VLADIMIR', a governinnyt of Russia, bounded on the e. by the government of Nijni Novgorod, and on the s.w. by that of Moscow. Area, 18,796 sq.m.; pop., '70, 1,259,923. The surface is level or undulating; the soil consists chiefly of clay or sand, and is fertile only in exceptional spots. The principal rivers are the Oka and its tributaries, of which the chief is the Kliasina, a navigable stream. Of the lakes, which are numerous, but of inconsiderable size, that of Pereiaslav is remarkable for its productive fisheries, and is famous in history as being the cradle of the Russian fleet. After St. Petersburg and Moscow, the government of Vladimir is the most actively industrious iu the Russian empire. Of its manufactured goods, cotton-yarn and cloth are made to the value of 13,000,000 mulles annually; chintz and dyed goods, 12,000,000 roubles; linen, 2,000,000 roubles; glass, 1,400,000; iron and brass foundries produce goods to the value of 1,000.
000 roubles; and the manufactures of chemicals and paper are very extensive. The inhabitants are also much employed in painting images and iu knitting stockings, which are used in Russia and Siberia, and yield 1,000,000 roubles per annum. The grain. crops raised are insufficient for local consumption, and corn is imported from neighbor ing gr,vernments. Hemp is successfully grown; and besides being used in considerable quantities in local manufactures, is exported to Archangel and St. Petersburg. Forests, sr.ostly of pine, form a border round the government, but do not occur in the interior. In the 9th c., the country was inhabited by Finns; and though it was subsequently con luered and settled by the Slavonians, traces of the original inhabitants are visible in the present population.