The New Student's Reference Work/Westphalia

Westpha′lia, a province in western Prussia, bordering on Holland. It is 110 miles long and 124 wide, covering 7,803 square miles. The Lippe, Ruhr, Ems and Weser are the principal rivers, the Weser crossing Weser Hills by a pass called the Westphalian Gate. The Lippe divides the country into two parts, the northern portion flat like Holland and the southern portion having hills and valleys. The farming is carried on by small farmers with old methods, the most important crops being hemp and flax. Cattle, goats and hogs are raised, the latter yielding the well-known Westphalian hams. Mineral resources give great prosperity. There are large coal-fields in the north, and it produces more iron-ore than any other province of Prussia except Silesia. It also is rich in copper, zinc, sulphur and salt. The leading manufactures are linen-weaving and iron-working. Westphalia was the name of the western part of the duchy of Saxony. It was divided when Henry the Lion's Saxon domains were distributed by Emperor Maximilian, the archbishops of Cologne receiving a part, with the title of dukes of Westphalia. Napoleon formed the kingdom of Westphalia for Jerome, his brother, which was abolished after the battle of Leipsic. The congress of Vienna (1815) finally gave Westphalia to Prussia. The peace of Westphalia at Osnabrück and Münster, in 1648, ended the Thirty Years' War. Population 3,618,090.