Online Encyclopedia

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

WEST PRUSSIA (Ger. Westpreussen)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 559 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:

WEST See also:PRUSSIA (Ger. Westpreussen) , a See also:province of Prussia, bounded on the N. by the Baltic, on the E. by See also:East Prussia, on the S. by See also:Russian See also:Poland and the province of See also:Posen, and on the W. by See also:Brandenburg and See also:Pomerania. The See also:area is 9862 sq. m. The greater See also:part is occupied by the See also:low Baltic See also:plateau, intersected by a network of streams and lakes, and rising to the Turmberg (Io86 ft.) near See also:Danzig. East of See also:Konitz is an extensive moorland, 70 M. See also:long, called the Tucheler See also:Heide. The lakes, though very numerous, are not large. The See also:Vistula, here of See also:great width, and subject to destructive floods, enters the province near See also:Thorn, and flowing See also:north in a valley which divides the plateau, enters Danzig See also:Bay by a large See also:delta, the See also:Werder. The other See also:rivers are chiefly tributaries of the Vistula, as the See also:Drewenz on its right See also:bank and the See also:Brahe on its See also:left. In See also:general See also:physical characteristics the province resembles East Prussia, but the See also:climate is less harsh and the fertility of the See also:soil greater. Arable See also:land and gardens occupy 55.6% of the area, meadows and pastures 12'9%, forests 21'7%, and the See also:rest is mostly See also:waste. The valley and delta of the Vistula are very fertile, and produce See also:good crops of See also:wheat and pasturage for horses, See also:cattle and See also:sheep. Besides cereals, the See also:chief crops are potatoes, See also:hay, See also:tobacco, See also:garden produce, See also:fruit and See also:sugar-See also:beet.

Poultry, See also:

fish and See also:timber are important See also:sources of See also:wealth. See also:Cavalry horses (especially at the See also:government See also:stud See also:farm of See also:Marienwerder) and See also:merino sheep are reared. The minerals are unimportant, except See also:amber, See also:peat and See also:clay. See also:Shipbuilding is carried on at Danzig and See also:Elbing, and in various places there are See also:iron and See also:glass See also:works, saw-See also:mills, sugar factories and distilleries. Much of the See also:trade passes through the ports of Danzig and Elbing. The See also:population in 1905 was 1,641,746, showing a mean See also:density of 166 to the sq. m. Of these 567,318 or 34.5 0/,, were Poles, a larger proportion than in any other Prussian province except Posen. They are increasing somewhat faster than the Germans, and the efforts of the colonization See also:commission have done little to promote the See also:immigration of See also:German farmers. The See also:Kashi'See also:bes (q.v.), nearly all of whom (less than 200,000) live in W. Prussia, chiefly in the west, from Putzig to Konitz, are here reckoned with the Poles. The Poles proper chiefly inhabit the centre of the province, and the See also:borders of Russian Poland. Among the Germans, who are most numerous in the north-east, Low German dialects are spoken, except in a Swabian See also:colony See also:round See also:Kulmsee.

See also:

Roman Catholics number 51.4% and Protestants 46.6% of the population, and there are 16,000 See also:Jews. The Poles are almost all Roman Catholics. The province is divided into the governmental departments of Danzig and Marienwerder. It returns twenty-two members to the Prussian See also:Lower See also:House and thirteen to the Reichstag. Danzig is the See also:capital, and the only large See also:town. West Prussia, with the exception of See also:southern Pomerania' (around Marienwerder) which belonged to Prussia, was a See also:possession of Poland from 1466 till the first See also:partition of Poland in 1772, when it was given to Prussia with the exception of Danzig and Thorn, which Poland retained till 1793. The See also:present province was formed in 18o8, but from 1824 to 1878 was See also:united with East Prussia. For its See also:history see also PRUSSIA and POLAND. See K. Lohmeyer, Geschichte von Ost- and Westpreussen (part i., 3rd ed., See also:Gotha, 1908) ; Vallentin, Westpreussen seit den ersten Jahrzehnten dieses Jahrhunderts (See also:Tubingen, 1893) ; Ambrassat, Westpreussen, ein Handbuch der Heimatkunde (Danzig, 1906).

End of Article: WEST PRUSSIA (Ger. Westpreussen)

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]
WEST POINT 		[next]
WEST SPRINGFIELD

Site © 2006 - Net Industries