VILNA or WILNO, a province of Poland, having the prov ince of NowogrOdck on the south, Russia on the east, Latvia on the north and Lithuania on the west. Area 10,965 sq.m., pop. (1931) 1,272,851, of whom 59.9% are Poles, many others are White Russians, the rest Lithuanians, 9% Jews and 9% other nationalities. The national struggle has always been fierce in this area, whether between Lithuanians and White Russians, or the persecution of Poles by Russians, or the present feud between Poles and Lithuanians. The district is a Polish island, in White Russian territory, which for centuries formed the centre of the great Lithuanian Ruthenian principality. The World War and its sequel, the Polish Lithuanian feud, has retarded the development of the province. It forms an extension of the Baltic uplands to wards the Valdai plateau. The north part is drained by the Disna and just touches the Dvina; the south part is drained by the Wilija.
Numerous lakes and marshes, partly covered with forests, and scarcely passable, except when frozen, occupy a great part of the province. Lakes Narocz and Dryswiaty are the largest. The cli mate is slightly tempered by the proximity of the Baltic sea, but in winter the thermometer descends as low as —3o° F. The flora and fauna are intermediate between those of Poland and central Russia. Agriculture and forestry are the main occupations of the inhabitants. The province is backward, and grows mainly rye and oats. It has a considerable export of timber.
There are few towns, the chief of them being Vilna (pop. 196,345), Oszmiana, Swienciany, Molodeczno, Wilejka, Disna and Braslaw. Near Krewo are the ruins of an old castle; at Troki, to which Gedymin moved his capital from Krewo, are the ruins of his castle, standing picturesquely over the lake.