TWER, a government of Great Russia, is situated between 56° and 58' 47' N. lat., 31' 46' and 38' 20' E. long. It Is bounded N. by Novogorod, E. by Yaroslav and \Vladimir, S. by Moscow and Smolcosk, and W. by Pakow. The area is 25,886 square miles; the population in 1846 amounted to 1,327,700. This government, especially the northern part, is an elevated tableland; there are no mountains, the Wolkonsky Forest, which covers the greater part of the circle of Ostuschkow, Is but a range of hills, in which however many rivers have their source, among which is the Volga. This chain rests on limestone, and consiate almost entirely of an impenetrable forest, in which there arc extensive morasses ; some offsets extend into the neigh bouring country, which are scarcely more elevated than the banks of the river. Besides the Volga, which becomes navigable before It passes into the government of Yaroslav, there are numerous rivers, the chief of which are the Dwina, the Wasugs, the Twerza, the Sestra, the Sachs, and the Mologa. The canal of 1Wyschnel-Wolotschok unites the Volga and the Neva. There are many lakes; the meet considerable is the Seliger, which covers an area of 76 sqnare miles. The climate Is healthy, but variable. The rivers generally freeze by the beginning of December and thaw towards the end of March. Agriculture and cattle breeding are the general occupations of the Inhabitants. The soil is poor, and the produce is scarcely more than sufficient for the home con sumption. Rye, barley, and oath are cultivated, but little wheat. Much flax and hemp are grown. Fruit is scarce. Timber is very fins and abundant. Beare, wolves, foxes, badgers, and martens are numerous;
fish are very plentiful. The population consists almost wholly of Rus sians. Except in the towns there are no manufactures. Many hands are employe in the country In the sawing-mills, brick-kilne, and in land and water carriage. The transit trade between the southern provinces and the Baltic ports and St. Petersburg is important.
The chief town, Twer, is situated in 56' 52' N. lat., 35' 48' E. long., on the right bank of the Volga, which is here joined by the Twerza and the Tmaka: population 24,000. Twer is surrounded with *Header, which are closed by barriers, and consists of three parts : the fortress lying between the Volga and the Tmaka, which is surrounded with a rampart; the city, which is divided by the rivers into four parts, united by three bridges ; and the suburb. After a great fire in 1763, the empress Catherine II. caused it to be rebuilt in its present regular form. There are in tho city a cathedral, 28 churches, 2 convents, a bazaar (which contains 400 shops), a palace, a theatre, a foundling asylum, an hospital, and various establishments for education, among which are a gymnasium, a school for 120 young noblemen, and an ecele siastiml seminary for 700 students, who are instructed in the sciences and the classics. The inhabitants manufacture linen, leather, hard ware, and candles, and carry on an extensive trade.
Among the other towns are—Nschew-lirladimir, population 10,000; Torschok, 15,000; Wischnei-Wolaschok, 6500; Ostaschkow, 6500; and Kaschin, 4000.