Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 10.djvu/476

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
GAB—GYZ

458 Belgium ; but the towns of England and Wales of 50,000 inhabitants and upwards have nearly 9}). million inhabitants, or -14 per cent. of the whole population. D¢-n.-iI_i/ Qf 1’o1mlati'on.——'1‘he town population amounts in some districts, such as Gumbinuen (East Prussia) and Lower Bavaria, to only 11 to 12 per cent.; in others, as '/.wicl;au, Leipsic, Diisseldorf, it reaches 50 to 66 per cent. Arranging Germany in 13 large divisions, we get the follow- ing table, the divisions being named after their principal provinces :— I Proport ion 1- . . per cent. of Di'i~i(-us. _P°l’“;‘}'_ * st? T- mm 1‘ "" .lilc. Townlliural Popul. Popul. T. Prussia (East and Wtst)... .. 3,199,171 1532 238 76'? L’. l’omei'ani:i. S(.'lllL‘S'l,'.{-11Ul$IC1ll, .Icck- l_' 3 665 .239 H4 42,3 57 7 lcnhurg, kc. ........... .._ ......... .. ....... .. l I ’ ’ 3. I5li:‘ll;lQl1?el:l1)ll]-g(l10tlllClu(lIllg‘ Berlin) and )_ 3,.‘.6_5'c37 Hi, 30,0 7,) O L- . . - . . . . . . - - - . . o . . . - . - . . . . . . . . - - . . . . - . . . . .- 4. Ilanover, .liiuster. tlldciilu1r_s:, &c ........ ‘2.4-37,476 137 35-0 6-:r0 5. B.ivari.1 (not includim: l'ul-atiiiute) ....... .. 4.1:-‘l.l36 1&3 2-5 0 ' 7o'() 6. Prov. of S.i.;on_', _ hult, Brunswick, kc. 3.123.643 1".’-9 403 59'? 7. Silesia .. .. . .. 3_S4:‘.,61I9 247 3:3'O G7 0 8. llessc, llcssc-.'assau. .Iinden, Lippe .. .. :},flfiI3,0:3G 2-30 33 G 664 9. ’iirtcmbci';:. Baden 3 455.150 2.30 339 , 66'] 10. .-lsacc-Loi'r.iinc. Palatinate ................ .. 2,173.0-‘:8 ‘Z74 3-39 | 641 I 11. llliiiic-land, .-rnsb(-rt: ......................... .. 4.S'.’3.‘2l-5 3-3-3 (iO'2 39"?! ' 1'2. Saxony and Tliuringiai. ....................... .. 3.9-‘;!).!)7'.2 365 46-9 53-1 13. Berlin .............................................. .. 966,8-38 inc | I Total ...................... .. 4'2,7:.’7,3GO 205 ! :39 I 61 I The most thinly peopled territories are found, not as might be expected in the inouutain regions, but in some parts of the plains. There are not iuore than 50 persons to the square mile (about the same proportion as in the Scotch Highlands) on the moors of the Isar north of Munich, on the East-Frisian moors, and on the Liineburg Heath. There are 50 to 100 iuliabitants to the square mile on the Seenplatteu of Pomerania and Meckleiibiirg, on the middle ridges of Schleswig-Holstein, in the northern districts of Hanover, in the Spreewald, &c. Leaving out of account the small centres, Germany maybe roughly divided into two thinly and two densely peopled parts. In the former division has to be classed all the North German plain; there it is only in the valleys of the larger navigable rivers, and on the southern border of the plain, that the density reaches 150 to 200 inhabitants per square mile. In some places indeed it is far greater: at the mouths of the Elbe and the Weser, in East Holstein, in the delta of the Memel, 250 to 300, and in the environs of Hamburg even 400, in- habitants are found to the square mile. This region is bordered on the south by a very densely inhabited district, the northern boundary of which may be defined by a line from Breslau to Hanover, and its southern by a line from Coburg via Cassel to Miiuster. Here the density rises from 1-30 to 570 per square iuile, for in this part of Germany there are not only very fertile districts, such as the “Goldene Aue” in Tliuringia, but also centres of industry. The population is thickest in Upper Silesia around Beuthen (coal-fields), round Ratibor, Neisse, and Waldenburg (coal-fields), round Zittau (Saxony), in the Elbe valley around Dresdcn_, in the districts of Zwickau and Leipsic as far as the Saale, in the Golrlcne Aue, on the northern slopes of the Hartz, and around Bielefeld in Westphalia. In all these places the density is greater than 350 inhabitants to the square mile, and in Saxony it exceeds 500. The third division of Germany comprises I the basin of the Danube and Franeouia (the Upper Main system), and sweeps to the north-west between the valleys of the Warm and the tributaries of the Rhine as far as Sauerland. The population of Franconia rises alittle above that of the rest of this region, the density in the valley of the Regnitz between Nuremberg and B-amber r, and in the Main valley round Wiirzburg, reaching about 200 to 240 inhabitants per square mile. The fourth division embraces GEILM.