The claim of the above population statistics to accuracy becomes better from year to year, as the number of countries which take an official census steadily increases, and the method of taking the census continues to be improved. However, the aggregate population of all the countries in which an official census is taken was in 1880 estimated at only 626,000,000, and for the majority of the total population of the earth we are still dependent on mere estimates. (See CENSUS.) II. RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS.-In most of the European countries as well as in their colonies, in which an official census is taken, the religious denomination of the inhabitants is among the inquiries which have to be made by the census-taker. There has been of late a tendency in several countries to omit the religious feature of the enumeration, but we have for nearly every country at least one census which includes the religious denomination of the inhabitants. As it can be shown that the percentage of the religious denominations in the European countries has not been materially DIVISIONS. America (inclusive of Greenland). Europe (inclusive of Iceland).. Asia.. Africa. Australia and Polynesia.. Total....... changed during the last fifty years, the results of one census containing the religious statistics of a country are sufficient to form an estimate of the present strength of the religious denominations, which may be accepted as nearly correct. In the United States the bishops furnish annually an estimate of the Catholic population, while nearly all the Protestant denominations publish the statistics of their actual (adult) members. For the non-Christian countries, the number of the Christian inhabitants can be ascertained with tolerable accuracy from missionary accounts. As the immense majority of the Christian population lives in countries where statistical investigations are steadily improved, we are on the whole well informed on the statistics of the Christian population of the globe. A revision of the religious statistics published in former volumes of the "Annual Cyclopædia," on the basis of the official statements above referred to, gives the following results in regard to the numerical strength of the Christian population of the globe at the close of the year 1880: Christianity is the prevailing religion in every state of Europe, except Turkey; in every State of America, in the Australian colonies, and most of the Polynesian Islands. In Africa, the independent Christian states are Abyssinia, Liberia, Madagascar, and the Orange Free State; while Christianity also prevails in the European colonies. The largest empire in Asia-Russiais also a Christian country. India, the third Asiatic country in point of extent and the second in point of population, is under the rule of a Christian government, and so is a large portion of Farther India. As regards non-Christian forms of religion, the number of Jews can be ascertained with about the same degree of accuracy as that of Christians, and is now generally estimated at from 7,000,000 to 8,000,000. The number of Mohammedans is conceded to be much larger than it is represented in former estimates, and may be assumed as not falling short of 230,000,000. (See MOHAMMEDANISM.) No trustworthy statistics can be given of Buddhism, which prevails in Farther India, China, and Japan. Recent reports from Japan claim, however, nearly the entire population of that country for Buddhism. (See JAPAN.) Brahmanism is the prevailing religion in British India. III. STATISTICS OF SEX.-According to the latest accounts, the number of females for 1,000 males was in the countries from which statistics on this subject could be obtained as follows: 5,000,000 16,200,000 3.400,000 COUNTRIES. Austro-Hungry Letters. 458,300,000 Brazil.. 627,800,000 79.900.000 25,500,000 public... Letters. 956,700,000 Chili... Canada.. Greece 2,700,000 Chili.. 80,400,000 8,900,000 71,700,000 EASTERN QUESTION, THE.* Most of the provisions of the Treaty of Berlin were suc53,700,000 cessfully carried out in the course of the year 7,000,000 1879. The organization of Bulgaria as a semi1,000,000 independent principality was completed. East 115,100,000 Roumelia, though not as independent, likewise began its autonomous existence, with so strong a predominance of Bulgarian influence as to 6,900,000 make the future reunion of the province with Bulgaria highly probable. Austria added the occupation of Novi Bazar to that of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which had been effected in 1878. Russia evacuated in August, as had been stipulated, Bulgaria and East Roumelia. Previously a special treaty between Russia and Turkey had made provision for the indemnity to be paid by Turkey to Russia. The British Government instructed Sir Henry Layard to make an energetic representation to the Porte on the subject of the reforms promised in the Anglo-Turkish Convention, and, when a British fleet was ordered into Turkish waters, the Turkish Government deemed it necessary to appoint Baker Pasha to a mission of inquiry in Asia. The "World's Postal Union" was established by an international postal treaty concluded at Berne, October 9, 1874, and enlarged by the Paris Treaty of June 1, 1878. It embraces at present a territory of 73,000,000 square kilometres (1 square kilometre 0.386 square mile), with a population of 755,000,000. The following countries belong to the Union: In Europe: All the countries. In Asia Asiatic Russia, Asiatic Turkey, Persia, British India, Japan, the