ARCHANGEL, a city of Russia, capital of the government and circle of the same name. It is situated on the right bank of the river Dwina, 35 miles from its mouth, in Lat. 61. 32. 8. N. Long. 40. 33. E. The entrance to the Dwina was discovered by the English navigator Richard Chancellor in 1553, when in quest of a north-eastern passage to China. The city of Archangel was founded in 1584, and derived its name from the convent of St Michael the
Archangel. It soon became the first trading port of Russia, and continued to be so till the rise of St Petersburg, when its commercial importance declined. In 1762 it received the same immunities as St Petersburg; and since that time it has been gradually recovering its former prosperity. Except the bazaar, which is an immense edifice, its buildings are almost entirely constructed of wood. It is the seat of an archbishop, and of a civil and military governor; has one Protestant and ten Greek churches; an ecclesiastical seminary with nine professors; a gymnasium; academies for navigation and engineering; and a naval hospital. The manufactures consist of linen, leather, canvass, cordage, mats, and sugar, and there are several breweries. Archangel is indebted for its prosperity principally to its situation on the Dwina, which is united by canals with the Volga on the one side, and with the Neva on the other, by which means it is the mart of a large extent of territory, some articles being transported thither even from Siberia. Its traffic varies considerably in different years, being much influenced by the demand for corn in England and other parts of Europe. Its principal exports are grain, flax, hemp, timber, linseed, iron, mats, tar, and tallow; its imports are chiefly colonial produce, woollens, cottons, and hardware. In 1847, the value of its exports was £1,410,880. The value of its imports is always much less than that of its exports. Its harbour is at the island of Solembolsk, about a mile below the town, and is open only from July to September. A bar at the mouth of the Dwina, with only from 13 to 14½ feet of water, obliges vessels of greater draught to load and unload by means of lighters outside the bar. About twelve miles below the town, there is a government dockyard with slips for building vessels, and also some warehouses belonging to merchants in the city. The best season of their year is from the middle of July to the middle of August, before which time fogs and high winds prevail. After that period the nights become cold; and in September it is usually very stormy. There the shortest day has only 3 hours 12 minutes, the longest 21 hours 48 minutes.