SMOLENSK, a province of European Russia, smaller than the pre-1917 province of that name. Area 57,200 sq.kilometres.
Pop. (1926) 2,258,064. It is bounded on the west by White Russia, on the north by Pskov and Tver, on the east by Moscow and Kaluga and on the south by Briansk. The Central Russian plateau occupies much of the province.
The Vazuza and Gzhat, tributaries of the Volga, have cut a deep valley opening northwards towards Rhzev, but most of the river valleys open towards the western plain. The Dnieper and its tributaries the Vop, Vyazma, Sozh and Desna, rise in the province but are not navigable here, though timber is floated on them. The Kasplya and Mezha, flowing into the Dvina, and some of their affluents, are navigable for small boats. The Ugra, flowing east wards into the Oka, also forms a channel for floating timber.
The plateau region is composed of carboniferous limestone, the western plain mainly of tertiary sands, marls and ferruginous clays, covered with boulder clay. Post-tertiary sands cover some areas, and the marshy depressions, which are a marked feature of this morainic region, and which are a source of malaria, are filled with peat-bogs. These are a potential source of wealth in view of the increasing use of peat as fuel in electricity generating stations. There are patches of forest everywhere, most dense in the north west and north, and thinning out to the south-west. The soil is of a clayey or sandy forest type, not favourable to agriculture.
The climate is somewhat modified by proximity to the western oceanic regime; average January temperature at Smolensk 13.5° F, average July temperature 67.2° F, rainfall about 20 in. per annum.
In spite of the poor soil, agriculture is the main occupation, the chief crops being rye, oats, potatoes and flax, with smaller quan tities of buckwheat, barley, hemp and makhorka tobacco. The type of farming is poor, the three field system prevailing, but of late years energetic campaigns have been carried out with a view to the introduction of a better rotation of crops, with a greater sowing of clover, lucerne and root crops. There is much
need for better drainage of the marshy soils, and beginnings have been made in some districts. The soils require heavy manuring.
Sheep, cattle, pigs and horses are bred, and the problem of their pasturage has been much eased since the 1917 revolution. Pre vious to that time the peasants had little access to the meadow and pasture lands, which were chiefly in private ownership. A dairy industry is springing up; poultry is increasingly kept and York shire breeds of pigs are being introduced with a view to developing a bacon industry in conjunction with dairying. The improvement of agricultural implements began before 1917 and is being actively carried on now.
Apart from the town of Smolensk (q.v.) there is not much fac tory industry, the chief occupations of this type being flour-mill ing, saw-milling, oil-pressing and leather works. Matches are made at Vyazma and there are textile industries at Sychevka and Yartsevo. Apart from Roslavl, which has a population of there is no large town other than Smolensk. Every variety of work dependent on the abundant timber supply is carried out amongst the peasants, including the preparation of tar and pitch, the making of wooden instruments, carriages, etc.
The province was important in early times as a link on the commercial route between Constantinople and the north. Later its position on the west made it the arena of struggles between Lithuania, Russia and Poland. The region suffered severely dur ing the French invasion of 1812, and the peasants afterwards re mained in dire poverty, partly due to the unequal distribution of pasture. Proximity to the disorders of the western front in 1914-20 added to the distress and the standard of life is poor. Many peasants seek seasonal additions to their income by migrat ing to other regions as navvies.