RUSSIA. 



the height of its grandeur, with that of Ruffia. The 

 Roman empire contained about 1,600,000 fquare miles ; or 

 exactly as much as only the European part of Ruffia. Its 

 greateft length, from the Euphrates to the weflern ocean, 

 amounted to 3000 miles, and the greateil breadth, from the 

 wall of Antoninus to the pillars of Hercules, 2000 miles ; 

 but if we take the length of the Ruffian empire, wc fhall 

 find it to be, from Riga to Anadyr(l<oio(lrog, 9684 miles, 

 and thence to the haven of Peter and Paul, in Kamtfchatka, 

 1750 more. Moreover, the pofTeffions of the Romans ex- 

 tended fomewhat fhort of 32 degrees of latitude; whereas 

 Ruffia comprifes 35^. The Ruffian empire received a frefh 

 augmentation at the treaty of peace concluded with the 

 Porte the 29th of December 1791 ; that is, the whole ter- 

 ritory of Ochakof or Otchakov on the Bogue, as far as the 

 Dnieller, which laft-mentioned river is now fettled to be the 

 boundary for ever. 



Ruffia has various frontiers: on the N. and E., omitting 

 the eftablifhment on the continent of America, it is bounded 

 by feas ; on the other fides, its limits are partly terra firma, 

 partly feas, and here and there rivers, viz. to the W. Den- 

 mark, Sweden, and the Baltic ; to the S. Courland, Poland, 

 Turkey, the Euxine and the Cafpian, Perfia, China, and 

 various tribes of almofl favage, nomadic, or uncivilized na- 

 tions. Other frontiers are fixed by treaty ; as, with Den- 

 mark, concerning Lapland and Finland, in 1602 ; with 

 China and the Mougolcs in 1727 ; with Perfia in 1732, the 

 river Terek being in fome refpefts now regarded as the line 

 of limitation ; with Poland by various treaties, finally ad- 

 jufted in 1795 ; with Sweden in 172 1 and 1743 ; with the 

 Turks by feveral treaties from 1739 to 1 79 1 ; with Cour- 

 land in 1783, which finally furrendered its independence in 

 1796. From Tchutzkaia Zemlia, northwards over Kamt- 

 fchatka, the empire borders very nearly on America ; being, 

 by the lateft obfervations, only feparated from it by a llrait 

 of the fea, called Behring's or Cook's ftraits, not more than 

 175 Englilh miles in breadth. 



With regard to climate and temperature, the Ruffian em- 

 pire has been divided into three large regions, viz. the 

 region lying above the 60th degree, and extending to the 

 78th degree of N. latitude ; that lying between 50 and 

 6o° ; and that lying to the S. of 50° and reaching to 43 . 

