. The earth and its inhabitants .. . CHAPTER VIII. LANDS DRAINING TO THE ARCTIC OCEAN. (Russian Lapland, Northern L^hals, Novaya Zemlya, Governments of Archangel and Vologda.) LL the northern hinds whose waters flow to the Frozen Ocean correspond in their general outlines with the two vast, but almost uninhabitable, provinces of Archangel (Arkhangelsk) and Vologda. This immense region, lying, so to sa}', beyond the pale of habitable Europe, and which in its climate and a section of its population presents quite a Siberian aspect, has scarcely two inhabitants to the square mile. Archangel alone
. The earth and its inhabitants .. . CHAPTER VIII. LANDS DRAINING TO THE ARCTIC OCEAN. (Russian Lapland, Northern L^hals, Novaya Zemlya, Governments of Archangel and Vologda.) LL the northern hinds whose waters flow to the Frozen Ocean correspond in their general outlines with the two vast, but almost uninhabitable, provinces of Archangel (Arkhangelsk) and Vologda. This immense region, lying, so to sa}', beyond the pale of habitable Europe, and which in its climate and a section of its population presents quite a Siberian aspect, has scarcely two inhabitants to the square mile. Archangel alone, even excluding Novaya Zemlya, is nearly as large as France and Great Biitain together, yet it contains a smaller population than many towns of second rank, such as Lyons, Leeds, or Birmingham. The whole region comprises about one-fourth of European Russia, whereas its population amounts to one-sixtieth of that of the empire. Nevertheless it is one of the most interesting lands in East Europe, not only for the character of its soil, waters, and climate, but also for the history of its inhabitants. The dwellers by the arctic shores have also had a special, though modest, part in the development of European culture, and scarcely three centuries have passed since the highway of the White Sea was the only route by which the Muscovite lands could communicate with the West. Physical Aspect.—The Tundra. Nearly all the territory comprised between the granites of Finland and the Ural Mountains slopes uniformly and almost imperceptibly towards the AVhite Sea and Arctic Ocean, and is furrowed by long winding streams. But the peninsula of Kola, politically included in the Russian government of Archangel, must be physically regarded as an eastern extension of the Scandinavian peninsula. Russian Lapland is partly limited by the deep inlets of the White Sea and Gulf of Bothnia, and all the geological formations west of the White Sea belong, like Sweden and Finland, to the granites and olde
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade18, booksubjectgeography, bookyear1883