COURLAND, or Kurland, one of the Baltic provinces of Russia, lying between 56° and 57° 45' N. lat. and 21° and 27° E. long., is bounded on the N.E. by the River Düna, separating it from the governments of Vitebsk and Livonia, N. by the Gulf of Riga, W. by the Baltic, and S. by the government of Kovno. The area is 10,535 square miles, of which 101 square miles are occupied by lakes. Population (1870), ’619,154. The surface is generally low, and the coast-lands, which run out northwards, inclosing the Gulf of Riga, by a broad promontory to the Domes-näs, opposite the island of Oesel, are flat and marshy. The interior is characterized by wooded dunes, covered with pine, fir, birch, and oak, with swamps and lakes and fertile patches between. Usmaiten, the largest lake, is 24 miles in circuit. The highest point of the province, called the Hüningsberg, in the neighbourhood of the capital, is scarcely 700 feet above the sea. The Windau, Aa, and the frontier river Düna pass through the province from the south-east. Owing to the numerous lakes and marshes the climate is damp and foggy, and the winter is severe, though less rigorous than that of Livonia. Agriculture is the chief occupation of the inhabitants, the principal crops being rye, barley, and oats; flax, hemp, and a little tobacco are also grow n. Fisheries, cattle-rearing, and hunting are also carried on to some extent. Except in the making of tiles and in distillation manufactures are insignificant. Iron and limestone are the chief minerals of the province; amber is found on the coasts. The peasantry of Courland are partly the Letts of Courland, or Kures, mixed with Polish and Russian blood; partly Esthonian Letts, with German, Swedish, and Finnish admixture, such as the Livs of the north west coast of the ...