a province or government of the Russian empire, formerly a part of Poland, acquired by Russia at the first dismemberment of that unfortunate kingdom. It extends in north latitude from 47° 23' to 49° 44', and in east longitude from 26° 16' to 30° 41'; and it is bounded on the north by Volhynia, on the north-east by Kiev, on the east and south-east by Chernigov, on the south by Bessarabia, and on the west by the Austrian kingdom of Galicia. It is 20,796 miles in extent, is divided into twelve circles, and contains 121 towns, 2429 villages, with 1,450,000 inhabitants, a great part of whom are Poles, but many are Russians; and the Jews are numerous. The majority are of the Greek church, but the nobility and higher classes commonly adhere to the Roman Catholic worship.

The province is situated on the northern slope of the Carpathian Mountains, several of the spurs of which project into it, but none are more than 500 feet in height. It is a well-watered district, part of the streams of which fall into the Dniester, and part into the Bug; the former of which is at all seasons navigable, but the latter only one portion of the year. The climate is pure and healthy, but it is not productive of wine, which is supposed to arise from the want of calcareous earth. Mulberry-trees have been lately planted, and seem hitherto to have succeeded. The soil is generally fertile, yielding always a great surplus of grain, especially of wheat, some of which finds a vent at Odessa, and some at Dantzig. It is peculiarly adapted to pasture, and feeds numerous horses, and a breed of cows, which are highly prized, and supply a large extent of country with young cattle and fat oxen, even as far as a part of Germany. The sheep are abundant, but their wool is coarse; and few merinos have hitherto been introduced to improve the breed. Flax and hemp are raised to an extent equal to the consumption of the inhabitants. The manufactures are chiefly for domestic use; but some potash, pitch, and tar, are made for exportation. Though possessing a fruitful soil, and means of communication with both the north and the south, there is little trade, except occasionally that of corn.

PODSTEPNOI, a fortress of Asiatic Russia, in the government of Kolivan, on the Irtisch, two hundred miles south-east of Omsk.