ARCHANGEL, a Russian government or stadtholder-ship in the north of the eastern hemisphere of the globe; for though the city as well as the circle of the same name is comprehended in Europe, yet the government extends, according to Russian division, over great part of Asia. It is bounded on the north by the Frozen Ocean and White Sea; on the east by Tobolsk; on the south-east by Wologda; on the south-west by Olonez, of which a narrow part extends to the White Sea, and separates it from Finland; on the west by Finland; and on the north-west by Norway: but besides these boundaries there are some islands in the White Sea, and the great island Nova Zembla in the Frozen Ocean. The whole extent is 346,120 square miles, or 18,000 square miles more than the kingdom of France, comprehending 41 degrees of longitude, from 27. 54. to 69. 13., and 16½ of latitude, from 61. 23. to 78. 4. The climate, though not all alike, is universally raw and cold. Up to the latitude of 65° the spring is moist, with frost at nights; the summer is short, with long but foggy days; the autumn is moist, and the winter begins early. The trees, however, grow, and the rye ripens. The rivers cease
to flow from October to April. Between the 65th and 47th degrees there are some trees, but dwarfish; corn does not ripen; and animals scarcely endure the temperature. Beyond 67° is a more arctic climate, short summer, long winter, and the soil always frozen below the surface. The rivers are closed in September, and scarcely thaw before July. Though oats and rye grow up to the 65°, yet beyond that the chief subsistence depends on the chase and the fisheries; but even in the most southern parts the bark of trees is mixed with corn to eke out the scanty products of the harvest. The province contains seven cities or towns, and 220 parishes. The inhabitants are Russians, Samoieds, Laplanders, or Permijaks, whose number it is difficult to ascertain. By the latest accounts we have been able to obtain, the males, exclusive of the burghers, were, in 1783, 80,546; the whole may be about 170,000.