the Pope) is on the right bank. This latter, which is distinguished as the "Leonine City," is reserved for the purposes of the Papal Court. The area included within modern Rome is marked by the walls of the ancient city, which are still standing, but great portions of the enclosed space are a mere wilderness of ruins. The Coliseum, which is beyond the populated portion of the city, is the most imposing among the many magnificent works of ancient art which belong to Rome, and which annually attract enormous numbers of visitors from all parts of the world. Rome is joined by rail to Naples and Brindisi on the south, and to Florence, Genoa, &c., on the north. Civita Vecchia, forty miles to the north-west of Rome, serves as the port of that city. FLORENCE (Firenze), the capital of Tuscany, was for some time (1864-70) the political, as it has always been the intellectual, capital of Italy. Florence, "The Beautiful," perhaps the most enchanting of Italian cities, is situated, among the most charming scenery, on the banks of the River Arno, and is famous for its rich collections of works of art, and as the birthplace or residence of many great men, among them Dante, Michael Angelo, Amerigo Vespucci, Galileo, and Savonarola. It is also a great industrial centre, and is in direct communication by rail with all the chief cities of Northern and Peninsular Italy. Silk, jewellery and works of art are the chief industrial products of the modern Florentines. Leghorn (Livorno), on the coast of Tuscany, is the port of Florence, and one of the chief seats of Italian commerce in corn, wine, olive-oil, and straw plait. Pisa, on the River Arno a few miles above its mouth, where Galileo, the famous astronomer, was born in 1564, has a great name in mediæval history, and is famed for its leaning tower, 170 feet high, and 13 feet off the perpendicular. Ancona is a military station and trading centre on the Adriatic. Near Carrara are the famous marble quarries, whence the finest statuary marble in the world is obtained. The little Republic of San Marino is on the northern border of the Marches. The province of UMBRIA, lying between Tuscany and the Marches, is an inland region. Perugia, its chief city, is near the right bank of the Tiber, within the upper portion of that river's course. SOUTHERN ITALY includes the Campania, Abruzzi and Molise, Apulia, Basilicata, and Calabria. The Campania includes the district between the Apennines and the western coast: the Abruzzi and Molise division lies between the "back-bone of Italy" and the Adriatic coast. Apulia includes the extreme south-eastern extension of the peninsula, and Calabria, the south-western "limb." Basilicata lies between these two divisions. The chief towns of Southern Italy are: NAPLES (564), SALERNO (43), and GAETA (18), in the Campania; AQUILA and CHIETI, in the Abruzzi and Molise ; 1. From Leo X., who filled the Papal throne in the early part of the 16th century, and by whom the completion of St. Peter's and other public | Campania works was accomplished. Pop. Density in 1906. Abruzzi and Molise Area sq. m. 6,289 6.380 est. 1906, 3.239 too 515 232 282 2. The area and population of the 5 Divisions of Calabria Southern Italy are as follows:Basilicata 3,470,200 FOGGIA (53), BARI (80), BRINDISI, and TARANTO (25), in Apulia; REGGIO (44), COSENZA (21), and CATANZARA (32), in Calabria; and POTENZA (19), in Basilicata. NAPLES (Napoli), the capital of the former Kingdom of Naples and the Two Sicilies, is by far the largest and most densely-peopled city in Italy. It is charmingly situated on the shore of the beautiful Bay of Naples, only a few miles distant from the foot of Mount Vesuvius. The disinterred cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii, buried eighteen centuries ago (A.D. 79), under the ashes ejected from Mount Vesuvius, are at the foot of the mountain, beside the shore of the bay. Naples, the chief naval and military station of Italy, is also an important trading centre, and has some manufactures. Naples is the most picturesque of all Italian cities, and a native proverb says, See Naples, and then die." Few of the other cities of South Italy are of any considerable size. Among the more noteworthy are Foggia, Bari, Salerno, Gaeta, Capua, Tarento (the ancient Tarentum), and Brindisi (the ancient Brundusium). Gaeta and Salerno are on the Mediterranean coast; Bari and Brindisi, on the Adriatic shore; and Taranto, at the head of the gulf called by its name. Foggia and Capua are inland. GAETA is a strongly fortified port on the Gulf of Gaeta. BRINDISI was a great naval station in Greek and Roman times; and as the European terminus of the “ Overland Route" to India, and the port of call for the ocean steamers of the Peninsular and Oriental Steamship Company, is rapidly regaining some of its ancient importance. REGGIO, in Calabria, is built on the slopes of the famous rock of Scylla, and exports enormous quantities of the fruit-oranges, figs, pomegranates, &c.-grown in the neighbourhood. Ferry steamers also ply to MESSINA, on the Sicilian side of the narrow strait so much dreaded by the ancients, on account of the rock of Scylla, and the whirlpool or eddy of Charybdis. INSULAR ITALY1 includes the islands of Sicily and Sardinia. Sicily is, in parts, as fertile and densely-peopled as the northern plains, but Sardinia is neither as populous nor as advanced as the other provinces of Italy. The chief towns of Insular Italy are PALERMO (311), MESSINA (150) CATANIA (150), MARSALA (40), TRAPANI (62), CALTANISETTA (45), and SYRACUSE (32), in Sicily; and CAGLIARI (54), and SASSARI (38), in Sardinia. The largest towns in Sicily are Palermo and Messina. PALERMO, the largest city, is on the north coast of the island. It is a beautiful town, and exports much wine, corn, and fruit. Messina is at its eastern extremity, beside the strait which bears its name, across which ferry steamers run regularly to Reggio, the terminus of the peninsular railway-system of Italy. As a seaport, Messina ranks next to Genoa, Naples, and Leghorn, Southern fruits, oliveoil, and sulphur are its chief exports. Of the other towns of Sicily, Catania lies at the foot of Mount Etna, on the east coast; Syracuse (the ancient Syracuse) is on the same coast, to the southward; Marsala (famous for its wines) and Trapani are seaports at the western extremity of the island; Girgenti (the ancient Agrigentum) is near the south CAGLIARI, the chief city of Sardinia, lies at the head of a bay near the southern extremity of the island. Sassari, a thriving town in the north-west, has nearly the same number of inhabitants. Both Cagliari and Sassari are university towns. A railway now runs from Cagliari, through Oristano and Sassari to Porto Torres, the port of Sassari, on the north-west coast, with a branch line to Terranova, on the north-east coast. The Colonies and Dependencies of Italy are all on the eastern side of Africa. They include Massowah and Assab Bay and the adjoining coast territory on the Red Sea, which together form the province of Eritrea; the Sultanate of Obbia, on the Somali Coast, and the rest of this coast to the mouth of the Jub River. Abyssinia and Shoa were included in the Italian "sphere of influence," but after the crushing defeat of the Italians at Adowa in 1896, the absolute independence of Abyssinia was recognized. Near the Adriatic coast, between Emilia and the Marches, is one of the oldest States in Europe-the independent Republic of San Marino. The area of this little State, which was founded in the 5th century, and has never since lost its independence and still maintains an “ 'army" of its own, is only 38 square miles, and the population about 11,000. The village of San Marino is built on the upper slope of a high rocky hill called Mount Titan. The Republic is governed by a Council of 60 members-20 nobles, 20 townsmen, and 20 peasants-and, in 1897, signed a Treaty of friendship with Italy. MALTA. THE MALTESE ISLANDS-Malta, Gozo, and Comino-lie in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and the north coast of Africa. Malta is 17 miles in length, with an area of 95 square miles; Gozo has an area of 20, and Comino about 2 square miles. Total area, 117 square miles. With a population of 205,000, Malta is probably the most densely-peopled place in the world, there being on an average no less than 1,752 persons to the square mile, or three times the density in England and Wales. The interior of Malta is mountainous; there is neither river nor rivulet; naturally barren, by dint of persistent labour a soil has been formed, capable of producing cotton, cereals, and all the ordinary sub-tropical plants and vegetables. The land is highly cultivated, and 50,000 acres are actually under crops, out of a total of 75,000 acres. The water supply is derived from springs 1. "The place owes its origin to St. Marinas, whe St. Marinas imparted to them his principles of In the gth century settled there. Numbers of evangelical liberty and equality. Little by little people taking up their abode round his hermitage, the society grew, until at last it became a State." the rainfall only averaging 17 to 20 inches a year. The climate is hot, but, when the necessary sanitary improvements have been made, Malta will be the healthiest spot in the Mediterranean as a winter resort. Four-fifths of the nopulation are Maltese-a mixed race of Arabs and Italians-a most industrious and frugal people and excellent seamen. The language of the people is an Arabian patois, and only one in seven speak Italian. VALLETTA (65), the capital of Malta, has one of the finest harbours in the world, and is strongly fortified. It has an extensive arsenal and dockyard, and is the headquarters of the British Mediterranean Fleet. Valletta is built on a long ridge on the eastern coast of Malta, with a harbour on either side-Quarantine Harbour on the north, and Valletta Harbour, or the Grand Port, on the south. The arsenal and dockyard are in the suburb of Vittoriosa, on the opposite side of the Grand Port. Great forts defend the seaward approaches; and, on the land side, both Valletta and Vittoriosa are enclosed by strong