WARSAW, Poland, the capital and largest city of the Republic, situated partly on a .flat, and partly on a height rising gradually? from the kft bank of the Vistula, here crossed by an iron bridge 1,660 feet long, and by a railway bridge, communicating with the suburb of Prap, 325 miles east of Berlin: It consists of the city proper and several subttrbs, enclosed for the most part along with it by a rampart and fosse, and dominated by a vast citadel erected by the Russians. In the older parts the streets are narrow, and the houses, generally of indifferent appearance, are huddled together without any order; in the newer part, and more especially in some of the suburbs, the streets are often spacious and many ranges of handsome build ings are seen. There are several large public squares, among which that of Sigismund, adorned with a bronze colossal statue of the third king of that name, is particularly- deserv ing of notice; and the vicinity is well provided with beautiful promenades. The more remark able public buildings are the Roman Catholic cathedral, the Russian cathedral, the Church of the Holy Cross, the Church of the Carmelites, the Lutheran Church, the Zamek or ancient castle of the Polish Icings, a huge pile on a height overhanging the Vistula; the palace of Casimir, occupied by the university and adorned in front with a statue of Copernicus; the Saxon palace, with fine gardens attached to it; the Krasinslcy palace, occupied partly by the superior courts of law and partly by govern ment offices; several other palaces similarly occupied; tire town-house, arsenal, mint, cus tom-house, exchange, barracics, several theatres, and the bazaar of Marieville, consisting of a large square lined with arcades. 'The principal educational establishments are the university, suppressed after the rebellion of 1830, reopened in 1864, and having 2,500 students before the outbrealc of the World War; a lyceum, techni cal, commercial, and many qther schooh.
Among the benevolent institutions are a town and a military hospital, a foundling hospital, a deaf and dumb and two lunatic asylums. The manufactures consist of metals, beer, tobacco, textiles, chemical products, fundture, artificial flowers, musical instruments, etc. There are a vast number of small industries and factories, giving .emploient to over one-third of the population. The trade is very extensive, War saw being by far the most important com mercial emporium of Russian Poland, and carrying on a large traffic both with the in terior and with Thorn and Dantzig, by means of the Vistula. Warsaw, though very ancient, did not become the capital of Poland till about the middle of the 16th century when it superseded Cracow. It has witnessed' much warfare, the suburb Praga generally being the field of ac tion. Here in 1656 the Poles were defeated by Charles Gustavus of Sweden. The chief in terest belonging to the city is connected widi the insurrection of 1794, when after the capture of Kosciusko at Maciejowice, the dispirited and disorganized remnants of the Polish army de fended the ramparts of Praga against the vic torious Russian forces under Suwaroff. On 3 Nov. 1794, the Russian general ordered an as sault, and after a fierce stru:4- le the ramparts were carried, more than 15,411 Polish soldiers being slain, drowned in the Vistual, or taken prisoners, and an almost equal number of un armed inhabitants of every age and sex bru tally massacred. In the evening a grmt fire arose, which destroyed a large part of the city. In 1807 it was the capital of. the Duchy of Warsaw, and in 1813 was acquired by Russia.
(See PoLAND). The vicinity of Warsaw was also the principal seat of The Polish War it] 18.31, and the Germans occupied it in 1915. In No vember 1918 Polish troops •occupied Warsaw which again had become the capital of an inde pendent Poland. The population of the city is about 900,000, of whom about a fourth are. Jews.