a province of Prussia, extending along the southern shore of the Baltic Sea, from long. 12° 29' to 17° 51'. It is bounded on the east by West Prussia, on the south by Brandenburg, and on the west by the duchies of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz. It extends over 12,450 square miles, but in it are included several lakes and extensive estuaries, called Haffs, which occupy more than one tenth of the whole surface. Pomerania was an independent duchy until 1637, when, by the death of the reigning prince, it descended to the elector of Brandenburg; but as, during the life of that prince, in the course of the thirty years' war, Sweden had possessed itself of the eastern part of Pomerania, including the island of Rugen and the city of Stralsund, it retained that portion till, by the treaty of 1815, the Swedish territories in Germany were ceded to Prussia, in consideration of that state having guaranteed the cession of Norway to Sweden. It was formerly divided into East and West Pomerania, the river Oder being the line of division between them; but since the whole has been under the Prussian king, it has been formed into three provincial governments, namely, Stettin, Stralsund, and Koslin. By the census of 1817 the population amounted to 689,486, and by that of 1826 it had increased to 846,722. Of these, 16,700 were military, 6700 Catholics, and 4170 Jews; the remainder were Protestants.

The whole province is a continued plain, mostly a sandy soil, covered with heaths, and occasionally with pines, and intermixed with numerous lakes of different dimensions. There are but few elevations of one hundred feet, and only one, near Koslin, which exceeds two hundred feet. The greater portion of the soil is far from fruitful, and barely produces sufficient grain and potatoes for the subsistence of the inhabitants. The chief corn is rye; very little wheat is raised; and the quantity of barley is much less than of oats. There are, however, on the banks of the Oder, and on those of some of its tributary streams, strips of land of such natural fertility as to afford good grass, both for fodder to cattle, and also for making butter and cheese. The manufactures are of the domestic kind, and mostly upon a contracted scale. The chief occupation is spinning flax, in which all females and many males are employed during the long winter evenings. Some coarse woollen cloths are made; and the breweries and distilleries are numerous. On the coast there are several of the town's establishments for building vessels of various descriptions. The climate in winter, though occasionally very cold, may be more properly described as variable, having severe frosts alternating with sudden thaws; but the unexampled increase of the population seems to show that it cannot be an insalubrious district.