PRUSSIA, a province of the kingdom of that name, forming its most easterly portion, bounded on the N. by the Baltic, E. by Russia, S. by Poland and the province of Posen, and W. by those of Brandenburg and Pomerania. The division into E. and W. Prussia, historically of considerable importance, is now only used as a convenient way of designating the two chief parts of the province, as they have long ceased to be two distinct provinces. Extreme length from E.N.E. to W.S.W. about 300 miles; greatest breadth, 150; area, 24,967 square miles. The surface is in general low, but not by any means flat; for a chain of hills, on an average 300 or 400 feet high, extends in a curved line from the vicinity of Goldap, near the Russian frontier, to that of Marienburg on the Vistula. Of these hills, and of the whole province, the highest point is the Hasenberg, near Landsberg, to the S. of Königsberg, which attains the height of 725 feet. Along the coast of the Baltic there are on the west of the Vistula many well-wooded hills, from 150 to 500 feet high; but to the east of that river the shores are perfectly flat, except where shifting sand-hills break the level. The Gulf of Dantzic and the arms of the sea called the Frische and the Kurische Haff, indent the coast of this province. The largest rivers are the Vistula, flowing northwards from Poland into the Gulf of Dantzic by several arms; the Passarge from the south and the Pregel from the east, flowing into the Frische Haff; the Memel, the Mange, and the Dange, flowing westwards from Russia into the Kurische Haff. Of lakes the province contains a great number, distributed in three principal groups. The largest of these groups lies near the eastern extremity of Prussia, between the basins of the Pregel and Vistula, in a valley more than 300 feet above the sea, and it includes Lake Spirding, 45 square miles in extent. Another group of lakes, smaller in size and lower in elevation, lies between the Passarge and the Vistula; while the third group lies to the west of the latter river. There are several extensive swamps and moors, especially towards the north-eastern extremity of the province. The soil is in general very fertile; and no other province in the kingdom has such an extent of good land. About two-thirds of the surface is good land; the rest being mostly sandy ground. Of the whole area of the country, 6,930,985 acres consisted in 1852 of arable land; 204,240 of gardens, vineyards, &c.; 2,955,726 of meadows and pastures; 2,513,460 of forests; and 3,368,667 of waste land. Wheat is one of the principal crops raised, especially in the low country along the Vistula, Pregel, and Memel; rye is also raised of such excellence as to be much exported. Besides these, most of the common crops are grown in the province. Prussia contained in 1855, 461,504 horses, 987,023 horned cattle, 2,642,268 sheep, 17,143 goats, and 520,512 swine. Manufactures are not very extensively carried on in the province, the whole number of hands employed being 128,568; less in proportion to the population than there are in any other province of the kingdom. The only important mineral found here is iron, which is plentiful in various places; but on the shores of the Baltic amber is obtained in greater abundance than anywhere else in the world. The trade is considerable; three of the chief seaports in the kingdom, Dantzic, Königsberg, and Memel, being in this province. Corn, timber, hides, tallow, and other articles are exported. Though there are numerous excellent educational institutions in the province, the percentage of those receiving instruction is considerably under the average of the kingdom. There is one university, that of Königsberg; 8 normal seminaries; 14 gymnasias, with 188 teachers and 4207 scholars; 6 progymnasias; 42 middle schools; and 1417 elementary schools, with 5059 teachers and 338,516 scholars. In regard to religion, the most of the inhabitants belong to the Evangelical Church. Besides these, who are 1,885,256 in number, there are 703,252 Roman Catholics,
1204 of the Greek Church, 12,693 Mennonites, and 34,351 Jews. For administrative purposes the province is divided into the governments of Königsberg, Gumbinnen, Dantzic, and Marienwerder. The Æstui, who are described by Tacitus as a nation largely employed in collecting and trading in amber, seem from this fact to have been the original occupants of this province. After this, however, the history of the country is for a long period involved in almost total obscurity. Bands of Gotis and Scandinavians in the third century, and of Letts and other nations in the sixth, settled here, and mingled with the original inhabitants. The Prussians, as they were called from a very early period, resisted for a long time all the efforts made to convert them to Christianity. St Adalbert, who was the first to attempt it, suffered martyrdom in 997. Bruno, a monk, who renewed the attempt, met with a similar fate; and neither the persuasions of these and similar missionaries, nor the sword of the kings of Denmark and Poland, professedly drawn in the service of the church, could induce the Prussians to abandon a religion believed to be inseparable from their freedom, till the Teutonic Knights in 1230 entered the country. Little by little this crusade proved successful, and the knights possessed themselves of the whole country; the grand-master establishing his seat at Marienburg in 1309. On the introduction of Christianity, many Germans settled in the country; thriving towns rose; and commerce began to extend itself. But the prosperity of the country excited the envy of the Polish sovereigns, who proceeded to open hostilities, which resulted in the battle of Tannenberg in 1410, so decisively against the Teutonic order that Prussia became then actually, and afterwards also formally, a fief of the Polish crown. The contest, however, did not cease here; and the fortune of war still proving adverse to the knights, they were obliged by the peace of Thorn in 1466 to give up West Prussia entirely to Poland, retaining the eastern portion as a fief from the crown. The office of grand-master afterwards became hereditary in the Brandenburg family; and in 1525 the Margrave Albert, having adopted the Protestant faith, had the office changed into a dukedom. The victory of Warsaw, gained in 1656 by the Elector Frederic William over the Poles, enabled him to get rid of the Polish supremacy over East Prussia; and the western part of the province was restored to the kingdom of Prussia by degrees in the successive partitions of Poland. It was from this province that Frederic III., the elector of Brandenburg, took, in 1701, the title of King of Prussia. Pop. (1855) 2,636,766.