REVENUE AND POPULATION.
633
Area in
Provinces
Provincial capital
English miles
Population
Chih-le .
Peking .
58,949
27,900,871
Shan-tung ,
Tse-nan-foo .
65,104
28,958,764
Shan-se .
Tae-yuen-foo .
55,268
14,004,210
Honan
Kae-fung-foo .
65,104
23,037,171
Keang-soo
Nanking
[ 92,661 |
37,843,501
Gan-hwuy
Gan-king-foo .
34,168,059
Keang-si .
Nan-chang-foo
72,176
30,426,999
Foo-Keen .
Fuh-choo-foo .
53,480
14,777,410
Che-Keang
Hang-choo-foo
39,150
26,256,784
Hoo-Pih .
Woo-ckang-foo
I 144,770 j
37,370,098
Hunan
Chang-cha-foo
18,652,507
Shen-se
Se-gan-foo
[ 154,008 j
10,207,256
Kan-suh .
Lan-choo-foo .
15,193,135
Sze-Chuen
Ching-too-foo .
166,800
21,435,678
Kwang-tung, or Canton
Kwang-choo-foo
79,456
19,147,030
Kwang-si .
Kwe-lin-foo .
78,250
7,313,895
Yun-Nan .
Yun-nan-foo .
107,869
5,561,320
Kwei-Choo
Kwei-yang-foo Total .
64,554
5,288,219
1,297,999
367,632,907
The above population, giving 283 souls per square mile throughout the empire, appears to be excessive, considering that some of the outlying portions of the immense territory are by no means densely inhabited. Nevertheless, later returns than those of 1812, likewise said to be official, give still higher figures. It is stated that in a census taken in 1842, the population of China was ascertained to number 414,686,994, or 820 per English square mile, and that in 1852 it had risen to 450,000,000, or 347 inhabitants per square mile. But there is, probably, less accuracy in the given results of the latter enumerations than in that of 1812, as the power and authority of the government have been on the decline for more than half a century, and disturbed by constant insurrections, mostly spreading over large portions of the empire.
The standing military force of China consists of two great divi- sions, the first formed by the more immediate subjects of the ruling dynasty, the Tartars, and the second by the Chinese and other subject races. The latter, the main force upon which the imperial government can rely, form the so-called troops of the Eight Banners, and garrison all the great cities, but so as to be separated by walls and forts from the population. The Chinese forces are said to be composed of 600,000 men, scattered over the surface of the empire. The soldiers do not live in barracks, but in their own houses, pur- suing as chief business some civil occupation, frequently that of day-labourers, and meeting only on certain occasions, pursuant to orders from the military chieftains.
