MORAVIA, one of those larger divisions of the Austrian empire which has been formed out of the ancient margravate of that name, to which has been joined that portion of Silesia which remained under the Austrian dominion after the cessions extorted from it by Frederick the Great of Prussia. This province is bounded on the north-west by Bohemia, on the north-east by Prussian Silesia, on the east by Gallicia, on the south-east by Hungary, and on the south-west by the province of the Lower Ens. It has nearly the form of a square, the four angles of which point to the four quarters of the compass. It is situated between 15° 6'and 19° Peast longitude, and between 48° 41' and 50° 25 ’ north latitude. It extends over 10,593 square miles, and comprehends 119 cities or places once fortified, 178 market-towns, and 3672 villages, inhabited in 1822 by 1,890,706 souls, but now supposed by natural increase to exceed 2,000,000. Moravia is generally a hilly country. The Carpathian Mountains, which separate it from Hungary, send into it many of their projections; and besides these, some of the Bohemian and Silesian ranges are extended through various parts of it, whilst in the more southern parts extensive plains are to be seen, which stretch towards the Danube. In the more hilly parts the valleys between arc wide, well watered by rivulets, and covered with a rich verdure, presenting pictures of rural comfort and abundance. The greater part of Moravia is between 400 and 950 feet above the level of the sea ;· and by the sloping of the land, the waters are discharged into rivers, which finally terminate in the German Ocean, in the Baltic, and the Black Sea. The Elbe performs the office of conveying the streams to the first, the Oder and the Vistula to the second, and the Danube to the last of those seas. The greatest body of water, however, passes by the Danube, which receives the river Morawa, from which the province takes its name. The Vistula rises on the confines of the province, and quits it before it becomes a considerable stream, unless at the season when the melting of the snow on the Carpathian Mountains fills a broad channel, and at other times nearly dry. There are no lakes in Moravia, but many stagnant pools and dikes, especially in the circle of Znaym, which yield vast quantities of freshwater fish.

The climate of Moravia is peculiarly mild and salubrious, and the cold less severe than in any other part of the Continent in the same degree of latitude. This is attributed to the protection from the easterly and northerly winds which the lofty Carpathian Mountains afford. The vine is cultivated, and wine produced as high as latitude 49° 15'; and the harvest in Moravia is generally five or six weeks earlier than in the Prussian province of Silesia which adjoins it.

This province is, with the exception of the Italian dominions, the best cultivated, the most densely peopled, and the most productive, of any part; of the Austrian empire. About two fifths of the land is under the plough, one fifth is woodland, and the rest is either meadows, upland pasture, or gardens and vineyards. Although the northern part, formerly Silesia, is naturally a poor soil for corn, yet the whole of the province yields more than is required for consumption. Both hemp and’flax are produced in great quantities, and the quality is reported to be excellent. From want of good water conveyance, the woods are made valuable by furnishing much pot and pearl ashes. The northern part is best adapted for the dairy; the breed of cows is good, and yields much butter and cheese. The number of them is nearly equal to that of the sheep, which animals have not yet had so much attention paid to the improvement of their wool as in the adjoining districts of Prussia, or as has been devoted to it in some other parts of Austria.

The horses, excepting in those parts where they have been improved by a mixture with the Bohemian breed, are small in size and not strong; but pains are taking to improve the race by the introduction of stallions of more power and better forms. Swine, geese, and bees, are objects of rural attention, and yield considerable profit.

There are some mines of iron worked, as there were formerly of gold, silver, and lead; but these were injured by the wars which broke out against the followers of Huss the Protestant reformer, most of whose adherents were persons who worked in the rich mines. It is only of late years that the silver mines have altogether ceased. At present about 2000 tons of iron are procured. There are also some alum mines, yielding about 800 tons of that substance; and there are mines of coal and of sulphur.

Moravia is the chief manufacturing district of the empire. The woollen cloth manufacture gives employment to more than 100,000 persons, and yields annually more than 50,000 pieces of fine cloths, and 220,000 pieces of cloth of inferior quality, besides flannels, baizes, and blankets. The cotton trade employs more than 10,000 workmen, and in that branch of industry the machinery invented in other countries has been extensively introduced. The linen trade is a domestic employment which occupies the spare hours of most females in spinning; and in that and subsequent steps it is stated to afford the means of subsistence to more than 250,000 persons, who produce upwards of 500,000 pieces of cloth yearly, from the coarsest canvass to the first damask table-linen and lawns. With this branch is joined the making of twine and of cordage. Hosiery is also a considerable branch of industry, yielding stockings, caps, and net, both by the hand and from knitting. There arc fabrics of paper, glass, hats, cutlery, hardware, china, and earthenware, snuff-mills, and very extensive tanneries. Few countries are so generally well supplied from their own labour with all that is required by the state of their society. The trade is chiefly with the surrounding districts of the same empire, from which, in exchange for its native,productions, it obtains silk goods, tobacco, sugar, coffee, salt, and foreign luxuries.

The inhabitants consist of two races, distinguished by their difference of language. About three fourths of them are of the great Sclavonian family, divided into four branches, but all with different dialects, using a language originating, like the Polish and Bohemian, from that of the Slavi. These occupy all the most fertile districts. The Germans are about one fourth of the population, and consist of both high and low, and Austrians, each using its own patois. The prevailing religion is that of the Roman Catholic church, but the other sects are also established. The Hussite Protestants once formed a much larger proportion of the inhabitants than they do at present. A body of that persua-. sion under Count Zinzendorf were formed into a colony in Saxony, whence, under the name of Herrnhutters, they have spread over the northern part of Europe, whilst some communities have been formed by them in England, where they are commonly called Moravians, but by themselves are distinguished as the United Brethren. The non-catholic portion of the population at present consists of 54,000 Lutherans, [7:15:491]14,000 Calvinists, and 28,000 Jews. The institutions for education are on a low scale. There is a Lyceum at Olmutz, and many inferior schools, to the support of which the estates of the abolished society of the Jesuits have been appropriated.

Moravia, from the end of the fourteenth century, was an independent principality, sometimes under the protection of Hungary, at other times under-that of Bohemia, and had its own states and margraves. In 1526 it came under the government of the sovereigns of Austria, and has continued so till this time. The states no longer assemble, nor have they done so since 1627. The chief board of government is held at Brunn, where are the supreme courts, both of civil and criminal law. As nearly as can be ascertained, the revenue drawn from the present Moravian province does not exceed L.750,000 sterling annually; but besides this, it furnishes recruits for five regiments of infantry, two of cavalry, and three of artillery.

Moravia, a river of Turkey in Europe, which rises in Bulgaria, runs north through Servia by Nissa, and falls into the Danube at Semendria, to the eastward of Belgrade.