 The firfl is the rudell and coldeft, and contains the greater 

 part of the governments of Irkutfk, Tobolfk, and Vologda, 

 the entire governments of Archangel, Olonet/., and Vvborg, 

 with part of thofe of Perm, Novgorod, and St. Pcterf- 

 burg. The fecond region, with regard to fertility, may be 

 called temperate ; and it comprehends the governments of 

 St. Petcrfburg, Revel, Riga, Polotfk, Molulcf, Smolenfk, 

 Pfcove, Novgorod, Tver, Yarofiaf, Koftroma, Visetka, Per- 

 mia, Kolyvan, a good portion of Irkutlk and Ufa, the 

 governments of Mofcow, Vladimir, Niflinei-Novgorod, Ka- 

 zan, Kaluga, Tula, Riazan, Voronetch, Tambof, Penza, 

 Simbirlk, Kurfk, Orel, Novp-orod-Sieverfkoi, Tchernigof, 

 and the greater part of Kief, Kharkof, and Saratof. The 

 third region is the hot climate, yielding products, e.g. wine 

 and filk, which the two former do not : in this lie Taurida, 

 Ekaterinoflaf, the greater part of Caucafia, and a part 

 of Kief, Klmrkof, Voronetch, Saratof, Kolyvan, and Ir- 

 kutlk. Mr. Hermann divides the empire mure accurately 

 by its climates into four regions ; the firll is the very cold 

 region, from 6o° to 78 N. lat., including Vyborg, Oio- 

 netz, Archangel, the greater part of Irkutfk, Tobolfk, and 

 Vologda, and a part of Perm, Novgorod, and St. Petcrf- 

 burg ; the fecond being the cold region from 55 to 6o° 

 N. lat., comprehending Revel, Riga, Polotfk, Pfcove, Tver, 

 Mofcow, Yarofiaf, Vladimir, Kollroma, Vixtka, the greater 



part of Perm and Kazan, and a part of Irkutfk, Koly- 

 van, Ufa, Simbirfk, Nifhnei-Novgorod, Kaluga, and Smo- 

 lenfk : the third and moderate region extends from 50° to 

 55 N. lat. and includes Mohilef, Tchernigof, Orel, Kurfk, 

 Tula, Tambof, Penza, the greater part of Kief, Kharkof, 

 Voronetch, Riazan, Saratof, Kaluga, Simbirfk, Ufa, Ko- 

 lyvan, and a part of Irkutfk, Kazan, Nifhnei-Novgorod, 

 and Smolenfk. The fourth or hot region reaches from 43 

 to 50° N. lat. and contains Taurida, Ekateriuoflaf, the 

 greater part of Caucafia, and a part ef Kief, Kharkof, Vo- 

 ronetch, Saratof, Ufa, Kolyvan, and Irkutfk. In many 

 diftricts of the firll region there is hardly any fummer ; the 

 fpring has in general much frott, fnow, and rain ; the winter 

 is always fevere. In the fecond region the fummer is in 

 many parts fhort, and yet in molt of them fo warm ai.d the 

 days fo long, that the fruits of the earth ufually come to 

 perfect maturity, in a much fhorter fpace of time than elfe- 

 where ; the winter too, particularly in the governments of 

 Irkutfk, Tubolfk, Perm, Vixtka, &c. is for the molt part 

 very fevere. In the third region there are very extenfivc dif- 

 tricts, e.g. in the governments of Irkutfk, Kolyvan, and 

 Ufa, where the winter is alio long and cold, which is chiefly 

 owing to the lofty mountains with which they abound ; but 

 the governments in the European divifion of Ruffia, lying 

 under this meridian, moftly enjoy a fhort and tolerably tem- 

 perate winter, and a fine warm fummer. In the fourth 

 region the winter is fhort, the furr.nner warm, often hot, and 

 in many parts very dry. 



The whole Ruffian territory confifts at prefent of fifty 

 alike-organized provinces, called governments or viceroyal- 

 ties. Each government is again divided into feveral circles ; 

 and fome of the largelt are farther diltributed into diftricts. 

 In each circle is a circle-town, where the circle-adminiflra- 

 tion has its feat, and one of thefe circle-towns is at the fame 

 time the government-town, in which the governor-general 

 and the principal officers rcfide, and by which the whole go- 

 vernment is ufually denominated. Befides thefe fifty govern- 

 ments, there are two more countries, having a military civil 

 conllitution, viz. the country of the Donlkoy-Kozaks, and 

 the country of the Euxine-Kozaks. (See Cossacks.) The 

 whole number of provinces is therefore fifty-two ; and, 

 moreover, the Georgian Hates Karduelia and Kakhetty, fe- 

 veral petty dillrids in the parts of Caucafus, together with 

 the country of the Kirghis-Kozaks, are to be reckoned 

 among the countries under the protection and in the de- 

 pendance of Rullia. 



Hiflory of the Ruffian Empire. — Although no other Eu- 

 ropean empire has been fo frequently and fo well defcribed 

 in the three hill centuries by foreign travellers as the Ruffian ; 

 yet neither did any other remain fo long unknown to the ci- 

 vilized nations of our quaiter of the globe. This fait may 

 j.iftly excite our furprize, if we conlider, that fo early as 

 the thirteenth century, the adventurers and ambaffadors, who 

 either vifited for private purpofes, or were difpatched by 

 their fuperiors to the courts and territories of the Tfchingif- 

 kanidee, partly took their route through Ruffia (for in- 

 Itance, Carpin and hi; attendants: fee Voyage de Jean du 

 Plan Carpin, chap. 1. in the Recueil de Bergeron) : that in 

 the fame century the Hanfe towns cllablifhed numerous fac- 



i . and a Boorifhing commerce, both at Novgorod and 

 Plefco, and the Teutonic knights had founded a powerful 

 Hate oil the 1). rders of Ruffia : that ..oeiit the fame period 

 the Genoefe, Venetians, and other It. lian republics, occupied 



with colonies the eoalls of the Euxiuc, and the rivers that 



flow into tli.it It a, or at lead navigated them, and from thefe 



colon.es and c»ialt:. carried On an extenfivc trade with all the 

 countries far and near : that even long before this, cntcr- 



prifiiig 



