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Terri

BAVARIA, KINGDOM OF.

The territorial subdivisions of Bavaria, and the population, in 1843, were as follow:

Provinces or Circles.

Isar, 31 districts......
Lower Danube, 23 districts
Regen, 27 districts..
Upper Danube, 46 districts
Rezat, 42 districts
Upper Main, 44 districts
Lower Main, 51 districts...
Rheinkreis

Square
Miles.

Population.

6050

694,344

3279

535,499

3618

463,187

3850

548,956

3153

518,478

3406

496,783

3507 587,887

2137 595,193

29000 4,440,327

BAVARIA, KINGDOM OF. BAVARIA, KINGDOM OF, derives its origin from one of the most ancient duchies in modern Europe. The name appears to come from the Boii or Boioarii, its early inhabitants, and the appellation is retained in the modern German name of Baiern. It is composed of the greater part of the former circles of Bavaria and Franconia, of certain districts of Swabia, the principalities of Ansbach and Bairenth, the bishoprics of Bamberg, Würzburg, Augsburg, Eichstädt, and Freisingen, and some parts of those of Mainz, Fulda, and Speier (Spires). Above seven-eighths of the territories which now compose it lie in the south of Germany, east of the Rhine, and form a compact state, commonly designated the tory of the Danube and Main,' which extends from 47° 19' to 50° 41′ N. lat., and from 8° 51′| to 13° 44′ E. long. Its circuit, taken in straight lines, is estimated at nearly 1130 miles, but fol- Physical Description.—The highlands of Bavalowed out in all its curvatures, at upwards of ria are offsets from two great masses, the Alps and 1530. This portion of the Bavarian dominions, the Sudete-Hercynian chain. To the former bein which seven out of the eight provinces are longs that portion of the Noric Alps which stretches comprised, is bounded on the south by the Tyrol, along the south-east of the circle of the Isar, and south-east by Austria, north-east by Bohemia and throws out its arms into that province; the ArlSaxony, north and north-west by the principalities berg mountains, which enter the circle of the of Reuss, the states of ducal Saxony, and the do- Upper Danube from the Tyrol, and subside in minions of Electoral Hesse, Hesse-Darmstadt, and this province; the Allgau-Alps, which commence Baden, until its borders reach the Tauber at Mer- near Kempten, in the south of the same province, gentheim, whence the whole boundary to its south- and extending north-eastward, terminate near western point on Lake Constanz is formed by the Mindelheim. The highlands on the north side of kingdom of Würtemberg. The other portion of the Danube, beginning at the northern part of the the Bavarian dominions, the Territory of the kingdom, contain the Spessart mountains, a finely Rhine,' which is situated on the west bank of that wooded chain, separated from the Odenwald by river, and is completely disjoined from the pre- the Main. The Steigerwald, a forest range of inceding by the interposition of the Baden and Hesse-Darmstadt possessions, extends from 48° 57 to 49° 50' N. lat., and from 7° 6' to 8° 31' E. long. The French departments of the Lower Rhine and Moselle bound it on the south, and the Rhine separates it from the grand duchy of Baden on the east; on the north-west it is bounded by Hesse-Darmstadt; on the north-west and west by the Prussian province of the Lower Rhine, HesseHomburg, and Saxe-Coburg.

The entire area of Bavaria is 29,000 English square miles, of which there are about 13,000 of arable land, 6,250 of pasture land, 578 of vineyards, 8,500 of woods and forests, and 672 of lakes and rivers.

VOL. III.

ferior altitude, extends south of the Main, along the borders of the circles of the Lower and Upper Main and the Rezat, and affords a picturesque alternation of woods and fruitful valleys. The Rhöngebirge, a bleak and desolate chain of mountains, with flattened summits covered almost half the year with snow, lie in the circle of the Lower Main, to the north of the river Main. They are attached on the east to the Fichtelgebirge, and on the west border on the Spessart; they attain their highest elevation in the Kreuzberg, which is 4162 feet above the level of the sea. The Fichtelge birge, which is connected with the Bohemian forest chain, lies in the north-eastern circle of the Upper Main. Of the Thüringerwald, or forest of

B

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