. The earth and its inhabitants .. . HAT portion of Lower Germany whicli lies to the west of the Elbe and to the north of the hills of the Sauerland, Hesse, and the Harz, presents a great uniformity of geographical features. It is an ancient sea-bottom, in many parts perfectly level, and now covered with swamps, bogs, pastures, and fields. The political condition of this region reflects its natural conformation. Instead of a congeries of small states, such as arose in the hilly districts farther south, we meet with large political domains. Nearly the whole of the country formerly formed part o
. The earth and its inhabitants .. . HAT portion of Lower Germany whicli lies to the west of the Elbe and to the north of the hills of the Sauerland, Hesse, and the Harz, presents a great uniformity of geographical features. It is an ancient sea-bottom, in many parts perfectly level, and now covered with swamps, bogs, pastures, and fields. The political condition of this region reflects its natural conformation. Instead of a congeries of small states, such as arose in the hilly districts farther south, we meet with large political domains. Nearly the whole of the country formerly formed part of a single state, recently incorporated with Prussia. A " particularist " sj)irit survives, however, in Hanover, for that country is to a great extent peopled by peasants, tenacious of old customs. But the bonds which now join Hanover to Prussia are indissoluble, and the old capital of the defunct kingdom differs in no respect from any other provincial capital. Bremen, which still rejoices in being a " free city," is one of those towns where the sentiment of German unity has always been most lively. The promontories of the Forest of Teutoburg and other hills which mark the ancient extent of the sea are not the only heights that look down upon the plains of Hanover. There are a few isolated groups of hills. The wooded hills of Schoppingen, to the west of Miinster, attain a height of 490 feet. The hills of Bentheim, farther to the north, rise like a group of islands above a sea of swamps and heaths. They, too, are wooded, and furnish building stones and metal * Lower Westphalia (Minden and Miinster) . Hanover (exclusive of the Harz) Oldenburg (exclusive of Liiheck and Birkenfe'd) Brunswick (lowland) ...... Bremen ........ Bailiwick of Ritzetiittel (Hamburg) . Total .... Area. Sq M. 4,828 Population. 1875. 725,985 Inhabitants to a Sq. M. 150 13,249 1,718,943 130 2,075 248,136 119 966 215,041 223 98 142,200 1,451 32 6,957 217 21,248 3,057,262 144
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade18, booksubjectgeography, bookyear1883
