ALESSANDRIA, a province of the duchy of Piedmont, in the dominions of the king of Sardinia, bounded on the north by Casale, on the east by Mortara, Boghera, and Tortona, on the south-east by Genoa, on the south-west by Aquila, and on the west by Asti. The extent is 314 square miles, or 200,960 acres. It comprehends two cities, 29 towns and villages, and 12 hamlets. The country is a plain, with few elevations, and very fruitful; but suffers from a deficiency of water, though the Po and the Tanaro, with some other rivers, pass through it. The chief productions are wheat, maize, wine, and silk; but besides these, wood, madder, hemp, flax, and fruit, are raised in abundance. The population is very dense, amounting to 70,728 persons, mostly employed in agriculture, which is conducted on the system of garden cultivation.