one of the provinces of the Netherlands, bounded on the north by the German Ocean, extending over 1192 square miles, comprehending eleven cities and 336 towns and villages, with a population of 176,500 souls, the greater part of whom are Protestants of the reformed confession. It is a low, flat district, below the sea at high-water mark, but preserved by embankments from inundation, and drained by numerous sluices and wind-mills. It has a great abundance of canals, which serve the purpose of roads, and in some degree assist in draining. The soil is rich, admirable for cows, and the produce of the dairy is one of the chief sources of its annual wealth. The inhabitants, descended from the ancient Frisii, speak a dialect distinct from the Dutch and the German, and in sound approaching nearer to the English. The corn land does not produce grain equal to the consumption. In the cities are many manufactories, and extensive labour is applied to the fisheries. The province is divided into three circles and nineteen bailiwicks.