British, French, Dutch, Spanish, and Portuguese colonies, and the British post-offices in China. In Africa: Egypt, Algeria, Tripoli, Tunis, Liberia, Zanzibar, the French, Portuguese, and Spanish colonies, and a part of the British. In America: The Argentine Republic, Brazil, Canada and Newfoundland, Chili, the United States of America, Greenland, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Salvador, Venezuela, Ecuador, Uruguay, San Domingo, the Danish, French, Dutch, and Spanish colonies, and a part of the Two important provisions of the Berlin Treaty remained, however, unexecuted at the close of 1879. Neither Greece nor Montenegro had at that time obtained the territorial concessions which were promised at Berlin. The accession of a Liberal Government to office in England seemed to deprive Turkey of its only protector among the great powers of Europe, and to hasten the reorganization of the Balkan Peninsula. Lord Granville's appointment to the Foreign Office was, however, generally accepted as a pledge that the Liberal Government would be cautious and moderate. Mr. Goschen's mission to Constantinople, preceded by a visit to the capitals of some of the great powers, was the first step toward the formation of a European concert Continuing the article in "Annual Cyclopædia" for 1878, p. 252. As regards the rectification of the Turco-Greek boundary, the Porte has for some time had before it a had received the assent of the other powers, that an proposal made by the Marquis of Salisbury, which international commission should proceed to the frontier provinces to determine this rectification. Although the Government of the Sultan have by such a commission in the execution of the arrangepointed out the difficulty which might be encountered ment to which they were asked to agree, they have not yet given a definite reply. The mediating powers have consequently found themselves under the necessity of treating this silence as a refusal, and they have been obliged, as the next step, to consider the means by which the solution of the Greco-Turkish frontier question-a solution which the powers had in vain tried to arrive at in concert with the Sublime Porte, and which the interests both of Turkey and of Greece require-might now be secured as speedily as possible. sentatives at the court of his Imperial Majesty the They have accordingly decided that their repreGerman Emperor should meet in conference at Berlin on the 16th inst., in order to decide by a majority of votes, and with the assistance of officers possessed of it will be best to adopt. the necessary technical knowledge, the line of frontier They have likewise agreed that, when a decision shall have been come to by the conference, a commission may proceed to the frontier to settle the questions of detail arising out of the general plan. The state of things created in another quarter by the question of the Montenegrin frontier requires, in the opinion of the powers, more pressing attention and an immediate solution." The Turkish authorities have failed to carry out the engagement entered into between the Porte and Montenegro, and adhered to by the representatives of the powers in the protocol of the 18th of April, 1880. They have compromised the agreement accepted by his Imperial Majesty the Sultan, by allowing the Albanians to occupy certain frontier positions assigned to the Montenegrins, and a collision may at any time occur between the Montenegrins and the Albanian forces opposed to them. The powers, therefore, consider themselves abso In conclusion, the attention of the powers has been drawn to a third point. By the sixty-first article of the Treaty of Berlin of the 13th of July, 1878, the Sublime Porte undertook to carry out, without further delay, the improvements and administrative reforms demanded by local requirements in the provinces inhabited by the Armenians, and to guarantee their security against the attacks and the violence of the Circassians and Kurds, and periodically to make known the steps taken to this effect to the powers, who are to superíntend their application. So far as her Majesty's Government are aware, nothing has been done by the Sublime Porte to make known the steps which it may have taken in order to meet the stipulations of Article LXI of the Treaty of Berlin; nor have any measures been adopted by the Porte for the superintendence to be exercised by the powers. ambassador was unanimously adopted. The text of the note is as follows: lutely bound to request the Government of his Imperial Majesty to state in the most explicit terms what their intentions are as regards the Montenegrin frontier, and to put into immediate execution the arrange- The undersigned, ambassadors or ministers accredment come to between the Sublime Porte and Monte-ited to the courts of his Majesty the Sultan of Turkey negro. The powers hold the Sublime Porte responsible and of his Majesty the King of the Hellenes, have in advance for the grave consequences that might be the honor, in accordance with the wishes of their reproduced by a further delay in giving satisfaction to spective Governments, to submit to the Ministers of the rights acquired by the principality. Foreign Affairs of the Sublime Porte and of Greece the following note: The Congress of Berlin having indicated in its thirteenth protocol the principal points of the frontier line which it deemed necessary to establish between Turkey and Greece, the powers have, in the first place, called attention to the direct negotiations on this subject between