BIALYSTOK, a province of Poland, bounded north by Prussia and Lithuania; east by the province of Novogrodek; south by the provinces of Lublin and Polesie, and west by the province of Warsaw. Area, 12,597 square miles. It is a uniform plain, drained by the Niemen, Bobr, Narew and Bug, all navigable rivers. Granites and gneisses crop out along the Bug, Cretaceous, and especially Tertiary deposits elsewhere. The soil is mostly sandy. Forests, principally of conifers are of great extent, e.g., those of Augustov and Grodno, and part of the vast forest of Bialowieza (376 sq.m.), embracing wide areas of marshy ground. In the last-mentioned forest the wild ox survives, having been jeal ously preserved since 1803. Large peat bogs may be as much as 4 to 71t. thick. The climate is wet and cold. Agriculture is the predominant industry. The crops principally grown are potatoes, rye, oats, wheat, flax, hemp and some tobacco. There is a manu facturing industry, especially in woollens, distilling and tobacco. The woollen industry, centred at Bialystok, ranks second (after Lodz) in the republic. Other factories produce silk fabrics. The industrial area suffered great damage during the German occupa tion 1915-18, and after reviving in 1921, declined during the financial crisis of 1924. The province is crossed by main lines of railway from Warsaw to Leningrad and from Brest to the Prus sian frontier. The population in 1931 was 1,640,374. In 1921 Poles predominated (about 77%), then came Jews (12.5%), White Russians (8.3%) and Lithuanians. The province is divided into 14 districts, the chief towns being Bialystok (q.v.), Grodno in 1921), Lom'za, Bielsk, Suwalki, Augustov and Wol kowysk. The province was divided at the partitions of Poland be tween Germany and Russia, and was reunited to Poland in 1919.