The ten ironclads of the first class are sea-going cruisers, while the two of the second class are used for ordinary station service, and the two of the third class for coast defence. The Custozza, first in the list of sea-going cruisers, launched in 1872, is a broadside iron-clad, 302 feet in length, and 58 feet in extreme breadth, armed with Krupp guns. Likewise a broadside ship, but with an armoured citadel, and addition of the latest improvements, is the second ironclad, the Tegethoff, 287 feet long, and 71 feet broad. The Tegethof, constructed in 1876-78 at the Stabilimento Technico,' Trieste, having a belt of steel 13 inches thick, and armed with six 11-inch Krupp guns, weighing 25 tons, is considered the strongest ironclad for aggressive warfare. The ship third in the list, the Erzherzog Albrecht, launched in 1872, is 275 feet in length, and 54 in extreme breadth, also armed with Krupp guns.

The navy of Austria was commanded in June 1880, by 1 admiral, 2 vice-admirals, 5 rear-admirals, 16 captains of ships-of-theline, 17 captains of frigates, 18 captains of corvettes, 117 lieutenants, and 232 ensigns and cadets, and manned by 5,771 sailors. The navy is recruited partly by a general levy from the seafaring population of the empire and partly by voluntary enlistment. The term of service in the navy is eight years.

Austria has two harbours of war, Pola and Trieste. Pola, the chief naval port, is strongly fortified, both towards sea and land, and has been recently enlarged, so as to be able to accommodate the entire fleet, while Trieste is the great storehouse and arsenal of the Imperial navy.-(Official Communication.)

Area and Population.

The Austrian Empire-exclusive of the Turkish provinces annexed in 1878, but as yet not formally incorporated with it—has an area of 240,942 English square miles, with a population at the last census, December 31, 1880, of 37,754,972, or 159 per square mile. At the preceding census the population was 35,884,389. The increase during the period, embracing eleven years, amounted to 8.5 per cent. for the German monarchy, but only to 1.24 per cent. for Hungary. The following table gives the area, and total number of inhabitants, of the various provinces of the Empire, after the returns of the census of December 31, 1869, and the census of December 31, 1880:

It was decided at the Congress of Berlin, by Art. 23 of the Treaty signed July 13, 1878, that 'the provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina shall be occupied and administered by Austria-Hungary.' According to a census taken on June 16, 1879, these new provinces had the following area and population:

Of the total number of inhabitants in Bosnia and Herzegovina 448,613 are Mahommedans, 496,761 Greek-Orthodox, 209,391 Roman Catholics, 3,426 are Jews, and the rest belong to different faiths.

Practically belonging to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, though not incorporated with it by any treaty, is the small principality of Liechtenstein, enclosed in the Austrian province of Tyrol and Vorarlberg, with an area of 68 English square miles, and a population of 8,320 in 1871. The inhabitants of the principality pay no taxes, nor are they liable to military service.

The increase of population in Austria-Hungary has not been large in recent years, owing to a very high rate of mortality among the population. The following table exhibits the number of births, deaths, and marriages, with the surplus of births, in both Austria Proper and the kingdom of Hungary, for a quinquennial period-in Austria for the five years 1876 to 1880, and in Hungary for the five years 1875 to 1879-according to the latest official

returns:

There are only eleven towns with over 50,000 inhabitants in Austria-Hungary, namely, seven in Austria Proper, and four in Hungary. The capital of Austria, Vienna, had 726,105 inhabitants, according to the census taken December 31, 1880, the same not including the suburbs. Of the other large towns of Austria Proper, Prague had 162,318; Trieste, 144,437; Lemberg, 110,250; Gràtz, 97,727; Brünn, 82,665; and Cracow, 66,095 inhabitants at the general census of 1880. At the same date, the four largest towns of Hungary were: Buda-Pesth, with 359,821; Szegedin, with 50,983; HoldmezőVásárhély, 74,094; and Maria-Theresiopel, with 61,655 inhabitants. More than two-thirds of the population of the monarchy are engaged in agriculture. There is, however, a constantly increasing tendency towards concentration of the population in the larger towns.

At the last census, the Germans constituted 38 per cent. of the inhabitants in the German or Cisleithan part of the Empire, and nearly 20 per cent. in the Hungarian or Transleithan part. The people of the Slavonian races formed 49 per cent. of the population in the Cisleithan, and 16 per cent. in the Transleithan division. The race third in numbers, the Magyars, constituted 38 per cent. of the population of the kingdom of Hungary, and not quite To per cent. of that of the German or Cisleithan part of the Empire.

Trade and Industry.

The commerce of Austria-Hungary, comprising imports and exports of merchandise, but not bullion, for the whole of the empire, except the province of Dalmatia-not within the Imperial line of customs-was as follows in each of the ten years 1870 to 1879:

Years

Imports

Exports

Florins

1870 435,959,181

1874

£ 43,595,918 395,413,828 1871 540,750,111 54,075,011 1872 613,726,357 1873 583,082,315 58,308,231 568,703,609

Florins

£

39,541,382

467,583,098

46,758,309

61,372,635

387,963,537

38,796,353

423.610,701

42,361,070

56,870,360

449,266,774

44,926,677

Nearly two-thirds of the whole commerce of the Austrian Empire, both as regards imports and exports, is carried on with Germany. The next important market for Austria is Turkey, the importations of which into the Empire average 3,000,000l. in value, and the

exports to which are above 5,000,000l. sterling. Turkey is followed in the commercial rank list, but at a long distance, by Italy and Russia.

The commercial intercourse of Austria with the United Kingdom is comparatively small; and it appears in the official returns even smaller than it is in reality, owing to the geographical position of the Empire, which necessitates the transit of many Austrian goods destined for the British market, and vice versa, through other countries, as the exports, or imports, of which they come to figure. In the Board of Trade returns, therefore, only the direct exports and imports to and from Great Britain and Ireland, by way of the Austrian seaboard, Trieste, Illyria, Croatia, and Dalmatia, are given. The declared real value of these direct exports and imports in the ten years from 1871 to 1880 is shown in the following table :

:

The staple article exported to the United Kingdom from Austria is corn and flour, the total value of which, in the year 1880, amounted to 1,151,6251. This comprised barley, valued 2,8671.; wheat, valued 2,4591., and wheat flour, valued 1,146,2997. It will be seen from the preceding table, that the total exports from Austria to Great Britain have been nearly stationary since the year 1871, while the value of the imports of British produce into Austria-Hungary has been greatly on the decline, the British imports of 1880 being much less than one-half in amount of those of 1871.

The principal imports of British and Irish produce into Austria are cotton manufactures and iron, the former of the value of 177,8517., and the latter of 51,8647. in 1880. Among the minor articles of British imports are oil-seed, coals, and woollen goods.

The total length of railways in the Empire open for traffic and under construction, was as follows on the 1st of January 1879 :