-NY [rori'i._rio:'. the valleys of the Rhine and the Neclcar. In the latter and in the Upper llhiue plain agriculture has reached a high degree of perfection, anzl the soil is so fertile as to support a population of «100 per square mile. North of the Niederrheinisches Schiefergcbirge, again, are rich coal-fields, —makiug this the most important industrial district in Germany. lIere indeed, in the governmental district of Diisseldorf, the population amounts to 700 per square mile, ——abo11t the same proportion as in the West Riding of Yorkshire; but no such density as exists in Laucashire (1500 to the square mile) is found anywhere in Germany. Vest of the Rhine :1 thickly peopled district is grouped round the coal—field of the Saar basin, but there is only a scattered population in the surrounding country. (hi the Eifel there are scarcely 100 inhabitants to the square mile. 1[ouscs.—The number of houses was estimated in 1871 at 5,330,000, so that the average number of inhabitants per house is from 7 to 8. In England and Wales it is only 515 (1871). The greatest proportion of dwelliug—houscs to the population is in Alsace pe'sons to one house) and in Swabia (54). All the larger cities of Germany coiisist largely of houses in which a number of families live together. In Berlin the proportion per house is 57 pcrsoiis, while in London it is only 8. This marks one iiuportant point of difference in the habits of the two countries. 0ccupa(z'0ns.—Tlie census of 1871 distinguishes 8 prin- cipal classes of occupation, but does not subdivide these. The ofiicial returns give for each class the number of per- sons engaged in the several occupations comprised in that class, with the number of attendants and other members of the families of those so occupied. The following table pre- sents an abstract of the returns. In the case of Alsace- Lorraine the attendants are not given in the separate classes, but are all returned under class D. E"-we in ‘.‘.§.’.f‘2:l‘i:‘.3I-“ Occupations. the several members of Total. occupations. f_xmm,‘_,q , l-.' ‘.’.9i“..“_":‘.§ ‘.’.S|Si‘._.’.’ ' l _ _, ., - .-. Agricultural class ..... .. -£,1:_;‘“';Jes 975_,';,;9 5_._,4.l.._.;“ ‘- 1..’,li.l.-am l - -':;: 2 :2 2-‘ . - - B. Industrial class .......... .. ‘(';"2::'(?'7l) ]:;.1m..'.i:; - ": L’: :"_'.. '. S .. - - C. Cominerciai class ....... .. 1‘i2)(')(:,;£1) l..;,:,;: o,‘3.;6.cO-J D Domestic class (and ‘(males 1 i77.ll-9 '.’.3l-H.'.’Il.'i )_ q_—,g«u:.',.s gencral iaboiircrs) .... .. (females 936,901 4,511,404 5 ‘ ' " ' . - I 1-. 430.800 ' ' I .. . : 1-.. Army and . vy ........ .. '- o0b.4l-J I . z * "I 1'51 ‘ -- -. I G other occupations ..... .. -(’f‘:,lllll':“:;c5 . ,_ m 1...,1.ri.i. II. Persons not returned jmalcs 414.954 2.‘. ), '2 ‘i 1 ,N,_ 1'.” ' under any occupation (females 05'.’H,s.~l (‘.£H‘i:.s'-3 } " " " I. Not stated (poor, the ) 4:;.'__m;.s- I Total ............. .. 1.7.-'»~l".Cl0 | -2r..osn.-214 -ii_o:..-_n-2 This table does 1iot admit of comparison with the census returns of England and Wales, the mode of classification being different. It will be seen that more persons belong to the industrial than to theagricultural class. I.'oL'srnIEs. Some account of different industries has already been given in connexion with the productions of the empire. The principal textile manufactures have still to be noticed. Cotton Jlrm1fl¢cture.——Before 1371 the production of cot- ton fabrics in France exceeded that in Germany; but as the cotton manufacture is pursued largely in Alsace, more than 2 million spindles being employed there, the balance is now against the former country. In 1873 there were about 5 million spindles in Germany and 4,611,000 in France.

From the subjoined table of imports and exports (gross