TURKESTAN 



TURKESTAN 



Genoa and seventy-six miles southwest of 

 Milan (see map, opposite page 2092). In sum- 

 mer Turin is one of the most attractive places 

 in the north of Italy. On the left bank of thr 

 Po are the beautiful parks and botanical gar- 

 dens, and there are many inviting walks along 

 the stream. On a hjll overlooking the city 

 from the east rixs the great church of La 

 Superga, now the mausoleum of the House of 

 Savoy. The summit of the hill, which is 

 reached by a cable railway, affords a magnifi- 

 cent view of the city and its surroundings. 



Turin is different from most Italian munici- 

 palities because of its regularity. The long, 

 straight streets cross one another at right angles 

 and bound rectangular residence blocks and 

 handsome public squares. The principal ave- 

 nues lead from the Piazza Castello, in the 

 northeastern part of the city. North of this 

 square is the royal palace, containing the royal 

 armory; the royal park adjoins it, and near by 

 are fine public gardens. The city has numerous 

 statues and monuments; especially noteworthy 

 are those erected in honor of Cavour, Duke Vic- 

 tor Amadeus I and King Charles Albert. The . 

 educational institutions include a university 

 founded in 1405, a royal polytechnic school, 

 military schools, an observatory, a national li- 

 brary with 350,000 volumes, and museums. 



Turin is important industrially for the manu- 

 facture of steel and iron goods, textiles, rib- 

 bons, laces and velvets, porcelain and furniture, 

 and it exports large quantities of wine and silk. 

 It has developed as an important military sta- 

 tion because of the proximity of the French 

 boundary and the Alpine passes. The city 

 dates from Roman times and has been promi- 

 nent in Italian history. From 1861 to 1865 it 

 was the capital of the kingdom of Italy. Popu- 

 lation in 1915 (of city and suburbs), estimated, 

 451,994. Only Naples, Milan and Rome surpass 

 it in size among Italian cities. R.D.M. 



TURKESTAN, tur kehstahn', a vast terri- 

 tory in Central Asia, stretching from Mongolia 

 to the Caspian Sea, and from the northern 

 steppes to Tibet and India. Politically it is 

 divided into Russian, or Western, Turkestan, 

 and Chinese, or Eastern, Turkestan. 



Russian Turkestan, which has an area of 

 about 420,807 square miles, includes the terri- 

 tories of Ferghana, Samarkand, Semiryetchensk 

 and Syr-Darya. Its population was estimated 

 in 1914 to be 6,350,300. The majority of the 

 inhabitants, who are nearly all Mohammedans, 

 live in the southern part of the country, where 

 the waters of the various streams are used for 



irrigation, and good crops of wheat, rice, millet 

 and oats are raised. Other products include 

 rice, fruit and silk. No other branch of agri- 

 culture, however, is so important as the rais- 

 ing of stock, and 

 the country sup- 

 ports immense 

 herds of sheep 

 and goats, horses, 

 cattle, swine and 

 camels. Of do- 

 mestic products 

 carpets and rugs 

 are the most im- 

 portant. This re- 

 gion is. a part of 

 a Russian gov- 



LOCATION MAP 

 (a) Russian; (6) 

 The borders of Chinese Tur- 

 kestan are somewhat indefi- 

 nite. 



ernment which 

 includes also a portion of the Pamir and the 

 province of Transcaspia. The most important 

 cities are Tashkend (the seat of government), 

 Khokand, Namangan and Samarkand. T.i-h- 

 kend and Samarkand are on the Transcaspian 

 Railway, and the former city is connected by 

 rail with Orenburg, on the frontier of Russia. 

 In October, 1917, a revolt, organized by po- 

 litical agitators, broke out in Turkestan. The 

 provisional government of Russia immediately 

 adopted measures to quell the rebellion. See 

 TASHKEND; SAMARKAND. 



Chinese Turkestan, a great region of indefi- 

 nite boundaries, lying to the east and south- 

 east of the Pamir and Russian Turkestan. The 

 region as a whole, which covers an area of over 

 550,000 square miles, more than twice that of 

 Texas, is a vast, barren plateau with mountain 

 barriers on all sides. Along its northern bound- 

 ary is the long chain known as the Tian-shan 

 Mountains, and the Kuen-lun, Altyn Tag and 

 other lofty ranges shut it in on the south. On 

 the east it is penetrated by the desert of Gobi. 

 The plateau is drained by the Tarim River and 

 its tributaries, and along the base of the moun- 

 tains there are lines of fertile oases, in which 

 agriculture and stock raising are carried on. In 

 the larger towns, silk, carpets, leather goods 

 and copper ware are manufactured. Trade by 

 means of caravans is carried on extensively be- 

 tween Eastern Turkestan and China. Politi- 

 cally the region is a part of the Chinese prov- 

 ince of Sinkiang. The inhabitants, who are of 

 mixed Turkish and Aryan descent, number 

 about 2,000,000. j.s.c. 



Consult Meakin's In Russian Turkestan ; 

 Church's Chinese Turkestan with Caravan and 

 Rifle. 



