DON COSSACKS, TERRITORY OF THE (Russ. Donskaya Oblast)

This article appears in Volume V08, Page 412 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: DIO-DRO

DON COSSACKS, TERRITORY OF THE (Russ. Donskaya Oblast) , a government of S.E. Russia, bounded W. by the governments of Voronezh, Kharkov and Ekaterinoslav, S.W. by the Sea of

Azov

AZOV
AZOV, SEA OF

, S. by the governments of Kuban and

Stavropol

STAVROPOL

, and E. by those of Astrakhan and Saratov. Area, 63,532 sq. m. Pop. 1,010,135 in 1867, 2,585,920 in 1897 and 3,125,400 (estimate) in 1906. It belongs almost entirely to the region of the

South

SOUTH
SOUTH, ROBERT (1634–1716)

Russian steppes, but in the N., W. and S.W. presents more the aspects of elevated plains gapped with ravine-like river-courses, while in the S.E., towards the Manych depression, it passes over into the arid

Aral

ARAL

-Caspian steppes (e.g. Zadonsk Steppe), dotted over with salt lakes. Geologically the region is made up of Carboniferous limestones, clay slates and sandstones, containing anthracite and coal; of Cretaceous marls, chalk, sandstone and greensandschalk cliffs, in fact, accompany the Don for 200 m.; and of Miocene limestones and clays. The surface, especially W. of the Don, is the fertile black earth, intermingled here and there, especially in the Zadonsk Steppe, with clay impregnated with salt. The government is drained by the Don and its tributaries, of which the Donets, Chir and Mius enter from the right and the Khoper and Medvyeditsa from the left. The Don is navigable throughout the government, and at Kalach is connected by a railway, 45 M. long, with Tsaritsyn on the

Volga

VOLGA (known to the
Tatars
- TATARS (the common form Tartars is less correct)
as Etil, Jill or Atel; to the Finnish tribes as Rau, and to the ancients as Rha and Oarus)

, routes by which an enormous amount of heavy merchandise is transported. Theclimate is continental and dry, the average temperatures beingyear 430 Fahr., January 13, July 72 at Uryupina (in 5o 48' N.; alt. 92 ft.); and year 48, January 210, July 730 at Taganrog. The annual rainfall at the same two places is 13.4 and 17.4 in. respectively. Forests cover only 2 % of the area.
Nearly one-half of the population are Cossacks, the other ethnological groups being (1897) 27,234 Armenians, 2255 Greeks, 1267 Albanians, 16,000 Jews and some 30,000 Kalmuck

Tatars

TATARS (the common form Tartars is less correct)

, who are Lamaists in religion. Nearly all the rest of the people, except the Jews and about 3000 Mahommedans, belong to the Orthodox Eastern Church. The Cossacks own nearly 30,000,000 acres of land. The government is well provided with schools, especially on the Cossack territory. Agriculture is the principal occupation, but the crops vary very greatly from year to year, owing to deficiency of rain. Vines are cultivated on a large scale, and tobacco is grown in the

south

SOUTH
SOUTH, ROBERT (1634–1716)

. Cattle-breeding is important, and there are fine breeds of horses and large flocks of sheep. Productive fisheries are carried on at the mouth of the Don. Nearly 13,000 persons are engaged in coal-mining; the coalfields form part of the vast Donets coal basin (10,420 sq. m., with a total output of nearly 13,000,000 tons annually). Some iron ore, gypsum, salt and limestone are also produced. The principal branches of manufacturing industry are flour-milling, potteries, ironworks and tobacco factories. The exports consist chiefly of cereals, cattle, horses, sheep, wine, fish and hides. The government is under the administration of the ministry of war, and is divided into nine districtsDonets (

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

town, Kamenskaya with 23,576 inhabitants in 1897), First Don

district

DISTRICT

(Konstantinovskaya, 8800), Second Don

district

DISTRICT

(Nizhne-Chirskaya, 15,196), Rostov (Rostov-on-Don, 119,889), Salsky (Velikoknyazheskaya), Taganrog (Taganrog, 58,928 in 'goo), Ust-medvyeditsa (Ust-medvyeditsa, 16,000), Khoper (Uryupina, 9600), Cherkasky (Novo-cherkassk, 52,005). The

capital

CAPITAL (i.e. capital stock or fund)
CAPITAL (Lat. caput, head)

of the government is Novo-cherkassk. Many of the Cossack stanitsas (villages) are very populous. (P. A. K.; J. T. BE.)

End of Article: DON COSSACKS, TERRITORY OF THE (Russ. Donskaya Oblast)

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