The subdivisions are indicated in the following table:
| Governments and Provinces | Area English Square Miles | Population Jan. 1912 |
|---|---|---|
| European Russia: | ||
| Russia proper (50 Provs.) | 1,862,524 | 122,550,700 |
| Poland (10 Provs.) | 49,018 | 12,776,100 |
| Finland (Grand Duchy) | 144,178 | 3,140,100 |
| Asiatic Russia: | ||
| Caucasia (11 Provs.) | 180,703 | 12,288,100 |
| Central Asia (10 Provs. and Regions) | 1,325,530 | 10,727,000 |
| Siberia (8 Provs. and Regions) | 4,786,730 | 9,577,900 |
| Dependencies: | ||
| Khiva | 26,028 | 800,000 |
| Bokhara | 78,524 | 1,500,000 |
| Inland Lakes | 317,468 | ... |
| 8,770,703 | 173,359,900 |
The various sections of European Russia differ greatly from one another, and have thereby given rise to certain popular divisions that are even better known generally than the strictly governmental provinces. These, with their distinguishing features, may be indicated as follows:
Great Russia (Muscovy).—All the central and northern regions to the Arctic shores. Chief towns: Moscow, Tula.
Except on its outskirts, this region presents everywhere the same aspects, wide, undulating plains covered with cornfields and dotted with small deciduous forests. The soil is of very moderate fertility in the north, but very fertile in the black earth belt of the south.
The Great Russians, numbering about fifty-five millions, are a vigorous and manly stock, usually rather light-haired, with blue or brown eyes, well-formed hands and feet, and a serious, kindly, but somewhat crafty, temperament, an inborn disposition for a wandering life, a very small regard to the value of time, and (especially in the peasantry) an extreme carelessness and slovenliness in all details of daily life.
Little Russia, or the Ukraine.—In the southwest. Chief town: Kieff.
The little Russians, over twenty-two millions in all, are settled in the Ukraine, which contains also in the borderlands some twelve per cent of Jews and six per cent of Poles. Their religion, like their love for music and poetry and their passion for country life, they share with their relations on the north and northeast, but in their developments of folklore and popular song, and in the more feminine character both of their physique and their intellect, they offer marked peculiarities. The Little Russians of the Dnieper basin are closely allied to the Ruthenians of Austria-Hungary.
The Ukraine comprises the governments of Tchernigoff, Kieff, Poltava, and part of Kharkoff, as well as Volhynia and Podolia on the spurs of the Carpathians, the richest and most populous parts of Russia. The soil is mostly a rich black earth, and assumes farther south the aspect of fine grassy steppes, or prairies, yielding rich crops of wheat.