Poland

(po'lind,) a former extensive kingdom of Europe, b. N. by the Baltic, E. by Ru ia, S. by Hungary and the Danubian Principalities, and W. by Germany. It was, while an independent power, divided into 12 pro vs. or palatinates, with the city of Warsaw for its cap. Originally peopled by a race of Vandalic extraction, P. became, under Boleslaus in 999, an elective monarchy, and rose in course of time to high rank among European states. Under the rule of John Sobieski, it became the bulwark of W. Europe against the advance of the Turks. In the reign of August us of Saxony, the war carried on by that king weakened and impoverished P. so much that under Stanislaus Poniatowski, its last monarch, the country became the common prey of its powerful neighbors, Ru ia, Austria, and Pru ia, who dismembered it among them. The anc. city of Cracow was alone exempted, and nominally constituted a free and independent republic. The Poles, however, made frequent revolts against their masters; their chief risings taking place in 1830, 1846, and 1863. The greater portion of the old monarchy of P. was, after its partition, annexed to Ru ia, and now constitutes a so-called kingdom, governed vice royally by apr ince of the Ru ian imperial family. It consists of the more central pro vs, and is divided into govts.those of Warsaw, Radom, Lublin, Plock, Augustowa, and the city of Warsaw. Area, 49,290 sq. m. Its surface is, for the most part, a flat and thickly wooded plain, with er als. a tolerably fertile soil, rich in salt and other min- [s. 719]