YELIZAVETPOL. Russia, (1) government of Transcaucasia, Asiatic Russia; area 16,991 square miles; pop. 1,098,000, of whom about per cent are Azerbaijan Tartars, 30 per cent Armenians and the balance Kurds, Russians, etc. It is bounded on the north by Tiflis, Daghestan and Zakataly, east by Baku, south by Persia and west by Erivan. It be longs partly to the region of the Little Caucasus and is partly covered with steppes, in the west consisting of high mountains whereas the east is more level. The Kur River and several smaller streams are the chief waterways. Agri culture is the principal industry, the valleys being fertile and well cultivated. Wine is pro duced in considerable quantities; also cotton, the acreage in 1914-15 being 142,570 producing 23,652,500 pounds. The rearing of live stock is largely carried on in the steppes. The moun tain slopes are well wooded and there are rich deposits of minerals, especially of copper, cobalt and iron ore which are found and mined in large quantities. The Transcaucasian Railway crosses the government, which is divided into eight districts, Elizavetpol, Zanglzur, Aresh, Jebrail, Javanshir, Shusha, Kazakh and Nukha.
(2) A city of the same name is the capital of the government, located on an affluent of the Kur River about 120 miles by rail southeast of Tiflis. It is situated in a rich agricultural region and besides trading in the agricultural products and fruit, the inhabitants are exten sively engaged in the silk-worm industry. The city consists of two sections, the old and the new; the former is poorly built with crooked streets and low-roofed houses and is occupied chiefly by Mohammedans; the latter is well built and contains several handsome buildings, churches, mosques, etc., and a bazaar. Ancient
remains are found in the vicinity of the city and the old Turkish fortifications may still be seen. The city changed hands between Per sians, Arabs and Khozars as early as the .7th century, later came into the possession of the Mongols, Georgians, Persians and Turks, was taken by the Russians in 1796 and finally an nexed to Russia in 1813, receiving its name in honor of Elizabeth, daughter of Alexander I. In 1826 the Persians were defeated here. Pop. 60,500.
ELK, the name of various deer, but origi nally and properly belonging to the great, flat horned deer of northern Europe (Alces mach lis), of which the American moose is substan tially the counterpart, although regarded by naturalists as a distinct species. The European elk is now restricted to northern Russia, north ern Scandinavia and the wilder forests of east ern Prussia; but in Pleistocene times it had a far more southerly range, together with other species now extinct. The great-antlered °Irish Elk,') whose remains are found abun dantly in peat-bogs and similar places not only in Ireland but in England and on the Continent, is not a true elk (Alces), but a deer of the genus Cervus related more nearly to our wapiti, despite the palmation of its horns. See Moose.
The American deer called elk, by the igno rance or carelessness of early colonists, is the large, round-horned stag, related not to the true elk but to the red deer of Europe, and the white-tailed and other deer of this country, and would better be called, as commonly nowadays by its Indian name Wapiti. See WAPITI; DEER.