GREECE.

The area of Greece is 25,014 square miles.

At the census of 1879, the population (including that of Thessaly in 1881) was 1,973,768; in 1889, 2,187,208; in 1896, 2,433,806, or 97.3 population per square mile.

The areas and populations by provinces will be found in previous issues of the "Commercial Year Book."

There are large numbers of Greeks in the Ottoman Empire, raising the whole Greek nationality to over 8,000,000, as under: Greece, about 2,200,000; Asia Minor, 2,000,000; Crete, Cyprus, and other Ottoman islands, 400,000; European Turkey, 3,500,000; total, 8,100,000.

For 1897 the budget estimate of revenue and expenditure was as follows:

Sources of Revenue.

Direct taxes.

Customs and excise

Stamps and dues..

State property.

3,731,362

Ministries

Sales..

966,650

Repayments.

1,023,330

Justice...

5,364,325

Arrears.

Light-houses.

International telegraphs..

Elementary instruction...

100,000

Marine..

7,000,487

Municipal contributions..

Extraordinary....

Total.....

95,343,939

Total...

93,852,565

For five previous years the actual receipts and expenditures were as follows:

The receipts for 1894 are given as 102,895,141 drachmai; for 1896, revenue, 97,100,400, and expenditure, 90,901,700 drachmai.

On January 1, 1897, the outstanding public debt of Greece was as follows:

The details of the above, which are practically the same for 1897 as in 1895, will be seen in the "Commercial Year Book" for 1898.

The annual interest being paid at the beginning of 1897 was 8,477,534 drachmai gold and 4,520,158 drachmai paper; the interest on the external debt being reduced 30 per cent, of amount due; that on the monopoly loan to 43 per cent., and that on other internal debts to 33 per cent.

Greece agrees to pay to Turkey a war indemnity of £T4,000,000, and to accept international control in financial matters.

Greece is mainly an agricultural country. In 1893 the agricultural production was approximately as follows: Cereals, 20,250,000 bush.; tobacco, 16,000,000 lbs.; vineyards, 66,000,000 gall. ; currants, 350,000,000 lbs. ; olives, 15,000,000 lbs.; figs, etc., 60,000,000 lbs.

Commerce.

The imports and exports, including bullion and specie, are as follows, in thousands of drach

L

8

The special commerce with the leading countries is shown below, in thousands of drachmai:

The imports and exports of some of the leading articles are shown as follows, in thousands of drachmai:

The trade in merchandise with the United States is shown as follows, for the years ending

Shipping, Railroads, Telegraphs, Post-Office. (See Index.)

Greece has a bimetallic monetary system, and its coins conform to the standard of the Latin Union. The ratio between the two metals is 15% to 1. The coinage of gold is unlimited and that of silver suspended. The coinage charge is 7 4-9 francs per kilogramme fine for gold and 1% francs per kilogramme fine for silver. Gold coins and the 5-franc silver pieces are unlimited legal tender.

For gold and silver coins, see Index.

The situation of the National Bank of Greece on August 31, 1897, was as follows: Gold and silver on hand, 1,700,000 drachmai; notes to bearer in circulation, 137,500,000 drachmai; private accounts current and deposits, 41,800,000 drachmai; portfolio, 13,000,000 drachmai; advances on real property, 37,400,000 drachmai; advances on personal property, 3,200,000 drachmai; funds abroad, 6,400,000 drachmai.

SERVIA.

The Kingdom of Servia has an area of 19,050 square miles. It is divided into fifteen provinces, with a total population in 1895 of 2,288,259 persons. The population consists of 86.48 per cent. rural, and 13.52 per cent. in cities. The occupations of the people are 16.81 per cent. in trade; 10.32 per cent. in occupations connected with food; 16.22 per cent. connected with clothing; 14.20 per cent. connected with molding of iron and metal work; 4.31 per cent. teachers and clergy; 8.16 per cent. officials. As to race, in 1891 there were 1,955,944 Servians (who, according to language, are Slavonic by race), 143,684 Roumanians, 37,581 Gypsies, 6,878 Germans, 2,929 Albanians and Turks, 4,510 Jews, 1,359 Bulgarians, 9,676 other foreigners.

The revenues and expenditures of Servia have been estimated as follows:

On January 1, 1896, the public debt amounted to 408,237,000 dinars, 355,292,000 being at 4 per cent. £1,000,000 in four per cents. were issued in 1897.

Servia is almost exclusively an agricultural country, the land being distributed almost entirely. among peasant owners, whose holdings are mostly from 10 to 30 acres.

The country has considerable mineral resources, including various kinds of coal, the total production of coal in 1891 having been 87,650 tons. Besides coal, there are iron, lead, silver, zinc, quicksilver, antimony, gold, asbestos, copper, and oil shales. Many concessions have been made to companies and private persons for working mines, and mining operations are also carried on by the State

The values of the leading imports and exports are shown as follows, in thousands of dinars:

Banking is conducted by various establishments, of which, in 1890, there were 43. The principal is the privileged National Bank of the Kingdom of Servia, in Belgrade, with a paid-up capital of 20,000,000 dinars. It is entitled to issue bank-notes, of which there were, in 1889, 28,597,840 dinars in circulation, with a metallic reserve of 4,596,000 dinars. Besides the National Bank, there were, in 1894, 5 bank establishments, 27 bank associations, and 28 savings-banks.

