COURLAND, or KURLAND (translation of Lett. K u rsem me, from K ur, Finnish tribe inhabiting the region in mediceval times ± sem me, land, OC'h. Slay. zemlya, OPruss. some, land, Gk. xalat, elm mai. on the ground, Lat. demo, honor, man). One of the Baltic prov inces of Russia, bounded by the Gulf of Riga. and the Province of Livonia on the north, Vitebsk on the east, Kovno on the south, and the Baltic Sea on the west (Map: Russia. B 3). Area, )0,535 square miles. The surface is level, broken only by isolated hills, while the coasts are very low. There are a number of lakes, and a large portion of the area is covered with forests. The climate is moderate, the annual temperature averaging 43° F. The chief occupations are agri culture, cattle-raising, and fishing. There are also a number of breweries, distilleries, and tex tile mills, but the mannfacturing industries are very little developed. The commerce, on the
other hand, is quite extensive. The seaport of Libau is the commercial centre. Courland had a population in 1897 of 672,634, over 70 per cent. of which were Letts, representing the agricultural laboring class; over S per cent. were Germans, mostly large landholders; and the rest consisted of .Jews and Russians. The Protestant Church counts over 70 per cent. of the population among its adherents. The capital is Mitatt.
Com-land came under the rule of the Teutonic Order in the thirteenth century. In the second half of the sixteenth century it became an hered itary duchy under the sovereignty of Poland. After a long internal struggle between the Rus sian and the Polish parties the duchy came under Russian influence with the appointment of Biron as Duke of Comdat] in 1737. It was formally annexed to Russia in 1795.