PRUSSIA, a kingdom in the north of Europe, consists of two great divisions, which are unconnected with one another. The western and smaller portion, comprising Rhenish Prussia and Westphalia, is situated on both sides of the lower Rhine between 49° and 52* 15' N. lat., 6° and 9° 30' E. long. It is bounded S. by the French depart ment of Moselle, W. by Belgium and Holland, N. by Holland and Hanover, and E. by Hanover, Lippe, Waldeck, Electoral Hesse, Nassau, Hesse-Darmstadt, and the Bavarian Palatinate. The eastern and larger portion of the kingdom extends from 49' 50' to 55° 50' N. lat., 9° 50' to 22' 50' E. long. On the north-west of it lies Meck lenburg; on the west Hanover, Brunswick, and the electorate of Reese. Along the southern boundary are the duchies of Saxe, the kingdom of Saxony, and several portions of the Austrian monarchy, and along the east is Russia. The area and population of Prussia and its provinces are given in the following table :— The provinces, the 25 governments into which they are divided, and all the chief towns of Prussia are noticed in this work for the most part in separate articles.
Surface and Soil.—Rhenish Prussia is divided into two portions by the Rhine, and each of these divisions consists of an elevated table land and a low plain. The table-land on the west bank of the Rhine Is connected on its south-eastern border with the Hardt Mountains, as the northern extremity of the Vosges Is called. The Hardt Moun tains attain a general elevation, varying between 1100 and 1600 feet; their highest summit however is above 2000 feet. From this mountain region the table-land extends northward to the parallel of the towns of Bonn and Aix-la-Chapelle. Along the right bank of the Moselle is the highest part of the table-land, which appears in the shape of a range elevated on a very high base. Part of this range is called the Hochwald, and another part the Soonwald : its mean elevation is more than 2000 feet above the sea-level, while the highest summit, called the Walderbsenkopf, attains nearly 2690 feet. The larger part of the table-land lies to the north of the Moselle, and is called the Eifel, and in its northern districts the Hobe Veen. The mean eleva tion of this part is about 1600 feet, and it may be called a plain ; neither the eminences nor the depressions are great A few hills rise from 500 to 700 feet above it. [Elms] The level country which
extends from the northern border of the Eifel between the Rhine and the Maas, is nearly flat. Its fertility is considerable, and it produces rich crops of all kinds of grain.
Opposite the table•laud of the Eifel, on the rightbank of the Rhine, is a similar table-land, which extends eontbward through Nassau, where it rises along the banks of the Main and Rhine to a more elevated ridge known under the name of Taunus which, like the Hochwald and Soonwald, attains a mean elevation of 2000 feet ; and its highest summit, the Feldberg, is 2850 feet From the Taunus the table-land extends northward, and terminates on the northern bank of the river Ruhr, an affluent of the Rhine. It extends about 40 miles farther north than the table-land west of the Rhine, and, between the Lahn and Sieg rivers, is called Westerscald ; and, between the Sieg and Ruhr, Sauerland. The mean elevation of this district does not differ from that of the Eifel, being also about 1600 feet above the sea•level. But the surface Is more uneven, especially that of the Weaterwald, which contains several high summits, among which the Salzburger kopf Is 2172 feet high. Lava, trachyte, and basalt are also frequently met With In the Westerwald, but not north of the Sieg river. The soil of the whole region is poor; and it is unstilted for the production of any grain except oats, which supply the inhabitants with bread. The population is considerable, especially on the Sanerland, which is, without exception, the most manufacturing district in Germany, a circumstance owing to the abundance of iron and coals which this part of the table-land contains. Agriculture is also in an advanced state in parts of the region, especially in the valleys of the Ruhr, the Senne. and the Lippe, where it is stimulated by the presence of a large mining and manufacturing population. [ArcassEass] The Rhine separates the two table-lands just mentioned, and runs in a narrow valley which is noted for its picturesque beauties. It begins to run between the mountains at Bingen, where its surface is a little more than 200 feet above the sea-level. It leaves the moun tain region at Bonn, where it is not more than 120 feet above the sea. Between Bonn and Dtisseldorf, a distance of nearly 50 miles, the fall is only 26 feet.