Servia accepted, by the law of June 20, 1875, the French decimal system for its moneys, weights, and measures. The Servian dinar is equal to one franc. In circulation are gold coins of 10 and 20dinars (milan d'or); silver coins of 5, 2, 1, and 0.5 dinar; copper of 10 and 5, and nickel of 20, 10, and 5 paras.

For RAILROADS, TELEGRAPHS, and POST-OFFICE, see Index.

MONTENEGRO.

The area of Montenegro is estimated to embrace 3,630 English square miles. The total population was stated in official returns to number 220,000 in 1879; a recent estimate puts it at 200,000. The population is mainly pastoral and agricultural. The Montenegrins belong almost entirely to the Servian branch of the Slav race.

No official returns are published regarding the public revenue and expenditure. Estimates state the former at 600,000 Austrian florins, derived chiefly from land and cattle taxes, the salt monopoly, and customs duties. Montenegro owes to the Länder Bank of Vienna a sum of one million florins, borrowed at 6 per cent.

The cultivated land is mostly the property of the cultivators, the Croatian system of domestic communism being generally prevalent. In some districts, however, the land is split up into diminutive peasant holdings, while in a few the métayer system is met with, but large estates nowhere exist. The principal crops grown are maize, tobacco (450,000 lbs. in 1894), oats, potatoes, barley, and buckwheat.

The customs tariff is 6 per cent. ad valorem on all merchandise, with the exception of certain prohibited articles. The exports are valued at about £120,000, imports at £20,000. The principal exports are sumach, flea powder, smoked sardines, smoked mutton, cattle, sheep, goats, cheese, wool, hides, skins and furs, honey, beeswax, wood for walking-sticks, etc., olive oil, wine, tobacco.

Montenegro has no railroads, and has only 280 miles of telegraph.

Montenegro has no coinage of its own, Austrian paper being the principal medium of exchange. Turkish silver is also current, and French and English gold circulates freely at a rate of exchange fixed from time to time by the Government. There is no bank of any kind in the country.

ROUMANIA.

The estimated area and population of Roumania are: Area, 48,307 square miles, and population (1893), including Dobruja, is 5,800,000. Included in the population of Roumania proper are 4 million Roumaniaus, about 300,000 Jews, 200,000 Gypsies, 50,000 Bulgarians, 20,000 Germans, 37,400 Austrians, 20,000 Greeks, 15,000 Armenians, 2,000 French, 1,500 Magyars, 1,000 English, besides about 3,000 Italians, Turks, Poles, Tartars, etc.

The chief sources of revenue consist in direct and indirect taxes, and the profits derived from the extensive State domains and valuable salt mines, and from the salt and tobacco monopolies. The following table shows the revenue and expenditure for the last six years ending March 31 (old style);

Of the total population of Roumania, 70 per cent. are employed in agriculture. There are about 700,000 heads of families who are freehold proprietors. Of the total area, 68 per cent, is productive, and 29 per cent, under culture, 21 per cent. under grass, and 16.9 per cent. under forest. In 1896, the various cereal crops were: Wheat, 1,505,210 hectares, 25,088,700 hectolitres; maze, 1,939,080 hectares, 23,056,700 hectolitres; barley, 607,700 hectares, 11,201,700 hectolitres; oats, 281,870 hectares, 5,187,300 hectolitres; rye, 243,400 hectares, 4,305,100 hectolitres. Colza, flax, and hemp are also cultivated. The arca under tobacco was 5,700 hectares, yielding 40,590 quintals; vines, 145,740 hectares, yielding 4,627,800 hectolitres wine; plums, 52,020 hectares, yielding 967,250 hectolitres.

The following table shows the value of the commerce, in thousands of lef:

According to Roumanian returns, the value of the commerce of the leading countries with which Roumania deals was as follows, in thousands of lei:

The values of the leading imports and exports in 1896 were as follows, in thousands of ler:

In 1896, the merchant navy consisted of 299 vessels of 61,078 tons, including 28 steamers of 1,054 tons.

The navigation of the Danube is carried on under international regulations. From its mouths to the Iron Gates it is regarded as an international highway, the interests of the several States being specially provided for. The arrangement lasts for 21 years from April, 1883. In 1895, 1,619 vessels of 1,554,698 tons cleared from the Danube at Sulina.

For RAILROADS, TELEGRAPHS, POST-OFFICE, see Index.

The decimal monetary system was introduced into Roumania in 1876, the unit of the monetary system being the leu, equivalent to the franc. The monetary standard is gold.

For gold and silver coins, see Index.

The Bank of Roumania is the chief financial institution. It is a State bank, with a capital of 30,000,000 let, of which the Government furnishes 10,000,000 lef. The Bank has the sole privilege of issuing notes. The circulation must be covered by securities or other valuables which can be easily converted into cash, and the Bank must hold a metallic reserve amounting to at least one-third of the outstanding notes.

On October 28, 1895, the outstanding circulation was 154,085,862 let, and the reserve in gold 87,571,001 let, and in silver 2,369,403 lef.