BAVARIA (German, Bayern; French, Ba viere), a Icingdom in the south of Germany, the second largest state of the empire, composed of two isolated portions, the larger comprising about twelve-thirteenths of the monarchy, bounded on the east by Bohemia and Upper Austria; on the south by Salzburg and the Tyrol; on the west by Wiirtemberg, Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt and Hesse-Nassau; and on the north by Hesse-Nassau, Weimar, Meinin gen, Reuss, Coburg-Gotha and the kingdom of Saxony. It lies behveen lat. 47° 16' and 50° 34' N., and long. 8° 59' and 13° 50' E The smaller portion, the Pfalz or Palatinate, lies west of the Rhine, whch forms its eastern boundary, and is separated from the main body by Wiirtemberg, Baden and Hesse-Darmstadt It is included between lat. 48° 57' and 49° 50' N., and long. 7° 4' and 8° 31' E.; and is bounded south by Alsace-Lorraine, west by the Prussian Phine province, and north by Hesse-Darmstadt and the Pnrssian Rhine prov ince. Bavaria is estimated to contain an area of 30,346 English square miles, and is divided into eight circles (Kreise), which were formed3r named after the nvers that watered them; but an edict of 29 Nov. 1837 gave the drcles nevx names and new boundaries. The following table shows their names, areas and popula tions: The capital is Munich (q.v.), and the other principal cities are Nuremberg, Augsburg, Wurzburg and Regensburg or Ratisbon (qq.v.).
Mountains.— Bavaria is a hilly rather than a mountainous country. A large portion, more especially south of the Danube, is a plateau country of considerable elevation, and, indeed, the whole of the main portion of the kingdom may be described as an upland valley, averag ing about 1,600 feet above the sea-level, inter sected by numerous large streams and ridges of low hills. On all sides it is surrounded by hills of a greater or less altitude, either quite upon the frontier or only at small distances from it. The whole southern frontier is formed by a branch of the Noric Alps, offsets from which project far into the southern plateau of Bavaria, forming the Algauer Alps, the Bava rian Alps and the Salzburger Alps. Besides numerous peaks which these ranges contain, varying from 4,000 to 8,000 feet high, the fol lowing may be named as being above the latter number : The Zugspitze, 9,720 feet; the Watz mann, 8,900 feet; the Hochvogel, 8,460 feet; the Madder Gabel, 8,650 feet. Passing along
the valley of the Inn and across the Danube, we come to the Bohemian frontier, formed by the Bohmerwald Mountains running southeast to northwest and lowering down at the valley of the Eger. The highest peaks in this range are the Rachel, 5,102 feet, and the Arber, 5,185 feet. Crossing the Eger we meet with the Fichtelgebirge, presenting the Schneeberg, 3,455 feet high, and the Ochsenkopf 3,360 feet. West from this range, and along the frontier of the Saxon ducal territories and Hesse-Cassel, run hills of moderate elevation, under various names, Rhongebirge, etc., no peaks of which attain an elevation of more than 3,327 feet. The western mountain bound ary of the Bavarian Valley is formed north of the Main by the Spessartwald Range, and in the kingdom of Wiirtemberg by the Alb or Alp. The only noteworthy interior ranges are in the northwest the Stelgerwald; and in the northeast, running in a southwesterly direction from the Fichtelgebirge, the Franconian Jura; a low limestone range, containing numerous re markable stalactitic caves. The Pfalz or Palat inate is traversed by the northern extremity of the Vosges, the highest peak in this locality being the Konigstuhl, 2,162 feet.
The lakes of Bavaria are neither very numerous nor of very great extent, though many of them present exceedingly picturesque scenery. The larger are all situated on the upper part of the southern plateau; the smaller within the range of the Noric Alps. The most remarkable of the former are, Lake Ammer, about 10 miles long by three and three-quarters broad, 1,736 feet above the sea; Lake Wiirm or Starnberg, about 12 miles long by three broad, 1,899 feet; and Lake Chiem, seven miles long by seven and one-half broad, 1,651 feet above the sea. Of the smaller, the more re markable are Lake Tegern, about three miles long, 2,586 feet ; Lake Walchen, 2,597; KOnigs See, five miles long, 1,975 feet; and various others upward of 2,000 feet above the sea level. Most of the lakes are well supplied with fish.