Bavaria

ba-va'ri-a, a kingdom of the German Empire. It is situated in central Europe with Austria-Hungary for its neighbor on the east and south. In addition to Bavaria proper, the kingdom includes a distant detached province, county we would call it, situated on the west bank of the Rhine opposite Baden. The area of Bavaria is 29,286 square miles, about equal to that of Maine. The population, however, (6,524,372 in 1905), is about nine times as great, or 222 to the square mile. The births exceed the deaths to the number of 88,000 per year. Seven-tenths of the people are Catholics. The rest belong to various denominations. Education is compulsory up to fourteen years of age. A few square miles in the northeastern part lie in the basin of the Baltic; the Rhine and its tributary, the Main, drain other portions; but by far the greater part of Bavaria is drained through the Danube into the Black Sea. The general surface of the country is broken. The hills and mountains are composed chiefly of disintegrating limestone. The valleys and slopes are accordingly of great fertility. One half of the country is under the plow; one-third is covered with forests of pine and fir, and the remaining sixth is devoted to meadows and pasturage. The chief crops are wheat, rye, barley, oats, potatoes, millet, hemp, flax, madder, and hops. Grapes are raised on Lake Constance and in the valley of the Main. Cheese and other dairy products are an important source of revenue. A large amount of timber is cut annually. A very great number of small manufacturing establishments are spread all over the country, devoted chiefly, however, to supplying local markets. One of the chief industries is that of brewing. There are over 5,000 breweries, which, according to the Statesman's Year Book, produced in 1906, the incredible quantity of 484,812,000 gallons of beer, or 74 gallons per inhabitant. Beer is exported from Bavaria to other European countries and to America.

Since 1818 Bavaria has enjoyed a constitution. Authority is lodged in the hands of a king and a parliament. As compared with the United States Senate, it may be interesting to know that the Bavarian upper house consists of seventeen royal princes, two crown ministers, two archbishops, the heads of twenty old noble families, twenty-eight nobleman who inherit their positions, the Roman Catholic bishop, the president of the Protestant senate, and seventeen life members appointed by the king. The lower house consists of representatives chosen by the electors. Munich is the capital.

In the War of 1866, between Prussia and Austria, Bavaria supported the Austrians, and, being on the losing side, was punished by the loss of a generous slice of territory to Prussia.

The following statistics are the latest to be had from trustworthy sources: