ARDENNES- ARGENTINE Ardennes, a department in the N.E. of France, bordering on Belgium. It is covered with the wooded mountains of Ardennes, and traversed by the Meuse, the Semoy, and the Aisne. Area, 2028 square miles, distributed among 31 cantons and 503 communes. The population decreased from 332,759 in 1886 to 315,589 in 1901. Births (1899), 6523, of which 492 were illegitimate ; deaths, 6754 ; marriages, 2437. The principal towns are Mezieres, which, with Charleville, has a population of more than 25,000 souls, Sedan, Bethel, Youziers, and Rooroi. In 1896 there were 833 schools, with 43,815 pupils. Two per cent, of the population was illiterate. The total surface under cultivation comprised 1,224,455 acres, but the forests alone occupied 271,700 acres, and the plough-land was confined to 669,370 acres. The climate does not allow the cultivation of the vine. In 1899 wheat yielded a value of £748,678. Oats also gave excellent returns. Among the industrial cultures, beetroot is alone deserving of notice, producing in 1898, 2,090,585 cwts. In 1899 the live stock amounted to 47,370 horses, 109,040 cattle, 271,950 sheep, and 49,890 pigs. There are no coal-pits in the department of Ardennes, but iron - mines are found between Mezieres and Bethel. The valley of the Meuse produces enormous quantities of slate. The working of metals (nails, bolts, machines) is highly developed all along the valley of the Meuse (Monthermd, Revin, Givet), yielding in 1898, 96,000 tons of cast iron and of iron, and 46,000 tons of steel, of the value of £995,000. The produce of the other metals amounts to the value of £255,000. Sedan is celebrated for the making of cloth. In the production of sugar, Ardennes takes the eighth rank among the departments, yielding in 1898, 255,893 cwts. ArdL^lasS, a village in the county of Down, Ireland, 7 miles S.S.E. of Downpatrick, with which it is now connected by a light railway. It is noted for its herring fisheries, the quantity caught in 1899 having been 15,519 cwt., valued at £5744. Population, 554. Ardraiore, a town of Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory, U.S.A., situated on the Gulf, Colorado, and Santa Fe railway, at an altitude of 870 feet. Like other towns of this territory, it has no corporate existence, nor are any lots owned in fee by the occupants, with the exception of those lying within the right of way of the railway. The site was originally a squatter’s claim, and lots are held by quit-claim deeds or leases under it. The population consists almost entirely of whites, the Indians keeping remote from the railway and large towns. The adjacent region is a rich farming country, producing cotton, grain, and cattle, with the shipping of which the town is mainly concerned. Population (1900), 5681. Ardrossan, a seaport, burgh of barony, and police burgh of Ayrshire, Scotland, 14| miles N.N.W. of Ayr by water. It has stations on the Glasgow and South-Western and Lanarkshire and Ayrshire railways. The dock accommodation has been greatly extended. In 1898 the port register contained 63 vessels of 25,129 tons; and the tonnage entered was, in 1888, 2429 vessels of 247,425 tons; 1898, 3440 vessels of 734,320 tons; cleared in 1888, 2347 vessels of 243,398 tons, and in 1898, 3393 vessels of 737,155 tons. Imports were valued at £66,540 in 1888, and £463,015 in 1898; exports at £12,919 in 1888, and £202,068 in 1898. In 1898, 477,082 tons of coal were exported and 60,351 tons of iron. One of the public schools is an academy. Population (1881), 4098; (1891), 5294; (1901), 5933. Arecibo.—A city near the west end of the north coast of Porto Kico, founded in 1788. It commands the trade of the adjacent portions of the island, and ships large quantities of sugar and coffee. Near by are the famous caverns of Consejo. The harbour is poor. Population (1899), 8008. Aren da.9, or Arndal, a seaport town of Norway, co. Nedenas, on the S. coast, 36 miles N.E. from Christiansand. It possesses a relatively large commercial fleet (212 vessels of 117,250 tons aggregate), principally engaged in
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exporting timber (2 to 2^ million cubic feet annually to Great Britain), wood-pulp, sealskins, and felspar. In 1879 Arendal ranked second (after Christiania) as a ship-owning port; in 1899 it had dropped to the fifth place. In and near the town are factories for wood-pulp, paper, cotton, and joinery; and at Fevig, 8 miles to the north-east, a shipbuilding yard and engineering works. Population (1875), 4132; (1891), 4578; including suburbs (1899), about 10,000. ArequuSpa, a coast department of southern Peru, containing seven provinces, Arequfpa, Camana, Islay, Union, Caylloma, Condesuyos, and Castilla. Its area occupies 21,947 square miles and its population in 1896 was officially estimated at 229,007. The capital, Arequipa, has a population of 35,000. The foreign trade of the town is carried on by the port of Mollendo, distant ninety miles, with which it is connected by rail (107 miles); the exports are mainly sheep’s wool and alpaca, coca leaves, and borate of lime. Arezzo, a town and episcopal see of Tuscany, capital of the province of Arezzo, 55 miles S.E. from Florence, Italy. The church of St Francis (1322) contains frescoes by Piero della Francesca and Spinello Aretino. Other notable edifices are the churches of SS. Annunziata and Sta Maria della Pieve (llth-14th cent.), the town hall (now converted into a jail), the ceramic Museum Funghini, the house in which Petrarch was born, the house of Vasari, and the municipal museum. There are a technical school and an academy of sciences, arts, and letters. Silks, gunpowder, pottery, and macaroni are manufactured, and tanning and printing are carried on. Population : commune (1881) 38,950, (1901) 44,350; province (1881) 238,744, (1901) 272,359. Argfao.—A town of 34,000 inhabitants, on the east coast of Cebu, Philippine Islands, in latitude 10° 3' N. It was founded in 1608. Its products are rice, Indian corn, and cacao. The latter is of superior quality and is produced in large quantities. A limited amount of cotton is raised and woven into cloth. The language is Cebu-Visayan. Argentail, chief town of arrondissement, department of Orne, France, 27 miles N.N.W. of Alengon, on railway from Caen to Mans. One of the two principal churches contains fine wood-carving and 16th-century glass. Manufactures include stained glass. Oolitic limestone, quarried in the vicinity, is used in the construction of local buildings. The historian Mezeray and Charlotte Corday were born here. Population (1876), 4831, (comm.) 5365; (1896), 5070; (1901), 6291. Argenteuii, a town of France, department of Seine-et-Oise, arrondissement of Versailles, 3 } miles N.W. of outer circle of Paris, on railway from Paris to Mantes. Asparagus and figs are cultivated in the district, and heavy iron goods, chemical products, and plaster are manufactured At Choix-du-DIsekt, between Argenteuil and Epernay, a large tumulus was opened in 1866, and found to contain over 200 skeletons, and a large quantity of arms and utensils. Population (1881), 9456; (1891) 11,362; (1896), 13,847; (1901), 17,424. Argentine, a city of Wyandotte county, Kansas, U.S.A., situated in the eastern part of the state, five miles west of Kansas City, Missouri, on the south bank of the Kansas and just above its mouth, in 39° 04' N. lat. and 94° 38' W. long., at an altitude of 750 feet. Its streets run irregularly up the steep face of the river bluffs. It is entered by the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe railway. Its chief business is the smelting of ores of the precious metals, lead, and copper from mines in the Bocky Mountains. Population (1890), 4732 ; (1900), 5878.
