Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 08.djvu/264

SALZKAMMERGUT 220 SAMARIA SALZKAMMERGUT, called the Aus- trian Switzerland, one of the most pictur- esque districts of Europe; between the Austrian province of Salzburg on the W. and Styria on the E.; area, about 250 square miles. The scenery combines in rare beauty the features of valley, moun- tain, and lake. The highest peak, the Dachstein, reaches an altitude of 9,830 feet. But the district derives its principal attraction from its lakes, the most famous of which are Hallstatt, Traun or Gmun- den, Atter, St. Wolfgang or Aber, Mond, and Zell. It derives its name of "Salt- exchequer Property" from its salt springs and mines, which yield over 80,000 tons of salt annually. The chief seats of the salt works are Ischl, Hallstatt, and Eben- see. Little or no agriculture is carried on; the inhabitants not engaged in the salt industry are employed in cattle breeding and in the timber trade. SAMAR, the third largest of the Philippine Islands; S. E. of the E. part of the Island of Luzon, from which it is separated by the Strait of San Bernar- dino; and the extreme E. of the Visayan group. On the S. W. it is separated from the island of Leyte by the Strait of San Juanico. The W. coast is bounded by the Western Sea, and the E. coast by the Pa- cific Ocean. The island is mainly moun- tainous, although there are many fine valleys under cultivation. Samar ex- tends 130 miles from N. W. to S. E., 50 miles from the E. to W., and has an area with adjacent islands of 5,031 square miles. Pop. about 266,237. Samar and islands adjoining were made a province under civil government in 1902. The products of the island are such as are found in all the archipelago. There are many fine kinds of woods, numerous vari- eties of wild fruits, various kinds of bamboo, roots suitable for food, rattan, game, and fish. Besides cocoanuts there is a large production of oil, rice and hemp. SAMARA, a town in Russia, capital of the province of the same name, in eastern Russia. It is situated at the juncture of the rivers Volga and Samara, 550 miles southeast of Moscow. It is the center of an extensive grain producing region and its chief industry before the World War was flour milling. Pop. about 145,000. The province has an area of 59,000 square miles, and about 4,000,000 inhabitants, many of whom are descend- ants of German colonists. SAMARANG, a seaport of Java, 255 miles E. of Batavia, the principal port for the trade of Middle Java. Since 1873 it has been connected with Jokjokarta and Surabaya by railway. The European quarters have all the appearance of a typical Dutch town. The more important buildings are a military hospital, the city hall, and Christian churches and schools. A fort and a coast battery provide de- fense for the town. The river is silted up at its mouth; but a canal, constructed in 1879, serves as a harbor. The road- stead is exposed during the W. monsoon. Pop. (1918) 106,852. SAMARCAND, a city of Turkestan; in the valley of the Zerafshan; about 4 miles S. of that river, and among the W. spurs of the Tian-Shan Mountains; 130 miles E. by S. of Bokhara and 150 miles N. by E. of Balkh in Afghanistan. It is the ancient Marcanda, the capital of Sog- diana, which was taken and destroyed by Alexander the Great. It was again cap- tured in a. D. 712 by the Arabs, who sup- planted the Graeco-Bactrian civilization, of which it was the center, by the creed and customs of Islam. Ever since that time it has been a sacred city in the eyes of the Moslems, especially after the con- queror Timur made it the capital of his kingdom in the 14th century. It had, however, suffered terribly from Genghis Khan, who took it (1219) and destroyed three-fourths of its 500,000 inhabitants. In Timur's time it had a population of 150,000. The Ulug-beg, the graves of Timur and his wives, as well as the tomb of one of the Prophet's companions, and two other colleges, the Tilla-Kari and Shir-rar, both dating from the beginning of the 17th century, are magnificent structures, grandly decorated. In the 15th century Samarcand was renowned as a school of astronomy and mathemat- ics. After the decay of Timur's empire the city had a checkered history, figuring in most of the wars that raged in that region till at last it fell into the hands of the emirs of Bokhara, from whom it was taken by the Russians in 1868. They established themselves in the citadel, built on a steep hill 4 miles in circuit, and laid out a new town, with broad and handsome streets, to the W. of it. On the other side of the citadel is the old city, walled, with dark and narrow streets and dirty houses. The ruins of still more ancient Samar- cands extend for 3 miles or more to the W. and N. of both the Russian and the native town. The people carry on gardening, their gardens being irrigated by water drawn off from the Zerafshan, and the manufacture of textiles, harness, gold and silver wares, leather, pottery, boots, etc., and conduct a brisk trade in cotton, silk, fruits, wheat, rice, salt, and horses. Pop. about 98,000. SAMARIA, a city and country of Palestine; situated toward the N. of Ju- dea. Samaria was the country in which