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ARBUCKLES' ILLUSTRATED ATLAS
of Fifty Principal Nations of the World
(Actual Size: 6-7/8" x 11-1/8" - shown approx. 1/2 scale)
CLICK on any map to see the
corresponding card as it was originally issued. |
France, Central America, Greenland, Switzerland
(facing page)
FRANCE.
FRANCE, one of the largest and most
important countries of Europe, is bounded
N. by the English Channel and the Strait
of Dover; W. by the Bay of Biscay; S. by
the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean Sea.
Since September 4, 1870, France has been
under a Republican form of government.
The legislative power is vested in the
Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, and
the executive in the President (elected
for seven years) and the Ministry.
The
surface of France is on the whole a
somewhat monotonous plain, inclining
gently downwards from the Alps and the
Pyrenees in a north-westerly direction to
the Atlantic. The climate is remarkably
fine.
Area
204,080 square miles; population 37,
672,000. The country is essentially
agricultural, the South rich in vines and
fruits, the North in wheat and other
cereals. The French have long been
esteemed the first of wine-makers. France
has many industries, the principal being
the production of silks and velvets.
Paris, the capital (and by far the most
beautiful of the large cities of Europe,
singularly rich in public buildings, and
especially palaces), is noted for the
variety and extent of its manufactures,
including machinery, chemicals,
porcelain, mirrors, clocks, watches,
gloves, hosiery, modes, and
above all in jewelry; Sèvres has great
manufactures of porcelain and glass ware;
Rheims, of merinoes; Gobelins, of
tapestry and cashmeres.
France has productive coast fisheries.
The Normandy breed of horses is famous.
The
colonial possessions and protectorates of
France (including Algeria), dispersed
over Asia, Africa, America and Polynesia,
embrace a total area of 2,814,000 square
miles with a population of 30,520,293.
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CENTRAL AMERICA.
CENTRAL
AMERICA forms the connecting link between
the two greater divisions of the
continent, and comprises the Republics of
Guatemala, Honduras, Salvador, Nicaragua
and Costa Rica, and the British Colony of
Balize or British Honduras.
Area,
179,742 square miles. Population,
2,417,300.
The
executive government of the republics is
vested in Governors, and the legislative
in National Assemblies, Councils, or
Congress of Deputies.
GUATEMALA
has an exceedinly fertile soil, and
minerals exist, but are little worked.
Sixty per cent. of population are pure
Indians.
HONDURAS
has forests or mahogany and other cabinet
woods, and is rich in gold, silver,
copper and coal, which are, however,
little wrought.
NICARAGUA
has left her magnificent resources almost
wholly undeveloped, and the chief
occupation is the rearing of cattle,
carried on in a rude fashion.
SALVADOR
is the smallest but most densely
populated, and next to Costa Rica, most
advanced of the Republics of Central
America. San Salvador, the capital, has
been repeatedly destroyed by earthquakes.
In
COSTA RICA almost anything can be grown,
but in 1889 the principal agricultural
products were coffee and bananas.
BALIZE
is noted for its production of mahogany
and logwood. The transit trade greatly
increases the traffic of her ports.
The
principal exports from Central America
are coffee and indigo; others are hides,
skins, cocoanuts, bananas, pineapples,
sugar, gums and drugs, Peruvian
balsam," mahogany and other woods.
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GREENLAND.
GREENLAND,
a polar region belonging to Denmark,
being a large island or cluster of
islands of unknown size, N.E. of the N.
American continent. Its area is about
46,740 square miles, and the population
in 1880 was 9,780, composed of native
Eskimos and some Danes. The east coast is
quite desolate and almost inaccessible,
being beset by immense ice fields, from
which great floes constantly pass around
Cape Farewell to the west coast, the only
part of Greenland hitherto at all
explored. For about 100 miles this west
part presents first an outward sea-board
strip from 15 to 150 miles broad, cut
with bays, and skirted with islands. This
strip hides an "underland" less
bleak, yet well nigh barren of plant
life, but farther inland the vegetation
becomes less stinted, though still
restricted to the valleys and lower
slopes where are found grass and
shrubbery plants yelding
"ling-fuel," also
whortleberries, bilberries and
crake-berries, which are universally used
as food. Corn cannot be ripened. For
fuel; turf, drift timber, and train-oil
are chiefly used. Of animals, the natives
have only the dog. Hares, foxes, bears,
penguins and other sea birds are hunted.
But it is the capture of seals (90,000 to
100,000 are taken yearly) that supports
the life of the Greenlanders and makes
Greenland of any importance. As early as
the 9th century the Norwegian prosecuted
the whale fishery in Greenland. Owing to
the scarcity of whales, the fishery has
decreased rapidly. America at present
leads the van in the matter of fishing
enterprise. At Godhaven (Herrnhut) the
sun is six, and at Upernavik eleven and a
half weeks below the horizon, but there
always remain two or three hours clear
enough for reading the smallest print.
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SWITZERLAND.
SWITZERLAND
is a united confederacy of 22 Cantons.
The present Constitution came into force
on May 29, 1874, having received the
national sanction by a general vote of
the people, given April 19, 1874. It
vests the supreme legislative and
executive authority in a parliament of
two chambers, a State Council and a
Nationl Council. Both chambers united are
called the Federal Assem bly, and as such
represent the supreme Government of the
Republic. The chief executive authority
is deputed to a 'Bundesrath,' or Federal
Council, consisting of seven members,
elected for three years by the Federal
Assembly.
The
area of Switzerland is 15,910 square
miles, and the soil of the country is
very equally divided among the
population, which in 1880 was 2,846,000.
Berne is the political capital.
Switzerland
is in the main an agricultural country,
though with a strong tendency to
manufacturing industries. The dairy
products, especially cheese and condensed
milk, are of the most commercial
importance. About 22 millions of gallons
of wine are produced annually. Amongst
the chief exports are cottons, silk,
lace, wools, clocks and watches,
wood-carvings and machinery. Rye, oats
and potatoes are the chief crops.
The
physical features of Switzerland are very
remarkable, affording greater contrasts
than those of any other country in
Europe; offering to the eye sublime snow
capped mountains and glaciers,
alternating with the most beautiful
vally, river, lake and woodland scenery.
Mont Blanc towers to a height of 15,781
feet and the Matterhorn, a famous
needle-shaped peak, to 14,780 feet.
The
characteristic animals are the chamois,
steinbock, the lammergeyer (a large
species of vulture) and the marmot.
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