one of the circles into which the kingdom of Bavaria is divided, and deriving its name from the chief river which flows through it. On the north it is bounded by the circle of the Upper Maine, on the north-east by Bohemia, on the south-east by the Lower Danube, on the south by the Issar, and on the south-west by the Lower Danube. It extends over 4282 square miles, and comprehends fifty-six cities and market-towns, and 3169 villages and hamlets. The population amounts to 364,470 persons. In the part which borders on Bohemia the country is mountainous, but to the south of the Danube it is generally either level or undulating. Some of the rivers run to the Maine, but the greater part of the streams find their way to the sea through the Danube. The soil to the north of the Danube is poor, but to the south of that stream is moderately productive of the common kinds of grain, and somewhat more of flax and hemp. The circle is divided into nineteen bailiwicks, several of which are under the authority of mediatised princes.