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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. |
Chili, Denmark, Peru, Turkey
(facing page)
CHILI.
CHILI or CHILE, on the W. coast of South
America, has a coast line of 1500 miles
and includes several islands. Cape Horn
is the most southerly point, the
extremity of an island of the same name,
and which is a bare precipitous rock,
with a perennially Antarctic climate. The
country stretching N. & S. in a long,
narrow strip, is cut off from the rest of
the continent by the Andes, which here
form a magnificent ridge. It consists of
numerous offsets of the great range, and
of intervening valleys of great fertility
and beauty, which open upon the sea.
The
Republic revolted against Spain in 1813
and won its independence in 1818, and has
since, in spite of repeated internal
dissensions, firmly established its
position as the most stable and
enlightened of the S. American
governments.
The
legislative power is vested in the
National Congress, consisting of two
assemblies, called the Senate and the
Chamber of Deputies, and the executive is
exercised by a President, elected for a
term of five years, and assisted in his
functions by a Council of State and a
Cabinet or Ministry.
The
approximate area is 210,000 square miles.
Population 2,223,000. The territory of
Autofagasta was taken from Bolivia in
1879-80; and Tarapaca, the nitre
province, ceded by Peru, October 20,
1887, since which date a large amount of
British capital has been employed in
developing the nitre industry. About one
and one-half millions of the population
are engaged in agriculture. The principal
minerals are gold, silver, copper, lead,
iron, tin, coal and precious stones.
Santiago
is the capital, the country surrounding
which is exceedingly fertile, the climate
delightful, and the views of the not far
distant Andes magnificent.
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DENMARK.
DENMARK,
in the N. of Europe, embraces the
peninsula of Jutland and the islands
Seeland, Moen, Fünen, Laaland, Falster,
Bornholm, etc. The surface of mainland
and islands alike is singularly flat, and
is elevated but little above the level of
the sea.
The
climate is somehwat severer than that of
Britain, but is free from violent
extremes.
By
the Constitution the executive power is
in a hereditary King and his responsible
Ministers, and the legislative in the
Rigsdag or Diet, comprising two Houses.
The
area of Denmark, including the Faeroe
Islands, is 14,780 square miles, of which
80 per cent. is productive. Population,
1,960,000, nearly one-half of whom live
exclusively by agriculture, the other
half living by manufacturing industries,
trade, seafaring and fishing.
The
Danes belong to the Scandinavian branch
of the Teutonic family. They are a
strong, muscular people, with regular
features, light hair and blue eyes.
The
chief exports are pork, butter, eggs,
lard, live animals, grain, flour, hides,
leather and gloves. Jutland has a
celebrated breed of horses, admirably
adapted for light cavalry. There is a
considerable emigration from Denmark,
chiefly to the United States.
The
Colonial possessions of Denmark consist
of Iceland, Greenland and the West Indian
Islands of St. Croix, St. Thomas and St.
John, with a total area of 86,614 square
miles and a population of 115,988.
Copenhagen
("merchant's haven"), the
capital, has a splendid harbor, is rich
in museums of antiquities, natural
history, numismatics, &c., and
contains some of the masterpieces of
Thorswalden, the famous Danish sculptor.
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PERU.
PERU.--The
Republic of Peru, formerly the most
important of the Spanish Viceroyalties in
South America, declared its independence
July 28th, 1821. The present
Constitution, revised November, 1860, is
modelled on that of the United States,
the legislative power being vested in a
Senate and House of Representatives, and
the executive being entrusted to a
President, elected for four years, who
exercises his functions through a Cabinet
of five ministers.
The area is 425,000 square miles, and the
population (including about 350,000
uncivilized Indians) 3,050,000. Lima, the
metropolis, is one of the gayest and
grossest capitals in the world.
The
scenery of Peru is probably unique for
imposing grandeur and variety, a
distinction due to the singular contour
of its surface. Within its limits are to
be found a number of the loftiest
mountain peaks, the most stupendous
precipices and ravines, the most arid and
desolate plateaux, and the most fruitful
tropical valleys to be met with in the
world.
Peru
is pre-eminent over all South American
countries for the frequency and violence
of its earthquakes.
The
staple productions of Peru are cotton,
coffee, cocoa, rice, sugar, tobacco,
wines and spirits and maize. Besides
these there are in the country India
rubber, cinchona, dyes, medicinal plants
and balms and the wool of the alpaca and
the vicuña. The guano deposits are to a
great extent exhausted, the quantity
exported to Great Britain being only
6,064 tons in 1889 as against 156,864
tons in 1876, and the nitrate province of
Tarapaca now belongs to Chili. Gold
mining is now inconsiderable, but silver,
copper and tin are still worked.
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TURKEY.
TURKEY,
or Ottoman Empire, one of the largest and
most populous States of the Old World,
consisting of adjacent parts of
southeastern Europe, Western Asia and
Northern Africa.
The
fundamental laws of the Empire are based
on the Koran, and the will of the Sultan
is absolute, in so far as not in
opposition to the accepted truths of the
Mahometan religion. The legislative and
executive authority is exercised under
the supreme direction of the Sultan, by
two high dignitaries, the Grand Vizier
and the "Sheik-ul-Islam." The
whole of the empire is divided into
governments, subdivided into provinces
and districts.
European
Turkey is represented on accompanying
map. Area, 63,800 square miles.
Population, 4,490,000. It is for the most
part mountainous, but with richly varied
scenery; its fertility is boundless, and
its climate, as a whole, is genial and
healthy. Only a small proportion of
arable land is under cultivation, and the
system of agriculture is most primitive.
The Turkish peasant is industrious,
ignorant and submissive. The principal
products are tobacco, cereals of all
kinds, cotton, figs, nuts, almonds,
grapes, olives, and all variety of
fruits. Coffee, madder, opium and gums
are largely exported. Other exports are
wools, silks, carpets, morocco leather,
meerschaum, attar of roses, drugs and
dyestuffs. The want of roads and means of
conveyance are great obstacles to
cultivation and trade.
Constantinople,
the capital, and metropolis of the
empire, is the residence of the Turkish
Sultan, whose seraglio or palace, is of
vast extent. Of its 344 mosques, the most
interesting in Constantinople is that
which was formerly the Church of St. Sophia.
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