the two states. At the two sittings of the conferences at Prevesa and Constantinople, the Turkish and Greek commissioners, after several long pourparlers had taken place, only succeeded in making more apparent the differences between them. In view of these unfruitful attempts at a solution of the question, the Powers named by the Treaty of Berlin have considered it necessary to interpose their mediation. This mediation, in order to be effectual, it was necessary to exercise in all its fullness, and the Cabinets, in view of the reciprocal dispositions of the two interested states, have authorized their representatives assembled in conference in Berlin to fix, according to the general indications of the thirteenth protocol, a line which would form a good and solid boundary between Turkey and Greece. The plenipotentiaries, after a most searching discussion, in which they were aided by the advice of the Technical Commissioners appointed by the various Governments, have unanimously voted, according to the terms of their mandate, the following tracing of the frontier line, which resumes and closes their deliberations: As the pourparlers between Turkey and Greece did not lead to any result, the undersigned plenipotentiaries of the powers appointed by the provisions of the act of July 13, 1879, to exercise a mediation between the two countries, have assembled in Berlin, in conformity with the instructions of their Governments, and after a long and earnest deliberation, inspired by the spirit of the thirteenth protocol of the Treaty of Berlin, have adopted unanimously the following line of demarkation: The frontier line will follow the valley of the Kalamas from the mouth of that river, in the Ionian Sea, to its source in the neighborhood of Kalbaki. It will proceed to the north of the Vonitza, the Haliaemon,and the Mayroneri and their tributaries, and to the south of the Kalamas, the Larta, the Aspropotamos, and the Salamyrias and their tributaries, over the Olympus, the crest of which it will follow as far as its eastern extremity on the Egean Sea. This line leaves to the south the Lake of Janina and all its affluents, and also Metzovo, which thus remains in the possession of Greece. The Governments of Germany, Austria, Hungary, France, Great Britain, Italy, and Russia, therefore invite the Governments of the Sultan and of the King of the Hellenes to accept the frontier line as indicated in the above document. The mediating powers thus assembled in conference have acted in strict conformity to the terms of the Treaty of Berlin and of the thirteenth protocol of the conference. (Here follow the signatures.) All the reports furnished by the agents of the powers show that the state of these provinces is deplorable, and her Majesty's Government can not admit that the clauses of the Treaty of Berlin relating to the amelioration of this state of things should remain any longer a dead letter. They are convinced that only united and incessant pressure on their part will induce the Sublime Porte to fulfill its duties in this respect. Her Majesty's Government, therefore, as one of the signatory powers of the Treaty of Berlin, must demand the complete and immediate execution of Article LXI of that treaty, and call upon the Government of his Imperial Majesty the Sultan to state explicitly what the steps are which they have taken in order to fulfill the provisions of this article. In bringing these views to the knowledge of your Excellency, I consider it my duty to call your most serious attention to the grave responsibility the Porte would incur by any fresh delay in the execution of the measures which the powers agree in considering to be essential to the interests of the Ottoman Empire and of Europe. I have, etc., G. J. GOSCHEN. The conference, as indicated in the preceding note, met at Berlin, on June 16th, under the presidency of Prince Hohenlohe, the Prussian plenipotentiary. The other members of the conference were Count Szechenyi, ambassador of Austro-Hungary; M. de St. Vallier, ambassador of France; M. de Saburoff, ambassador of Russia; Lord Odo Russell, ambassador of England; Count de Launay, ambassador of Italy. The work of suggesting to the plenipotentiaries a new frontier between Greece and Turkey, in accordance with the general geographical idea thrown out in the thirteenth protocol of the Berlin Congress, was intrusted to a so-called "Technical Commis sion." Colonel Blume, previously of the German general staff and War Office, and at the time commanding the Thirty-sixth Brandenburg Fusileers, was unanimously elected president, a post which was also conferred upon him by the Technical Commission which sat in Berlin during the Congress. The conference had its last sitting on July 2d, in which a collective note which had been drafted by the French The territory which, according to this collective note, is to be ceded to Greece, has an area of 8,500 square miles, with about 535,000 inhabitants. This would be an important accession for a kingdom whose present extent does not exceed 20,000 square miles. Of these 535,000 inhabitants about 470,000, or 88 per cent., are Greek Christians, 60,000 are Mohammedans, and 4,000 Jews. But few of the inhabitants are unable to speak Greek. The Berlin Congress of 1878 had vaguely indicated the rivers Kalamas and Salamvria (Peneus), the one tributary to the Ionian, the other to the Ægean Sea, as forming a suitable base for direct negotiations between the two powers principally concerned. But while Turkey objected to yielding anything