a circle or government of the eastern side of the Russian empire. It was formerly a part of Lithuania, and being gained by Russia in 1654, was then called White Russia. It is 10,980 square miles in extent, and contains 1,031,850 inhabitants, who are a mixture of Russians, Poles, and Jews. The city from which the province takes its name, stands in a valley, watered by the river Dnieper, which runs from east to west, and which is navigable for barges. The city, which has been rebuilt since the war, is now said to contain 15,000 inhabitants. For this population there are upwards of twenty churches. It has a cathedral for both Catholic and Greek Christians, an ecclesiastical seminary, and a gymnasium or high grammar school. It is a frontier and fortified town, and is remarkable for the great battle fought under the walls of the city, on the 16th of August 1812.