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PODOLIA

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Originally appearing in Volume V21, Page 875 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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PODOLIA , a See also:

government of See also:south-western See also:Russia, having See also:Volhynia on the N.; See also:Kiev and See also:Kherson on the E. and S., See also:Bessarabia on the S.W., and See also:Galicia (See also:Austria) on the W., from which it is separated by the Zbrucz, or Rodvocha, a tributary of the See also:Dniester. It has an See also:area of 16,219 sq. m., extending for 200 m. from N.W. to S.E. on the See also:left See also:bank of the Dniester. In the same direction the government is traversed by two ranges of hills separated by the See also:Bug, ramifications of the Avratynsk heights. These hills nowhere exceed an See also:elevation of 1185 ft. Two large See also:rivers, which numerous tributaries, drain the government--the Dniester, which forms its boundary with Bessarabia and is navigable throughout its length, and the Bug, which flows almost parallel to the former in a higher, sometimes swampy, valley, and is interrupted at several places by rapids. The Dniester is an important channel for See also:trade, See also:corn, See also:spirits and See also:timber being exported from See also:Mogilev, Kalus, Zhvanets, Porog and other Podolian See also:river-ports. The rapid smaller tributaries of the Dniester See also:supply numerous See also:flour-See also:mills with See also:motive See also:power. The See also:soil is almost throughout " See also:black See also:earth," and Podolia is one of the most fertile governments of Russia. Forests See also:cover nearly 15% of the See also:total area. Marshes occur only beside the Bug. The See also:climate is moderate, the See also:average temperature of the See also:year at Kamenets being 48'3° (24.5° in See also:January, 69° in See also:July). The estimated See also:population in 1906 was 3,543,700.

It consists chiefly of Little Russians, Poles (32 %), and See also:

Jews (12 %). There are besides a few Armenians, some Germans, and 50,000 Moldavians. There are many Nonconformists (18,000) among the Russians, Tulchin being the seat of their bishops and a centre of propaganda. After See also:Moscow, Podolia is the most densely inhabited government of Russia outside See also:Poland. It is divided into twelve districts, the See also:chief towns of which are Kamenets-Podolskiy, the See also:capital, See also:Balta, Bratslav, Gaisin, Letichev, Litin, Mogilev-on-Dniester, Novaya-Ushitsa, Olgopol, See also:Proskurov, Vinnitsa and Yampol. The chief occupations of the See also:people are See also:agriculture and gardening. The See also:principal crops are See also:wheat, See also:rye, oats, See also:barley, See also:maize, See also:hemp, See also:flax, potatoes, beetroot and See also:tobacco. Podolia is famous for its cherries and] mulberries, its melons, gourds and cucumbers. Nearly 67,000 gallons of See also:wine are - obtained annually. Large See also:numbers of horses, See also:cattle and See also:sheep are bred, the cattle being famous. See also:Bee-keeping is an important See also:industry. See also:Sugar factories, distilleries, flour-mills, woollen mills, tanneries, See also:potteries, tobacco factories, breweries, See also:candle and See also:soap factories, have an See also:annual output valued at £4,000,000.

An active trade is carried on with Austria, especially through the Isakovets and Gusyatin See also:

custom-houses, corn, cattle, horses, skins, See also:wool, See also:linseed and hemp See also:seed being exported, in See also:exchange for wooden wares, See also:linen, woollen stuffs, See also:cotton, See also:glass and agricultural implements. The trade with the interior is also carried on very briskly, especially at the twenty-six fairs, the chief of which are Balta and Yarmolintsy. Podolia is traversed by a railway which runs parallel to the Dniester, from See also:Lemberg to See also:Odessa, and has two See also:branch lines, to Kiev (from Zhmerinka) and to See also:Poltava (from Balta). See also:History.—The See also:country has been inhabited since the beginning of the See also:Neolithic See also:period. See also:Herodotus mentions it as the seat of the Graeco-Scythian Alazones and the Scythian See also:Neuri, who were followed by the Dacians and the See also:Getae. The See also:Romans left traces of their See also:rule in the See also:Wall of See also:Trajan, which stretches through the See also:modern districts of Kamenets, Ushitsa and Proskurov. During the See also:great migrations many nationalities passed through this territory, or settled within it for some See also:time, leaving traces in numerous archaeological remains. See also:Nestor mentions that the Bujanes and Dulebes occupied the Bug, while the Tivertsi and Ugliches, apparently all four Slav tribes, were settled on the Dniester. These peoples were conquered by the See also:Avars in the 7th See also:century. See also:Oleg, See also:prince of Kiev, extended his rule over this territory—the Ponizie, or " lowlands," which became later a See also:part of the principalities of Volhynia, Kiev and Galicia. In the 13th century the Ponizie was plundered by the See also:Mongols; a hundredyears afterwards See also:Olgierd, prince of Lithuania, freed it from their rule, annexing it to his own territories under the name of Podolia, a word which has the same meaning as Ponizie. After the See also:death (1430) of the Lithuanian prince Vitovt, Podolia was annexed to Poland, with the exception of its eastern part, the See also:province of Bratslav, which remained under Lithuania until its See also:union (1501) with Poland.

The Poles retained Podolia until the third See also:

division of their country in 1793, when it was taken by Russia. (P. A. K.; J. T.

End of Article: PODOLIA

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