PAPAL STATES, called also &Wu of as Church, is tho name given to the dominions belonging to the Sco of Rome, of which the Pope is the monarch. This state occupies the central part of Italy stretching across tho Peninsula in an oblique direction from the Mediterranean to the Adriatic. Its greatest length, from north to south, from the mouth of the Po at Goro to Monte Circello, which is the most southern point, is about 260 miles. The breadth is very unequal For a length of about 80 miles the southern part of the Papal States between the Neapolitan territory of Abruzzo and the Mediterranean has a width of only about 50 miles. For a few miles to the north of Rieti the width is greatest, extending from the Mediter ranean to the Adriatic 130 miles; but in consequence of the projection of rii•eany eastward it grows rapidly narrower towards the north, so that in the latitude of Rimini the breadth is hardly 20 miles. Farther north the width is about 60 miles, from east to west, between the Adriatic to the frontier of Modena. The area of the States of the Church, exclusive of 451 square miles covered with water, roads, and buildings, is 15,361 square miles, and the population in 1650 numbered 3,006,771, besides about 10,000 Jews.
The northern provinces stretch from tho Tuscan Apennines to the Po and the Adriatic, the ground sloping to the north and north-east, and merging into the wideplain of Lombardy. These provinces are the four legations of Bologna, Ferrara, Ravenna, and Forli, and have a popu lation of about 950,000 inhabitants. This part of the country resembles the rest of north Italy in its climate and soil. In ancient times it was out of the limits of Italia proper, and formed part of Cisalpine Gaul; and even now the inhabitants rather resemble their Lombard neighbors than their fellow subjects, from whom they are divided by offsets of the Apennines, which approach close to the Adriatic coast in the neighbourhood of Rimini. where the Rubicon constituted the political boundary of Italy proper in the time of the Roman republic.
The eastern provinces extend from Rimini to the Trento ou the frontiers of Naples, a length of 110 miles along the coast of the Adriatic. This division is hounded to the west and south by the
central ridge of the Apennines, which separates it from the basin of the Tiber. This eastern division lies almost entirely ou the eastern slope of the Apennines, the numerous offsets of which run in parallel ridges in a north-east direction from the central chain to the Adriatic coast, forming many transverse valleys watered by etreama or torrents which have a abort but rapid course. The distance from the central ridge or watershed to the Adriatic varies from 30 to 40 miles. The country is fertile and healthy, and is inhabited by an industrious and lively race of people. It is generally designated by the name of the Marches, but is divided into the provinces of Pesaro e Urbino, Aucoua, Macerate, Camerino, Fermo, and Ascoli.
The southern division and the largest in extent, though not so densely peopled as the other two, is the most important, because it contains the metropolis, and includes the classical land of Latium and the other provinces which formed the early territory of ancient Rome. It extends south of the central ridge of the Apennines as far as the coast of the Mediterranean, being bounded ou the west by Tuscany and by the kingdom of Naples ou the east. This fine region comprises the ancient territories of Umbria, the Sabini, old Latium, sod the western part of Etruria, and is now divided into the admiuistrative provinces of Perugia, Spoleto, Rieti, Orvieto, Viterbo, Velletri, Frosinone, Civita Vecchia, and Rome. This extensive country is divided, with respect to its climate and productions, into two parts— the high lands and the valleys of the Apennines, the valley of the upper Tiber, which are well cultivated and generally healthy ; and the low lands of the Campagna and some other spots around the lakes of Perugia, Bolsena, and Bracciano, which are unwholesome an 1 thinly inhabited. [Caltraoira DI ROMA.] There are few regions in Italy finer than the broad valley of Foligno and Spoleto, the valley of Mimi, the elevated plain of Rieti, and the rich territory around Perugia.