LINCOLNSHIRE, a maritime county of England, and, after Yorkshire, the largest in the country, is bounded on the n. by Yorkshire, and on the e. by the North sea. Area, 1,767,962 statute acres; pop. '71, 436,599. The coast, from the Humber—which separat,es the county from Yorkshire on the n.—to the Wash, is almost uniformly low and marshy; so low, indeed, in one part—between the mouths of the Welland and the Nen —that the shore here requires the defense of an embankment from the inroads of the sea. Lincolnshire has long been divided into three districts, or " parts," as they are called—viz., the parts of Lindsey, an insular district, forming the north-eastern portion of Lincolnshire, and including the Wolds or chalk hills, which are about 47 m. in length by 6 m. in average breadth; the parts of Kesteven, in the s.w.; and the parts of Holland, in the s.e. including the greater part of the fens. Chief rivers, the Trent, the Ancholme,
the Withr;m, and the Welland. The surface is comparatively level, with the exception of the Wolds in the north-east. The soil, though very various, is on the whole very fertile. It includes tracts of grazing-ground unsurpassed in richness, and the " warp lands" (see WARPING) along the side of the Trent produce splendid crops of wheat, beans, oats, and rape without the aid of manure. No other county in England has finer breeds of oxen, horses, and sheep. Horncastle and Lincoln horse-fairs are fre quented by French, German, Russian, and London dealers for the purpose of buying superior hunters and carriage-horses. The climate, though subject to strong westerly winds, is much the same as that of the other central counties of England. Six members are returned to parliament.