except a small slice of territory on the Gulf of Volo, Greece, encouraged by France, not only claimed the whole of the basins drained by the two rivers referred to in the Berlin Treaty, but also several districts lying to the north of those basins. The boundary suggested by Greece in December, 1879, embraced a territory of 9,400 square miles, with a population of 650,000 souls. It will be seen that Greece claimed about 900 square miles, with 115,000 inhabitants, more than the Berlin conference was found willing to concede. Greece, however, is to be put in possession of Janina, which lies within the basin of the Kalamas. Its lake, draining into that river through underground channels, has been allotted to Greece, but not the main road which connects the capital of Epirus with the coast opposite Corfu. The district of the Zagory, on the upper Vovussa or Viossa, which has been, since 1850, in the enjoyment of autonomous institutions, is cut in twain by the new boundary. In Thessaly, on the other hand, Greece has obtained nearly all she demanded, and the valley of Tempe and the lofty ranges of Olympus are to lie within the territory of the Hellenes. According to nationality, there live in the territory to be ceded to Greece, in accordance with the Berlin conference, about 366,000 Greeks, 80,000 Zinzars, 50,000 Albanians, 45,000 Turks, and 4,000 Jews. In Thessaly the fertile plains extending between Larissa, Pharsala, and Volo are almost wholly in the occupation of Turkish agriculturists. The ranges of the Pindus, which separate Thessaly from Epirus, are inhabited by Zinzars, Kutzo, or Pindo-Wallachians, a Latin race akin to the Roumanians, and, like them, supposed to be the descendants of Roman legionaries. These Zinzars are a thrifty people, who readily amalgamate with the Greeks. In Epirus, though the Greeks are in a majority, there exists a strong Albanian element. The Mohammedan Albanians, not exceeding 15,000 in number, seem to be averse to be severed from their countrymen in the north; but not so the Christian Albanians. None fought more vigorously for Greek independence than the Albanian Suliotes. Greek is universally understood throughout Epirus. The Berlin conference, by directing Turkey to cede the disputed districts to Greece, hoped to avoid the outbreak of another apparently impending war between the nationalities of the Balkan Peninsula. The Turkish Government contested, however, the validity of this mandate, and was resolute in its resistance. As the powers were unable to agree upon an enforcement of the award of the conference, the frontier question remained undecided at the close of the year 1880. (See GREECE and TURKEY.) In the mean while the powers had dealt more peremptorily with the Montenegrin question. Separate attempts to bend the Sultan's will having failed, a collective note was presented, which was met with dilatory pleas. Ultimately the powers decided upon insisting that the town and district of Dulcigno should be peacefully surrendered to Montenegro by a fixed date, and, when Turkey still held back, a conjoint squadron, under the English admiral, Sir Beauchamp Seymour, assembled at Ragusa. As the admirals of the squadrons were, however, not empowered to give active aid to the Montenegrins, the Porte, on October 4th, issued a defiant note, but when England proposed to send the squadron to Smyrna with a view to putting pressure upon the Sultan by the sequestration of the customs revenue, the menace sufficed to bring the Turks to a sudden submission, and only four days after the issue of the defiant note, it was announced that the Porte would unconditionally surrender Dulcigno. Again new difficulties were raised by the Turks, when they found out that the powers would not have proceeded to coercion, but at length Dervish Pasha handed Dulcigno over to the Montenegrins. (See MONTENEGRO and TURKEY.) EASTERN ROUMELIA, an autonomous province of Turkey, created in 1878 by the Treaty of Berlin; area, 35,387 square kilometres; population in 1880, 815,513, of whom 573,231 are Bulgarians, 174,759 Turks, 42,516 Greeks, 19,524 gypsies, 4,177 Jews, and 1,306 Armenians. According to an estimate made by the Servian statistician Jakshitch, about three fifths of the population are Christians. The Governor-General is Prince Alexander Vogorides (Aleko Pasha), appointed May 18, 1879, installed in office May 30, 1879. According to the Constitution of 1879, drawn up by a national convention, and consisting of fifteen chapters, with 495 articles, the legislative power is in the hands of a single Chamber, called the Provincial Assembly. It is partly official, partly elective, and partly nominated by the Governor. The official members are the chief judicial and ecclesiastical dignitaries, to the number of nine; the elective members numbering thirty-six, and the nominated ten. Half of the elected members vacate their seats every two years. The electoral body consists of all men of Roumelian nationality who are of full age and of a certain property qualification, either individually or through their parents. The minimum age of candidates for election is twenty-five, but otherwise their qualification is the same as that of electors, public functionaries being excluded. The Assembly meets annually on the second Monday in October, at the capital. During the administration of Eastern Roumelia by the Russians, till the end of March, 1879, a reserve of 12,000,000 lei, or $2,328,000, was formed and handed over to the new Government, to be expended in the execution of public |