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NOVGOROD

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Originally appearing in Volume V19, Page 839 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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NOVGOROD , a See also:

government of N.W. See also:Russia, bounded W. and N. by the governments of St See also:Petersburg and See also:Olonets, S.E. by See also:Vologda, Yaroslav and See also:Tver, and S.W. by See also:Pskov, stretching from S.W. to N.E. 450 M. See also:Area, 47,223 sq. m. Pop. (1906) 1,555,700. The S. is occupied by the Valdai See also:plateau, in which are the highest elevations of See also:middle Russia (600 to over r000 ft.), as well as the See also:sources of nearly all the See also:great See also:rivers of the See also:country. The plateau is deeply furrowed by valleys with abrupt slopes, and descends rapidly towards the See also:basin of See also:Lake Ilmen in the %V. (only 6o ft. above the See also:sea-level). The N.E. of the government belongs to the lacustrine region of N.W. Russia. This See also:tract is dotted over with innumerable sheets of See also:water, of which Byelo-ozero (See also:White Lake) and Vozhe are the largest of more than 3000.

Inlmense marshes, overgrown with thin forests of See also:

birch and See also:elm, occupy more than one-seventh of the entire area of the government; several of them have an area of 300 to 450 sq. m. each. They admit. of being crossed only when frozen. Six centuries ago they were even less accessible, but the slow upheaval of N.W. Russia, going on at the See also:rate of 3 or more feet per See also:century, has exercised a powerful See also:influence upon the drainage of the country. Of See also:recent years artificial drainage has been carried out on a large See also:scale. The forests still occupy 550/o of the See also:total area of the government. Geologically, Novgorod exhibits in the W. vast beds of Devonian limestones and sandstones; these are elsewhere overlaid with Carboniferous See also:limestone, See also:dolomite, sandstones and marls. The Devonian gives rise to See also:salt-springs, especially at Staraya Russa (S. of Lake Ilmen), and contains See also:iron-ores, while the more recent formation has See also:coal strata of inferior quality. The whole is covered with a thick See also:sheet of See also:boulder-See also:clay, very often arranged in ridges or eskers, the bottom See also:moraine of the N. See also:European See also:ice-sheet of the Glacial See also:period. Numerous remains of the See also:neolithic See also:Stone See also:Age are found, especially See also:round the See also:extinct lakes. The Baltic and See also:Caspian Sea basins are connected by the See also:Mariinsk, Tikhvin and Vyshniy-Volochok canals, while the See also:Alexander-von-See also:Wurttemberg See also:canal connects the tributaries of the White Sea with those of the Baltic.

The See also:

chief See also:river is the Volkhov, which flows from Lake Ilmen into Lake See also:Ladoga. Other navigable rivers are the Syas, also flowing into Lake Ladoga, and the Sheksna and the Mologa, tributaries of the See also:Volga. The Msta and the See also:Lovat are the See also:principal streams in the basin of Lake Ilmen. All boats from the Volga to St Petersburg pass through this government. The yearly See also:average temperature at Novgorod is only 40° Fahr. (14.5° in See also:January, 62.5° in See also:July). The severe See also:climate, the marshy or stony See also:soil, and the want of grazing grounds render See also:agriculture unprofitable, though it is carried on everywhere. The yield of See also:rye and other cereals is insufficient for the wants of the inhabitants. Fireclay, coal and See also:turf are extracted in commercial quantities. See also:Building, See also:smith-See also:work, fishing, See also:shipbuilding, distilleries, See also:glass and match factories, sawmills and a variety of domestic See also:industries give occupation to about 40,000 families. See also:Hunting is still profitable. But most of the inhabitants are dependent on the river-See also:boat See also:traffic; and nearly one-See also:fourth of the able-bodied See also:males are annually driven to other parts of Russia . in See also:search of work.

The Novgorod carpenters and masons have See also:

long been renowned. See also:Trade is chiefly in See also:grain and See also:timber, and in manufactures and grocery wares from St Petersburg. The fairs are numerous, and several of them (Kirilovsk monastery, Staraya Russa and Cherepovets) show considerable returns. The inhabitants are almost exclusively Great-Russians, but they are discriminated by some historians from the Great-Russians of the basin of the Oka, as showing remote See also:affinities with the Little-Russians. They belong mostly (96i%) to the Orthodox See also:Greek See also:Church, but there are many Nonconformists. There are 1o,000 Karelians and 9000 Chudes, with some See also:Jews and some Germans. Novgorod is well provided with educational institutions, and See also:primary See also:education is widely diffused in the villages. (P. A. K.; J. T.

End of Article: NOVGOROD

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