John B. Alden

“ Tobacco and sugar raising principal occupation of the people. Many sugar plantations comprise 10,000 acres each.
Two crops of Indian corn grown per year; rice, cotton, cacao and indigo also produced; most tropical fruits are abundant. Sugar product averages 520,000 tons per year; molasses, 79,365 hogsheads. Total value of agricultural products over $90,000,000. United States receives 80 per cent. of Cuban sugar. No manufactures deserving mention.
Latest reports give exports of cigars 225,000,000 per annum; leaf tobacco, 13,500,000 pounds. There are about 900 miles of railway. ”

“ This country is very rich in minerals. Over 17,500,000 tons of coal are produced annually. Belgium is noted for its flax. The chief products are wheat, rye, oats, barley, flax, hemp, tobacco. In 1880 there were 46,210 horses, 411,551 oxen, and 90,100 sheep.
Imports, 1882, $570,320,000; exports, $512,780,000. Manufactures are important. About 190,000 persons employed in flax, hemp, woolen and cotton manufactories. The lace of Brussels and the fire-arms of Liege are among the finest in the world. ”

“ Wheat, rye, oats and barley flourish, but frosts too frequent for corn. Big Horn country, in northwest, has area 15,000 square miles; fine agricultural country; water plentiful; game and fur-bearing animals numerous, rendering it one of most desirable hunting grounds of America. Grazing interest important, and increasing rapidly, more than half the area being rich grazing land. Mountains covered with forests of coniferæ, which will prove very useful for lumber.
Mineral resources extensive; iron ore abundant; copper, lead, plumbago and petroleum found ”

“ The climate is genial, and the soil capable of producing wheat, maize, tobacco, cotton and sugar cane. The chief towns are: St. Sebastian (pop., 1,510) , Ibo (pop. about 2,000) , Sofala (pop. 2,000) , and St. Thiajo Major. The forests abound in valuable timber trees; pearl fisheries are important, and the mineral deposits are of exceptional value. The gold mines of Mauica are supposed to be the richest in East Africa. Ivory is obtained in large quantities for the Indian market; annual value about $350,000. Other exports are India rubber, gums, oil, beeswax and corn. ”

“ Population dense. The density varies from 441 per square mile to 43; the average for all India being 184. Agriculture backward. Means of transportation poor but improving. Eight famines have visited India, and decimated the population of various Provinces. Soil is productive; rice, corn, millet, barley and wheat are grown; cotton, indigo, opium and sugar cane are largely exported. ”

“ Central America is an irregular mass of land in southern part of North America, and lies about midway between the two great continental masses of the New World. It includes the republics of Guatemala, Honduras, San Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, together with British Honduras.
The West Indies, an extensive system of islands lying southeast of North America, contain the large islands of Cuba, Hayti, Jamaica and Porto Rico, and are arranged mostly in three groups ”

“ The mineral wealth of Colombia is very great; one-sixth of the exports consist of precious metals. Agriculture and stock raising are the leading pursuits. Value of imports, 1883, $11,504,028; exports, $14,857,170. Two-thirds of the exports consist of cinchona and coffee. The transit trade through the ports of Panama and Aspinwall is of far greater importance than the direct commerce; its value is estimated as not less than $85,000,000 per annum.
There are many native products, among which are fine woods, cacao, India rubber, ipecac, calisaya bark, cochineal, sarsaparilla and logwood. ”

“ This kingdom, united with Norway, forms the Scandinavian peninsula. The government is vested in a King, a Council of State and a Parliament. Area, 170,979 square miles. Population, 4,603,595. Capital, Stockholm; population, 194,469. The armed forces number 172,260 officers and men. The Royal navy consists of 66 vessels, with 4,068 men.
The country has numerous lakes and rivers. In the north it is cold and sterile; but the climate, on the whole, is milder than that of other countries in the same latitude, and south of latitude 59° the country is generally fertile. ”

