SUABIA (Schwaben, the country of the &Levi), one of the ten circles into which Germany was divided previous to 1806, comprehended the south-western part of Germany, one of the most beautiful and fertile tracts of the whole empire, traversed by the Danube from the south-west to the northeast, and covered by the mountainous region of the Schwarzwald, or Black Forest, on the west, and by the Alps in the interior and on the south. It was situated between France, Bavaria, Switzerland, Franconia, and the circle of the Rhine, and had an area of 13,000 square miles, with 2,200,000 inhabitants. Its chief natural productions are corn, wine, and fruit, and in the mountainous parts mineral'', and timber, which is floated down the Neckar and the labia° to Holland. Christianity was Introduced at the beginning of the 7th century by the Irish monk Columba. In the year 1080 Henry IV. gave the duchy of Swabia to Frederick of Hohenstauffen, the ancestor of the emperors of the house of Suable. Under his sue
°eeers the Suabisos were the richest, the most civilised, and the most respected of all the nations of Germany. But when the Italian wars and the contest with the Guelphs had broken the power of the house of llobsostanffen, and It became extinct on the execution of Conrad in 1268, their vassals, cities, prelates, and counts made themselves Independent, The country is now divided between Wiirtemberg, Bavaria, and Baden. The largsst cities are Augsburg, Stuttgart, and Ulm. The Bavarian portion forms the circle of Swabia, which was formerly called Upper Danube. It has an area of 3675 square miles, and a population of 565,783. The chief town is Atinsnuno, which is connected by railway and electro-telegraphie wires with all the principal towns of Germany.