Turkey

(tur'ke,) or THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE, comprehends all the countries which are under the real (or nominal) authority of the Sultan or Padishah. They consist in Europe of the 7 pro vs. called Roumelia, The aly, Bulgaria, Albania, Herzegovina, Monte negro, Bosnia, and Croatia, together with Moldavia and Wall a chia (see DANUBIAN PRINCIPALITIES). These pro vs. are subdivided into eyalets or govts., excepting the principalities Servia and Monte negro, which are semiindep. states under the so-called protectorate of the Sultan. European T., embraced within the limits of N. Lat. 39°-48° 20′, E. Lon. 15° 40′-30°, is b. N. by the Austrian and Ru ian empires, E. by the Black Sea, S. by Greece and the Archipelago, and W.by the Adriatic Sea and Dalmatia. In Asia the Turkish dominions, situated bet. N. Lat. 30-42°, E. Lon. 26°-48°, consist of the pro vs. of Anatolia or Asia Minor, Roum, Car a mania, Adana, Marash, Armenia, Me so pot am i a, Kurdistan, Irak-Araby, and Syria, including Palestine; along with the Arabian eyalets of Yemen and El-Héjaz. The boundaries of this Asiatic portion of the Ottoman empire are very irregular. Roumania (or the provs.beyond the Danube), the Asiatic portions, and the African Egypt, Tripoli, Tunis,-being treated of elsewhere in this work in their proper place, this article is accordingly confined geographically and sectionally to Turkey in Europe alone, or, in other words, Turkey Proper. The mountain-system of T. concentrates in the Balkan chain, extending W. from the Black Sea, and forming a natural barrier bet. Servia and Bulgaria on the N., and Roumelia on the S. The pp. characteristics of the surface are the great central plateau which extends N. of the Balkan northward as far as the Ru ian frontier; the fertile basins of Roumelia andThe aly, and the valleys of Albania, Bosnia, and Herzegovina. The chief river is the Danube. The principal lakes are those of Ochrida, Yanina, and Scutari; and of the islands of the Ægean Archipelago the most noteworthy are Rhodes, Cyprus, Cos, Tenedos, Lemnos, Mitylene, Scio, and Patmos. The coast-line of T. along the Euxine and a great part of the Adriatic is bold and rocky, and presents few bays or inlets of any size. The coasts of the Archipelago, however, are indented on the European side, by the gulfs of Salonica, Seros, and Conte a. The soil of T. is very generally of a fertile character, but, owing to various causes, little progre has, comparatively speaking, been made in agriculture. The chief crops are maize, rice, cotton, rye, barley, and millet. Timber of good size and in various kinds is very abundant, and fruits and flowers are found in excellence and plenty. The culture of roses Turkey-buzzard. is largely carried on in several districts. The mineral products are iron in plenty, lead blended with silver, Turmeric copper, sulphur, salt, alum, but no coal. Turkish manufactures are unimportant and almost entirely domestic, consisting of woollen and cotton stuffs, shawls, leather, and fire-arms. Printing-and dyeing-works, with distilleries of inferior brandy, also engage a great Turn, part of the pop. The latter is composed of quite a motley a ortment of races, nationalities, and creeds. Ottomans or Turks proper compose 38 per cent. of the entire in hab. The Slavic and Rouman populations come next in importance, then the Arabs; the remaining peoples consist of Moors, Druses, Kurds, Tartars, Albanians,Circa ians, Syrians, Armenians, and Greeks, besides Jews and Gipsies. Islamism of the sect of Omar is the prevailing form of religion, based upon the Koran. The Christian faith obtains chiefly among the Slaves, Roumans, Armenians, and Greeks. Education is very backward, and philosophy, literature, and Turning, the arts are but little attended to; law and theology comprising the bulk of intellectual cultivation. The chief cities are, in Europe: Constantinople (the C.), Adrianople, Salonika, Serayevo, Gallipoli, Philippopolis, and Sophia. In Asia: Smyrna, Damascus, Beyrout, Brusa, Erzeroum, Aleppo, Bagdad, and Jerusalem. The Turkish government is that of a despotism based upon and modified by the precepts of the Mohammedan faith as laid down in the sacred books of the Prophet: the Koran, and the Multeka. The executive and legislative authority are exercised under the supreme control of the Sultan by two great dignitaries of state-the Grand Vizier (or Prime Minister) in secular affairs; the Sheik-ul-Islam (or head of the Church) in those ecclesiastical. The council of ministers, known as the Divan and formed of 9 depts., is presided over by the former. Various important reforms have been effected in the civil, ecclesiastical, and military administration of the empire of late years; 58 5P and other reforms are promised in reference to civil polity, development of education, encouragement to trade, and reorganization of the army and navy, besides an improved system of internal communication. In July, 1869, the army was reorganized on the following bases: Nizam, or active standing army, 150,000 men; Reserves (first cla ), 60,000; Redif, or second cla reserves, 192,000; troops for home defence and garrison duty, 300,000; total, 702,000. The navy, in 1871, consisted of 19 iron-clads, 123 guns; 27 screw steamers, 645 guns; 9 corvettes and 13 dispatch-boats, 820 guns; 12 gunboats, 28 guns; and 35 transports of 52 guns: total, 115 ve els (under steam), mounting 1,668 guns. There were also, independently of the above, 53 sailing-ships, aggregating 522 guns. In 1869 the railroads in operation were confined to 3 lines only, embracing 182 m. Other lines are, however, in course of completion which will add 1,260 m. to the above statement. In Asia Minor, there are 145 m. in operation.The Ottoman empire arose upon the ruins of the old Greek empire, early in the 15th cent., and in 1453 Constantinople, after its capture by Mohammed II., was made its metropolis. At the acce ion of Mohammed IV. in 1648, the Turkish empire was at its zenith of power. The seeds of internal corruption, however, had been sown so deeply as to be ineradicable, and its decay became gradual but sure. In 1774, a large slice of territory, and the right of navigation of the Euxine, were ceded to Ru ia, and in 1821 Greece became independent. In 1854-56 occurred the Crime an War, which checked Ru ia for the time. Pop.: direct po e ions in Europe, 10,510,000; protected provinces, 5,927,510; in Asia, 16,465,000; total, 32,900,510. In 1877, Ru ia declared war against T., which terminated in 1878, by T. paying a large war indemnity and the partial dismemberment of the empire. T.. retains in Europe 60,000 sq. m. of territory and 6,000,000 of pop. [s. 913]