MINSK, a province of the Russian empire, in Europe, extending in north latitude from 51. 12. to 55. 49. and in east longitude from 25. 13. to 30. 45. It is bounded on the north by Witepsk, on the east by Mohilew, on the south-east by Tschernigow, on the south by Kiew and Volhynia, on the west by Grodno, and on the north-west by Wilna. It contains 38,082 square miles, divided into ten circles, in which there are 109 cities and towns, and a great number of villages, hamlets, and lone farms. The number of dwellings is stated by Georgi at 148,219, and that of the inhabitants at 1,135,041. The towns are commonly both poor and filthy, being chiefly inhabited by Jews, who are the traders, distillers, and innkeepers. It is one of the extensive plains of Eastern Europe, on which a hill may here and there be seen, with some respectable rivers; in the north and east it is covered with woods, and in the south-west with extensive morasses. As the extent
is 38,082 square miles, the poverty of the soil may account for the thin population. It is watered by several small streams, which terminate either in the Dnieper and run to the Black Sea, or in the Duna and run to the Baltic. There is a canal uniting those rivers, which run in opposite directions. The principal exportable commodity is wood. The chief product for home consumption is rye, which barely suffices for the supply of the inhabitants. There is little trade, and this may be described as the poorest province of European Russia.