“ The island is very fertile; its principal products are sugar cane, coffee, tobacco, cotton, rice and Indian corn. In proportion to its area, it produces more sugar than any other West India island.
Government is administered under a constitution granted by the Spanish Cortes, 1869. Slavery was abolished in 1873. Capital, San Juan; pop. about 27,000. Climate warm; more healthful than that of the other Antilles. Destructive hurricanes are frequent. The natural productions are very numerous; medicinal plants and many valuable woods, as mahogany, ebony, logwood, and cedar, abound in the forests. ”

“ The government is modeled after that of the United States. The republic has 600 miles of coast line, and extends inland about 100 miles; area, 14,300 square miles. The population is wholly African, and numbers 18,000 Americo-Liberians and 1,050,000 aborigines. Capital, Monrovia; population, 3,000. The Liberians have established churches and schools, and possess a number of printing presses. The climate, which is still fatal to Europeans, has been much improved by systematic drainage.
The country is well watered, and the natural resources are very great. ”

“ Principal minerals of Western Australia are copper, lead and coal.
Principal agricultural products of the colonies: Wheat product of New South Wales, 1884, 4,345,437 bushels; corn, 4,538,604 bushels; sugar, 35,220,640 lbs.; wine, 589,604 gallons. New Zealand—Wheat, 9,827,136 bushels; oats, 9,231,339 bushels. Leading grain crop of Queensland, corn. Yield of sugar, 1883, 73,534,000 lbs.; cotton, 70,020 lbs. South Australia—Wheat, 14,649,230 bushels; wine, 430,520 gallons. Principal products of Tasmania, grain, hops and fruit; value of green and preserved fruits exported 1883, $881,120. ”

“ Norway is an agricultural and pastoral country; but, owing to the light character of the soil, the products are insufficient for home consumption, and one-fourth of the total imports is grain.
Principal imports are metals, minerals, textile manufactures and corn; total value in 1883, $44,810,000. Chief exports are timber and fish; value of all exports, 1883, $32,261,000. Fisheries employ 120,000 people and 25,000 boats, three-fourths employed in the cod fisheries; total product, 1883, $6,757,500. Merchant marine, 7,913 vessels; tonnage, 1,530,004; largest in the world, considering population. ”

“ The government is an absolute monarchy. Area and population are but imperfectly known; foreign estimates place the former at 280,564 square miles, and the population at about 5,750,000. Prevailing religion, Buddhism. Siam has no public debt. Capital, Bangkok; population, 600,000. There is a small standing army, and a general armament of the people in form of a militia.
Though much of the land is fertile, it is badly cultivated. Chief products, rice, gums, teak, sandalwood, rosewood, spices and fruits. Foreign commerce centres at Bangkok. Total value of exports from there in 1883, $8,525,655 ”

“ Commercial and diplomatic relations established between the island and United States, Great Britain and France, in this century, previous to 1868. Capital, Tananarivo; population estimated at 100,000.
Soil generally fertile; forests of valuable timber abound. Chief products are rice, sugar, silk, cotton, bananas, potatoes, India rubber. Stock raising and agriculture are the main industries. Chief exports are cattle, hides, coffee, lard, sugar, vanilla, wax, gum, rice and seeds; principal imports are metal goods, rum and cotton goods. ”

“ Area, 610,000 square miles. Population, 7,653,600. Temperature ranges from 10° to 110°; winters severe in central territory; summers hot and dry.
The government is an unlimited despotism. The Koran is law, the Shah being looked upon as the vicegerent of the prophet. Persia has no national debt. Persian army numbers 105,500 men on war basis; peace footing, 30,000.
Soil, in some of the extensive valleys, very fertile. Wheat and other cereals, cotton, sugar, rice, tobacco and opium yield well; silk is an important product of the country. Fruit trees and vegetables flourish. ”

“ Both climate and soil are well suited to the production of wheat, barley, corn and other grains; agriculture is neglected for pastoral pursuits. Marocco supposed to be rich in minerals.
Foreigners control the maritime trade; Tangier is the main port; seven others open to foreign commerce. Import of cotton, 1882, valued at $3,401,130; sugar, $1,390,240; rice, flour, etc., $1,462,090. Exports, 1882: wool, $1,116,850; shoes, $527,420; almonds, $394,000; cattle, $393,880. In 1882, 1,050 vessels, of 314,794 tons, entered, and 1,047, of 315,559 tons, cleared, the ports of Marocco. ”

