IRKOUTSK, an extensive government of Russia, comprehending all the eastern part of Siberia or Asiatic Russia. It is bounded on the east by the Pacific Ocean, or, more properly, by its gulfs called the Seas of Kamtschatka, Okhotsk, and Anadyr; on the north by the Frozen Ocean; on the west by Tobolsk; and on the south by vast chains of mountains, continued from the Altai chain, by which it is separated from Chinese Tartary. It
extends about twenty-eight degrees from east to west, and twenty-five from north to south, and comprises 126,460 square geographical miles. It was erected into a separate government in 1763, being formerly included in the government of Tobolsk; and, in 1783, the Empress Catharine conferred on it the privileges of a state. It was converted into a separate government, owing to the great extent of the country, and the same cause occasioned its subsequent division into four separate districts, namely, Irkoutsk Proper, Nertschink, Yakantsk, and Okhotsk; the first comprehending the southern and fertile districts situated round the Baikal, and near the sources of the Lena and its tributaries. Yakantsk extends as far as the Arctic Ocean, comprehending the vast and frozen plains which extend northward to that sea. Okhotsk extends along the eastern shore of Asia, and includes not only Kamtschatka, but the Aleutian and Kurile isles, thus bordering on one side with America, on the other with Japan. It is traversed by the Lena and its tributaries, throughout its whole extent from north to south. There are also the Olonek, the Indigirka, and the Kovyma, which are large rivers, and fall into the icy sea. An imperfect census has been made of the population, according to which they were reckoned at between 400,000 and 500,000, and they have been considerably increased. Russians and Cossacks form a considerable proportion of the inhabitants. These are composed of colonists, merchants, and of those who are employed in the civil and military establishments of the state. Great part of the province is occupied by the native tribes, who lead a wandering and pastoral life, or gain a living by hunting and fishing. The most numerous of these are the Tunguses. There are also the Mongols, who occupy the southern parts; the Juraki, a Samoiede tribe, who inhabit the northern districts in the Icy Sea; the Yakantes and Koriaks, who dwell on the eastern coast, and derive a very precarious living from pasture and the chase; the Tschutchi, who occupy the north-east point of Asia; and the rude inhabitants of the Aleutian and Kurile islands.