RHINE, Province of the, or RHENISH PRUSSIA (Ger. Rheinland), the westernmost province of Prussia, touching west and north, Luxemburg, Belgium and Holland; greatest length from north to south about 200 miles, greatest breadth about 90; area, 10,423 square miles. It is divided into five governments or districts, Coblenz, Treves, Cologne, Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle), and Dusseldorf. The city of Coblenz is the official capital of the province, but Cologne is the town of most importance. The southern portion of the province is hilly, being traversed by the ranges of the Eiffel, Hochwald, etc. It is watered by the Rhine, the Moselle and some affluents of the Meuse. A large proportion of the surface is in forest. Besides the usual cereal crops, tobacco, hops, flax, rape, hemp and beet-root are raised; fruit culture and the vine culture are also carefully attended to. Cattle are extensively reared. It is the most important mineral district in Ger many, abounding in coal, iron, lead, zinc, etc. The Ruhr and Saar coal districts have aided in the industrial development of the province. It
is likewise an active manufacturing district, there being numerous iron works and machine
textile factories, glass works, tanneries, chemical works, sugar re,fineries, breweries, dis tilleries, etc. Its textile industries are among the best in the world. There are over 2,900 miles of railway. A large portion of the province came within the neutral zone reserved by the conquering Allies, according to the terms of the armistice of 11 Nov. 1918. (See WAR, EUROPEAN). POp. about 7,121,140, of whom 70 per cent are Roman Catholics. Con sult Tollman, 0., (Die Eifel) (Bielsfeld 1912) ; Kfirp,
Rhein) (ib. 1901); Kollback, Karl,
Wanderbuch' (2d ed., Bonn 1897) ; Mehlis, 'Studien zur altesten Geschichte der Rheinlande' (Leipzig 1875-79) ; Schwann,