“ The climate embraces all degrees of heat and cold. The products of two zones are found in Bolivia. Ebony, rosewood, mahogany, cinchona, and other valuable trees abound. Manufactures limited to coarse cotton cloth, hats, cordage, leather and alpaca. Tin, copper, gold, and vast quantities of India rubber of the finest quality abound. Silver mines almost inexhaustible; annual yield of the Cerro de Potosi mines, $2,250,000. Two-thirds of exports are silver. Imports average $6,150,000; exports, $9,000,000. ”

“ GREAT BRITAIN.
The largest island of Europe, and forming, with Ireland and the adjacent islands, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The union of England and Ireland was effected January 1, 1800.
Area of the kingdom, 120,832 square miles. Pop., 35,241,482. The divisions are: England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Capital, London; pop., 4,766,661. Thirty-five cities have over 75,000 population. Climate is variable but healthful. Average temperature, 50°. Rainfall, London, 25 inches; Glasgow, 21; and Dublin, 29.
Middle-class education is entirely unorganized ”

“ The mass of the population is uneducated. European Russia has about 375 high schools, 61 normal and 22,770 primary schools; pupils number more than 1,220,000. The empire has 8 universities, with 10,700 students.
Of European Russia, 63 per cent. of the area is productive; 21 per cent. is cultivated. Chief products, cereals; the crop of 1883, exclusive of Finland, was 1,671,012 tons; potatoes, 447,875 tons; tobacco, 119,200,000 lbs. Large areas are covered with forests; value of timber exported 1881, $49,200,000. Value of total exports of Russian Empire, $308,898,000 ”

“ The immense mineral wealth is untouched; agriculture is neglected; manufactures are insignificant. The roads afford no facilities for commerce, being mostly mule tracks. Miles of railway number but 75.
Export of cocoa, 1883 valued at $3,372,200; India rubber, $428,800. Total value of exports, $4,923,300; imports, about $6,000,000. In 1883, 151 vessels, of 155,283 tons, entered, and 160 vessels, of 158,970 tons, cleared the port of Guayaquil.
Only 7.5 per cent. of population can read or write. In 1884, standing army fixed at 1,600 men. ”

“ No other country of equal area has such diversities of climate. Distinguished for the mountain passes, through which India has been frequently invaded.
Government is a despotism. Capital, Kabul. Population, 2,500,000, consisting of numerous warlike clans. The Amir is a military dictator, with a yearly revenue of $2,000,000, and a subsidy of $600,000 from India. Two-thirds of inhabitants Mohammedans.
Agricultural and pastoral pursuits the chief industries of the people; wheat the most important crop; rice, barley and millet grown. ”

“ Agriculture chief industry, though in a primitive condition; 87 per cent. of total area productive; 12 per cent. under forest, 36 per cent. cultivated; 28,000,000 acres in crops. Acreage of wheat, 12,000,000; annual yield, 140,000,000 bushels. Vineyards occupy about 5,000,000 acres; olive groves, 2,200,000. About 1,225,000 acres are devoted to chestnut culture. Italy ranks next to France in wine production; average yield per annum, 605,000,000 gallons; average annual value of all agricultural products for last 5 years, $640,000,000. ”

“ Greece has one university and 2,698 other schools, with 140,776 pupils.
Main pursuit of inhabitants is agriculture. Manufactures few. Of total area, 41 per cent. is productive, and 6 per cent. is under cultivation. Land largely owned by a few proprietors. New Provinces of Thessaly unusually fertile; annual yield of wheat, 21,700,000 bushels; oats, 11,528,000. Old Provinces produce 34,000,000 bushels of wheat and 21,700,000 bushels of corn per year. Currant crop covers vast districts. Latest reports give 97,176 horses, 279,445 horned cattle, 45,440 mules, and 97,395 asses. ”