Bokhara

bok-a'ra, a Russian dependency lying north of Afghanistan. The people are fanatical followers of Mohammed. The area is about that of Idaho. The population is estimated at 1,250,000. The country produces small grain, fruit, silk, tobacco, cotton, and hemp, and rears sheep, goats, horses, and camels. Gold, salt, alum, and sulphur are found in the hills. Bokhara, the capital city, has about 60,000 people. It is surrounded by mud walls. Trade is carried on chiefly by caravans, though the Trans-Caspian Railroad, from the direction of the Caspian, now passes through the country. American interest is confined chiefly to the rugs imported from Bokhara. See Afghanistan