The population—1,356,600 in 1881, and in 1884 estimated at about 1,465,000—consists principally of Russians, mixed to some extent with Mordvinians; there are also about 150,000 Mordvinians who are to a large extent Russified; some 40,000 Mescheryaks, who have undergone the same process still more fully; and 60,000 Tatars, who still keep their own religion, language, and customs. The Russians profess the Greek faith, and very many, especially in the north, are Raskolniks. Somewhat less than 10 per cent, of the population (133,250 in 1881) live in towns; the chief occupation of the inhabitants is agriculture, 61 per cent, of the soil being arable. Wheat and millet are raised only to a limited extent, the chief crops being rye, oats, buckwheat, hemp, potatoes, and beetroot. The averages for 1870-77 were 3,900,000 quarters of corn and 1,779,200 bushels of potatoes. The chief centres of corn export are Penza, Narovtchat, and Golovinshtchina. Market-gardening is successfully carried on in several districts, and improved varieties of fruit-trees are being introduced through the imperial botanical garden at Penza and a private school of gardening in the Gorodishtche district. Fourteen per cent, of the area is under meadows or grazing land; and in 1881 there were within the government 244,000 head of cattle, 383,000 horses, and 235,000 pigs. Sheep-breeding is especially developed in Tchembar and Insar (670,000 sheep, including 72,000 of finer breeds, in 1881). The Mordvinians are very partial to beekeeping. The forests (620,000 acres) are a considerable source of wealth, especially in Krasnoslobodsk and Gorodishtche, whence timber, a variety of wooden wares, and also pitch and tar are exported to the south. As many as 30 per cent, of the adult male population leave the government in search of employment, either on the Volga or in southern Russia.

The manufactures are few, employing only 13,300 hands. The yearly returns in 1879 did not exceed 13,325,000 roubles (£1,332,500). The distilleries come first (£973,200), followed by the woollen cloth industry (£237,000), the paper industry (£37,200), tanneries, soap-works, glass-works, machine-works, iron-works, and beetroot-sugar factories. Trade, which has been favoured by the completion of the railway from Tula to Samara, is still limited to the export of corn, spirits, timber, hemp-seed oil, tallow, hides, honey, wax, some woollen cloth, potash, and cattle, the chief centres for trade being Penza, Nijni Lomoff, Mokshan, Saransk, Krasnoslobodsk, and Golovinshtchina.

The government is divided into ten districts, the chief towns of which are :—Penza (41,650), Gorodishtche (3200), Insar (5230), Kerensk (12,450), Krasnoslobodsk (7000), Mokshan (13,050), Narovtchat (5150), Nijni Lomoff (10,500), Saransk (13,450), and Tchembar (5320). Troitsk (5700), Verkíinii Lomoff (7300), and Sheshkéeff (3500) also have municipal institutions.

The present government of Penza was formerly inhabited by Mordvinians, who had the Mescheryaks in the west, the Bulgars in the north, ajιd the Burtases in the south. In the 13th century these populations fell under the dominion of the Tatars, with whom they fought against Moscow. As early as the 14th century they possessed the town of Narovtchat. The Russians penetrated into the country in the 16th century, founding the town of Mokshan in 1535, and several others in the course of that and the following centuries. Penza was founded in the beginning of the 17th century, the permanent Russian settlement dating as far back as 1666. Its wooden fort, on the site of the present cathedral of the Saviour, protected the neighbourhood against risings of the Mordvinians and Mescheryaks. In 1776 it was taken by Pugatcheff. The town was almost totally destroyed by the great conflagrations of 1836, 1839, and 1858.

PENZA, capital of the above province, is situated 440 miles by rail south-east from Moscow. It is mostly built of wood, on the slopes of a plateau 730 feet above the sea, at the confluence of the little Penza with the navigable Sura. The Spasopreobrajensky cathedral was built in the end of the 17th century, the monastery of the same name, which formerly adjoined it, being now in the suburbs. A few educational and philanthropic institutions, a theatre which has played some part in the history of the Russian stage, and a municipal bank are the chief buildings of Penza, which derives its importance chiefly from its being the seat of the provincial authorities and the see of a bishop. The great bulk of the inhabitants are peasants, who support themselves by agriculture or fishing in the Sura, some artisans, and a few merchants. An imperial botanical garden is situated within 2 miles of the town. Apart from a paper-mill and two steam flour-mills, the manufacturing establishments (producing soap, candles, wax-candles, cosmetics, machinery), distilleries, breweries, and saw-mills are small. Trade in corn, oil, tallow, and spirits is on the increase. There are two fairs where cattle and horses are sold for export, grocery and manufactured wares being the corresponding imports. The population in 1881 had reached 41,650.

Penzance is said to mean “holy head,” the name being derived from a chapel dedicated to St Anthony, formerly situated on a headland now forming the base of the old pier, around which a fcλv fishermen built their huts and thus originated the town. A castle built by the Tyes, possessors of the manor of Alwarton or Alverton, is supposed to have occupied the present site of St Mary’s Church. Alice de Lisle, sister and heiress of the last Baron Tyes, obtained for the town the grant of a weekly market from Edward III. In the 15th century Penzance was known as a “place of ships and merchandise;” and on the 16th March 1512 it received from Henry VIII. a charter granting to the inhabitants all profits arising from ships visiting the harbour upon condition that the quays and bulwarks of the town were kept in repair. In 1595 the town was burned and pillaged by the Spaniards, and in 1644 sacked by Fairfax. In 1614 it was incorporated by James I.; and in 1663 it obtained a coinage charter,—a privilege it retained till 1838. On account of the usurpation of its chief magistrate its municipal charter was forfeited in the beginning of the reign of Queen Anne, but was restored in 1706. By the Municipal Act of 1835 the government was made to consist of a mayor, six aidermen, and eighteen councillors.

Lach-Szyrma, History of Penzance, 1878; Millett, Penzance Past and Present, 1876-1880.