VILNA, or Wilno, a Lithuanian government of west Russia, has the Polish province of Suwatki on the W., Kovno and Vitebsk on the N. and E., and Minsk and Grodno on the E. and S. Its area is 16,421 square miles. Vilna lies on the broad marshy swelling, dotted with lakes, which separates Poland (q.v.) from East Prussia and stretches east-north-east towards the Valdai Plateau. Its highest parts are a little more than 1000 feet above sea-level. On its western and eastern boundaries Vilna is deeply trenched by the valleys of the Niemen and the Dwina. Devonian limestones crop out in the northeast. Elsewhere they are concealed by the marine and freshwater limestones and sandstones of the Eocene period, which cover nearly the whole of Vilna; and these in their turn are overlain by thick layers of boulder clay, sands, and lacustrine deposits. The soil is for the most part clayey or sandy, fertile loam appearing only in the depression watered by the Vilia. Numerous lakes and marshes, partly covered with forests, and scarcely passable except when frozen, as well as wet meadow-land, occupy a large area in the central parts of Vilna. The Niemen, which flows along the southern and western borders for more than 200 miles, is the chief artery of trade for the government, and its importance in this respect is enhanced by its tributary the Vilia, which flows west for more than 200 miles through the central parts of Vilna, receiving many affluents on its course. Among the tributaries of the Niemen is the Berezina, which acquired renown during Napoleon’s retreat in 1812; it flows in a marshy valley in the south-east. The Dwina for 50 miles of its course separates Vilna from Vitebsk. The combined traffic on the Niemen and the Dwina was valued at nearly £200,000 in 1883. The climate of the ...government is only slightly tempered by its proximity to the Baltic Sea (January 21°∙8 Fahr.; July 64° ∙5); the average temperature at the town of Vilna is only 43° ∙5. But in winter the thermometer descends very low, the minimum observed during the last sixty years being - 30°. The flora and fauna are intermediate between those of Poland and middle Russia. The population of Vilna, which amounted to 1,223,260 in 1883, consists chiefly of Lithuanians (35 per cent.) in the west and north and White Russians (45 per cent.) in the south and east. Jews make up 11 per cent. of the population; and the Poles, who constitute the landed aristocracy and the artisan classes of the towns, reach 7 per cent. A few Great Russians and Tatars, descendants of Crimean prisoners, must be added to the above. Roman Catholicism is the prevailing creed among the Lithuanians and Poles; and the White Russians belong for the most part to the Greek and Nonconformist Churches.
In spite of the unfertile soil, sufficient cereals are grown for the needs of the population and to supply the distilleries. The average crops of 1882-1885 were 1,010,000 quarters of rye, 44,000 of wheat, 790,000 of various kinds of grain, and 9,840,000 bushels of potatoes. Apart from finer breeds kept by a few landowners, the cattle of the peasantry belong to inferior varieties. In 1883 there were 203,620 horses, 303,100 horned cattle, 277,800 sheep, and 238,800 pigs. More than one-third of the area is covered with forests, whence a considerable quantity of timber is exported, partly to Germany, for shipbuilding. A variety of petty trades are carried on in the villages of the forest region,—sledges, cars, wheels, and wooden ware being made by the peasants. Tar, pitch, and potash are exported. The manufactures have only begun to develop of late. In 1884 there were 300 establishments employing 3020 men, and giving an annual output valued at £885,100 (as against £200,000 in 1860). An active trade in timber, corn, and flax (exported) and in manufactured goods (imported) is carried on. Vilna is divided into seven districts, the chief towns of which (with their populations in 1883) are—Vilna (see below), Vileika (3905), Disna (8030), Lidy or Lida (7940), Oshmiany (4470), Svienciany (8510), and Troki (2440).
VILNA, or Wilno, capital of the above government, is situated 436 miles to the south-west of St Petersburg, at the junction of the Vilia with the Vileika, and at the intersection of two great railway lines, one from St Petersburg to Warsaw, the other from Libau to the mouth of the Don. It is an old town, rich in historical associations. Its imperial palace, and the cathedral of St Stanislaus, containing the silver sarcophagus of St Casimir, are fine buildings. The (Greek) cathedral of the Holy Virgin contains the remains of Prince Olgerd (baptized in 1377) and his family. The museum of antiquities has valuable historical collections of the region. The ancient castle of the Jagellones is now a mass of ruins. The old university, founded in 1576, was restored by Alexander I., but has been closed since 1832 for political reasons; the only departments which remain in activity are the astronomical observatory and a medical academy. The scientific societies of Vilna, especially the medical and archaeological, are well known. In spite of the war of 1812, and the Polish risings of 1831 and 1863, the population has of late increased rapidly. In 1883 it numbered 93,760. The inhabitants are chiefly Roman Catholics in religion and Poles by nationality. The Jews are steadily increasing in numbers and now make more than one-third of the population. The town has an important trade in timber (with Prussia), as also in corn.
History.— The territory of Vilna has certainly been occupied by the Lithuanians since the 10th century, and probably much earlier; their chief fortified town, Vilna, is first mentioned in 1128. A temple to the god Perkunas stood on one of its hills till 1387, when it was destroyed by Jagello, after his baptism. After 1323, when Gedimin abandoned Troki, Vilna became the capital of Lithuania. The formerly independent principalities of Minsk and Lidy, as well as the territory of Disna, which belonged to the Polotsk principality, were annexed by the Lithuanian princes, and from that time Vilna, which was fortified by a stone wall, became the chief city of the Lithuanian empire. It was united with Poland when its prince Casimir was elected (1444) to the Polish throne. In 1519 it had a printing-office, and fifty years later the Jesuits founded there a college, which became later on a university. But the plague of 1588, a fire in 1610, and still more the wars between Russia and Poland, which began in the 17th century, checked its further growth. The Russians took Vilna in 1655, and in the following year it was ceded to Russia. The Swedes captured it in 1702 and in 1706. The Russians again took possession of it in 1788; and it was finally annexed to Russia in 1795, after the partition of Poland. Its Polish inhabitants took an active part in the risings of 1831 and 1863, for which they were severely punished by the Russian Government.
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