STAVROPOL, stiv'ro-poly, Russia, in the Caucasus, (1) capital of the government of Stavropol, on the Atchla, 307 miles southwest of Astrakhan. It is the seat of a Greek Catholic bishop and is a well-built town. The schools include gymnasia for both sexes, and several town and industrial schools; there are also several libraries, and a people's palace. The manufactures comprise soap, leather and flour-mills, and there is considerable trade in hides, tallow and corn. The town was founded in 1776, and, on the commercial route between Russia and Persia, has flourished. Pop. over 60,000, (2) The government of Stavropol covers 23,398 square miles. The rainfall is scant, forests rare, the fauna and flora differ from other sections of the Caucasus, some what resembling central Asia. The inhabitants include Armenians, Greeks, Poles and Rus sians, about one-third being nomadic. On the
wide prairies agriculture is carried on, and for this purpose various machines and implements are manufactured, and the products form the exports. Interesting is the communal tillage of lands, for the reserve fund of grain. The main streams are the Kuma and tributaries, and in this section are the best lands. The Mantych is a lake-formed river, once a con necting link between the Black and Caspian seas. Near the Caspian are some unimportant salt lakes. Other small streams water the country at the west. The climate is char acterized by sudden changes. Stavropol was early colonized but unsuccessfully, until the military colonies of Cossacks (1711) were established. After the emancipation of the serfs, immigration increased rapidly, and still grows. Population 1,300,000, principally Rus sians.