fortifications, so that this important strategical position is practically impregnable. Malta is of vast importance in a commercial, as well as a military point of view, for it not only serves as a depôt for collecting and distributing goods, but also as a coaling station, and as a rendezvous for refitting our fleet in the Mediterranean. In fact, the possession of Gibraltar at the entrance to this great inland sea, of Malta in the Central Mediterranean, and of Cyprus in the Levant, virtually converts the Mediterranean into an English lake, and secures the Suez Canal Route to India. The trade of Malta is mainly a transit one, the actual imports, in 1906, amounting to £1,284,000, and the actual exports to £125,500; while the imports, in transit, amounted in the same year to £8,388,500, and the exports, in transit, to £7,156,850. The exportable produce of the islands consists of cotton, potatoes, oranges, figs, honey, and corn; and there are manufactures of cotton, filigree, and matches. A railway connects Valletta with CITTA VECCHIA, a beautiful town, formerly the capital, in the interior. West of Valletta is the PORTO DE SAN PAOLO, where it is supposed St. Paul was shipwrecked. The government of Malta is to some extent representative, the Governor being assisted by a Council of Government of 20 members, 14 of whom are elected, and an Executive Counci. The annual Revenue and Expenditure each amount to about half-a-million sterling. In religion, the Maltese are Roman Catholics. Italian is the official language of the Law Courts, but in 1906, 94 per cent. of the parents decided in favour of English becoming the language used in school. Malta was first colonized by the Phoenicians and was afterwards held by the Greeks, Carthaginians, and Romans. In the 9th century it pa sed into the hands of the Saracens, and at a later period belonged to Spain. In 1530, Carles V. of Spain granted Malta to the Knights of St. John, who held it until 1798, when they capitulated to Napoleon. Two years later, the French were forced to surrender the island to the English, and the cession was formally confirmed by the Treaty of Paris in 1814. SPAIN. SPAIN is an extensive country in the south-west of Europe. It includes the greater part of the peninsula which lies between the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Bay of Biscay. The western and smaller portion of this peninsula forms the Kingdom of Portugal. Spain is bounded on the north by France and the Bay of Biscay; on the west, by the Atlantic Ocean and the Kingdom of Portugal; on the south-wesi, by the Atlantic; on the south and east, by the Mediterranean Sea. EXTENT: In point of size, Spain is more than three times larger than England and Wales, and nearly as large as France-its area being 190,040 square miles, or, including the Canary and the Balearic Islands, and the "Presidios" in North Africa, 194,770 square miles. A straight line from Cape Tarifa, on the south, to the mouth of the River Bidassoa, on the French frontier, measures 550 miles. The distance between the extreme westerly point, Cape Finisterre, and the most easterly, Cape Creuse, is 640 miles. COASTS: The coast-line of Spain is much less varied than the coasts of Italy or Greece, and the Spanish Peninsula has a more solid shape than belongs to either of those countries. The external contour of the land is less indented, and its central parts are, consequently, further removed from the sea than is the case in either the Italian or the Grecian peninsulas. The coast-line of Spain is 1,317 miles in length, of which 605 miles are formed by the Atlantic and 712 miles by the Mediterranean. The principal capes are:-Capes Ortegal and Finisterre, both on the northwest coast of Spain, on the side of the Atlantic; Cape Tarifa, on the northern side of the Strait of Gibraltar, the most southwardly point of the European continent; Cape Trafalgar, a short distance to the north-west of Cape Tarifa, on the Atlantic coast; Europa Point, the extreme southern point of the Rock of Gibraltar, and Cape Creuse, on the Mediterranean coast, at the eastern extremity of the Pyrenees. ISLANDS: The Balearic Islands, in the Mediterranean, and the Canaries, in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Africa, belong to Spain. Both the Balearic and the Canary Isles are politically considered part of the home country, and form two of the provinces into which the kingdom is divided. The Balearic Islands are five in number, namely, Majorca, Minorca, Iviza, Formentera, and Cabrera. Population, 312,000. Majorca has an area of 1,360 square miles, and Minorca, 260 square miles. The former is hilly, but the latter is, for the most part, level. All the islands are generally fertile, and 1. Finisterre. Lat. finis, the end, and terra, | the rock, hence its name. land. C, our Land's End 2 Gibraltar. Febel Tarik. Tarik's mountain. Tarik, one of the Moorish chiefs, built a fortress on 3. Balearic, Gr. balleo, I throw; the natives were formerly famous for their skill in "slinging." 4. Canaries, dog islands, Lat, canis, a dog. |