Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

VILNA, or WILN0

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 88 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

VILNA, or WILN0 , a Lithuanian See also:government of See also:West See also:Russia, having the See also:Polish government of See also:Suwalki on the W., See also:Kovno and See also:Vitebsk on the N., and See also:Minsk and See also:Grodno on the E. and S. See also:Area, 16,176 sq. m.; pop. (1906 estimate) 1,806,300. Vilna lies on the broad marshy swelling, dotted with lakes, which separates See also:Poland from the See also:province of See also:East See also:Prussia and stretches E.N.E. towards the Valdai See also:Plateau. Its highest parts are a little more than loon ft, above See also:sea-level. On its western and eastern boundaries it is deeply trenched by the valleys of the Niemen and the S. See also:Dvina. It is chiefly built up of See also:Lower See also:Tertiary deposits, but in the See also:north Devonian sandstones appear on the See also:surface. The Tertiary deposits consist of See also:Eocene See also:clay, slates, sandstones, limestones and See also:chalk, with See also:gypsum, and are partly of marine and partly of terrene origin. The whole is overlain with thick layers of Glacial See also:boulder clay and See also:post-Glacial deposits, containing remains of the See also:mammoth and other See also:extinct mammals. Interesting discoveries of See also:Neolithic implements, especially of polished See also:stone, and of implements belonging to the See also:Bronze See also:Age and the See also:early years of the See also:Christian See also:epoch, have been made. Numerous lakes and marshes, partly covered with forests, and scarcely passable except when frozen, as well as wet meadow-See also:land, occupy a large area in the centre of the government.

The Niemen, which flows along the See also:

southern and western See also:borders for more than 200 m., is the See also:chief artery of See also:trade, and its importance in this respect is enhanced by its tributary the Viliya, which flows west for more than 200 m. through the central parts of Vilna, receiving many affluents on its -course. Among the tributaries of the Niemen is the See also:Berezina, which acquired renown during See also:Napoleon's See also:retreat in 1812; it flows in a marshy valley in the See also:south-east. The S. Dvina for 5o in. of its course separates Vilna from Vitebsk. The See also:climate of the government is only slightly tempered by its proximity to the Baltic Sea (See also:January, 210.8; See also:July, 64°.5); the See also:average temperature at the See also:town of Vilna is only 430.5. But in See also:winter the thermometer descends very See also:low, a minimum of -3o° F. having been observed. The See also:flora and See also:fauna are inter-mediate between those of Poland and See also:middle Russia. The government is divided into seven districts, the chief towns of which are Vilna, Vileiki, See also:Diana, Lida, Oshmyany, Zventsyany and Troki.

End of Article: VILNA, or WILN0

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
VILLON, FRANCOIS (1431-c. 1463) 		[next]
VILNA, or WILNO

Site © 2006 - Net Industries