 



GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 



Gibraltar is a Crown colony and miltary and 

 naval station at the entrance of the Mediterra- 

 nean. The Governor, Gen. Sir Robert Biddulph 

 in 1900, is commander in chief and has full execu- 

 tive and legislative power. The area is about 

 2 square miles, containing 24,093 inhabitants in 

 1898, including the garrison of 4,965 men. The 

 local revenue in 1898 was 56,019; expenditure, 

 48,878 ; military expenditure of the British Gov- 

 ernment, 256,552. 



Malta is a naval and refitting station in the 

 Mediterranean and an important port of call. 

 Owing to its malarial climate and the smallness 

 of the harbor it has been partly superseded as 

 a naval base by Gibraltar, where enormous docks 

 have been made. Lieut.-Gen. Sir Francis Wallace 

 Grenfell was Governor in 1900. The revenue in 

 1898 was 332,488; expenditure, 339,082. Cot- 

 ton, potatoes, oranges, figs, honey, and corn are 

 produced and cotton cloth, filigree, and matches 

 are manufactured. The imports jn 1898 were val- 

 ued at 10,025,131, and exports at 9,379,140; 

 but it was mainly transit trade, the imports for 

 home consumption being only 828,567. Vessels 

 entered, 3,890, of 3,563,728 tons; cleared, 3,874, of 

 3,581,993 tons. There are 8 miles of railroads, 65 

 miles of telegraphs, and 360 miles of telephones. 

 The area of the island, with Gozo and Comino, 

 is 117 square miles; population, 180,328. 



Cyprus, an island off the coast of Syria, is ad- 

 ministered by Great Britain under a convention 

 concluded with Turkey on June 4, 1878. The 

 High Commissioner, Sir William F. Haynes Smith 

 in 1900, is as-^strd by a Legislative Council com- 

 posed of 6 oflicial members, 9 members elected by 

 the Christian population, and 3 members elected 

 liv Mohammedans. The Christians, mostlv Greek 

 Orthodox, numbered 161,360 in 1891 and the Mo- 

 hammedans 47,926. The birth rate is 33.4 per 

 mille; death rate, 24. The revenue for the year 

 ending March 31, lS!t<>, was 210,284; expendi- 

 ture, 132,973. Tithes of produce paid in kind, 

 land and house taxes, taxes on trade profits, the 



military exemption tax, a tax on sheep, goats, and 

 pigs, customs, excise, stamps, fees, and the salt 

 monopoly, supply the revenue as under Turkish 

 rule. The sum of 92,000 is paid annually to 

 Turkey under the convention. The public debt 

 consists of an advance from the British treasury 

 in 1899 of 314,000 for harbors, railroads, and 

 irrigation. A grant of 33,000 was voted by Par- 

 liament in 1899 in aid of revenue. The principal 

 products are wheat, barley, olives, cottons, wine, 

 raisins, fruits, vegetables, carobs, linseed, cocoons, 

 cheese, wool, and hides. There were 62,174 horses 

 and asses, 47,242 cattle, 289,155 sheep, and 265,766 

 goats in 1898. There are valuable gypsum quarries 

 and a sponge fishery yielding 30,000 per annum 

 to sponge fishers from other countries. The value 

 of imports in 1899 was 288,258; exports, 

 343,687. 



Aden, a volcanic peninsula on the Arabian coast 

 near the Strait of Bab el Mandeb, is a strongly 

 fortified coaling station on the Suez Canal route 

 to the East. The island of Perim, at the entrance 

 of the Red Sea, and a part of the mainland opposite 

 belong to the colony, which is administered under 

 the direction of the Governor of Bombay by a 

 political Resident, who has command of the 

 troops. The area is 75 square miles, and that of 

 Perim 5 square miles: population, 41,010. Coffee 

 and tobacco, partly the produce of Arabia, and 

 gums and skins from the opposite African coast, 

 are exported. The imports by sea in 1899 were 

 38,992,999 rupees in value; by land, 1,651,236 ru- 

 pees; exports by sea, 31,638,659 rupees: by land, 

 1,651,236 rupees; precious metals, 5,191,961 rupees. 

 The number of vessels entered in 1899 was 1.395, 

 of 2,636,294 tons, not counting 1,527 dhows, of 

 47,325 tons. The local revenue, derived from 

 liquor, opium, and salt, was 388,507 in 1899; 

 expenditure, 387,960. The island of Sokotra, off 

 the coast of Africa, 1,382 square miles in extent, 

 with 12,000 inhabitants, pastoral nomads and 

 fisher folk, producing dates, gums, sheep, goats, 

 and cattle, is attached to Aden. So, also, are 

 the Kuria Muria Islands, near the coast of Arabia, 

 a cable landing, yielding only guano. 



The Bahrein Islands, in the Persian Gulf, where 

 there are valuable pearl fisheries, are a British 

 protectorate. The area is about 200 square miles, 

 the population 25,000. The imports in 1898 were 

 valued at 551,728; exports, 496,305. 



British North Borneo, a protectorate adminis- 

 tered by a chartered company, has an area of 

 31,106 square miles and about 175,000 inhabitants. 

 The protectorate has been extended over Tam- 

 bunan, about 500 square miles in extent, with 

 25,000 inhabitants. The jurisdiction of the Gov- 

 ernor, Hugh Charles Clifford in 1900, extends also 

 over the island of Labuan, which has an area of 

 50 square miles and 5,853 inhabitants. The Gov- 

 ernment has granted large tracts in North Borneo 

 on perpetual leases to planters of Sumatra tobacco, 

 coffee, cocoanut palms, Manila hemp, pepper, and 

 gambier. The revenue in 1898 was 503,307 from 

 ordinary sources and 2,214 from sales of land : 

 expenditure, 387,261. The imports were 2.8S1,- 

 851 in value; exports, 2,419,087. The value of 

 tobacco was 1,388,666. Other exports are timlicr. 

 sago, rattan, gutta-percha, gums, coffee, wax, tre- 

 pang, edible birds' nests, pepper, and gambier. 

 There is a military force of 350 native soldiers. 

 The sultanate of Brunei, 15,000 square miles in 

 extent, with 45,000 inhabitants, and the territory 

 of Sarawak, 50,000 square miles in extent, with 

 500,000 inhabitants, are under British protection. 

 The products of Sarawak are the same as in Noil li 

 Borneo. Coal is mined and exported. The total 

 value of imports in 1898 was 4,488,497; exports, 



