The New Student's Reference Work/Brunswick, Duchy of

Bruns'wick, Duchy of, a state of northern Germany, made up of three larger and five smaller distinct parts. Its total area is 1,424 square miles, considerably larger than Rhode Island, and its population is 485,958, most of whom are Saxons and belong mainly to the Lutheran church. The country is rich in minerals, and agriculture is the chief occupation of the people. The capital is the city of Brunswick, population, 136,397. Brunswick was a part of Saxony under Charlemagne, but in 1235 it became a duchy. It now holds the ninth place among the states of the German empire.