MOSCOW, the chief province of the empire of Russia, deriving its name from the river Muscova, or Moskva, on which the capital is situated. It was from this duchy that the czars of old took the title of dukes of Muscovy. The province is bounded on the north by the duchies of Tvere, Roflow, Suſdal, and Włodimer; on the south by Rezan, from which it is separated by the river Ocſa; on the east by the principality of Cachine, and the same river Ocſa parting it from Niſi-Novogorod; and on the west by the duchies of Rzeva, Bielar and Smolenſko. It extends about 200 miles in length, and about 100 in breadth; and is watered by the Moskva, Ocſa, and Cleſma, which fall into the Wolga: nevertheless, the soil is not very fertile. The air, however, though sharp, is salubrious; and this consideration, with the advantage of its being situated in the midst of the best provinces in the empire, induced the czars to make it their chief residence. In the western part of Moscow is a large forest, from whence flows the celebrated river Dnieper, or Boryſthenes, which, traversing the duchy of Smolenſko, winds in a serpentine course to Ukraine, Lithuania, and Poland.