Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 10.djvu/98

UNITED PROVINCES Presbyterian churches of Scotland) to the Westminster Confession of Faith, and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms. But in 1879 a Declaration Act was adopted, setting forth more clearly and fully the view which the Synod takes of the teaching of Holy Scripture in reference to redemption, the divine decrees, man's depravity, salvation, the civil magistrate, the maintenance of the church, and liberty of opinion. Its form of church government is Presbyterian; but, unlike the Established and Free Churches, it has no intermediate courts between presbyteries and the supreme court, the Synod, really an assembly of the whole clergy, with one elder from each kirk-session. It has a Theological Hall and Library in Edinburgh, and a staff of professors. Though inferior in point of wealth to the Established and Free Churches, the United Presbyterian Church has honorably distinguished itself by its general liberality and occasional munificence. Negotiations for union between the United Presbyterian and Free Churches failed in 1863-1873, but were reopened in 1897. In the year 1875 about 100 congregations of the United Presbyterian Church situated in England were transferred to the “Presbyterian Church of England.” But the mother church in Scotland counted in 1897 about 580 congregations and 192,000 members.

In 1919 the United Presbyterian Church in the United States reported 991 churches, 995 ministers, and 160,726 communicants.  UNITED PROVINCES OF AGRA AND OUDH, formerly known as the Northwestern Provinces and Oudh. A province of British India in the valley of the upper Ganges river. It has an area of 107,267 square miles, of which 83,109 belong to the territory of Agra, and 24,158 to the territory of Oudh. The province, for the most part, consists of a low plain, well watered by the Ganges river. There is, however, in the extreme southern part, the mountain region of the Himalaya. The climate is hot and unhealthful. The chief industries are the growing of wheat, which in recent years has been increased by extensive irrigation works. Over 50,000,000 acres are under cultivation. Rice is also grown in large quantities, as are other agricultural products. Sugar cane is an important agricultural product. Other crops include maize, cotton, opium, and indigo. There are cotton mills in Cawnpore and other cities. The province is better supplied with railroads than any other in India. They are under the administration of a lieutenant-governor, who is

assisted by a legislative council of 50 members. Pop., about 48,000,000.  UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, a Federal republic, composed of 48 States, the District of Columbia, the District of Alaska, the territories of Hawaii and Porto Rico, the Philippine Islands, Guam, Tutuila, the Panama Canal Zone, and the Virgin Islands; chiefly occupying the temperate portions of North America from lat. 24° 20′ to 49° N., and lon. 66° 48′ to 124° 32′ W.

Boundary.—The United States is bounded on the N. by British North America, the boundary line running through the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the S. of Vancouver's Island, but to the N. of the island of San Juan, striking the mainland at the 49th parallel and running along that parallel to the Lake of the Woods, and thence by a devious route through the Great Lakes and along the Laurentian water-shed to the St. John's and St. Croix rivers and Fundy Bay. The land boundary is a clearing 80 feet wide, with iron mile posts 4 feet high painted white. The E. and W. boundaries are formed by the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans respectively, the S. boundary by the Gulf of Mexico, the Rio Grande del Norte up to the 32d parallel, and a broken line drawn between the 31st and 33d parallels to the Pacific separating the United States from Mexico. These boundaries do not include Alaska. The ocean shore lines are as follows: North Atlantic coast, including bays, islands, etc., 6,150 miles; South Atlantic coast, 6,209; Mexican Gulf coast, 5,744; Pacific coast, 3,251—total, 21,354. The land, lake, and river boundary toward Canada is 3,700 miles, and the similar one toward Mexico, 2,105 miles; making the total ocean, land, lake, and river boundary, 11,075 miles. Excluding Alaska the greatest Continental extent E. and W. is 3,100 miles and N. and S., 1,780 miles.

Area.—The tables shown on pages 81 and 82 give the area of the continental territory by States and Territories.  Topography.—The two great mountain systems of the United States are the Appalachians and the Rocky Mountains. The former extend from the mouth of the St. Lawrence to the mouth of the Mississippi—a distance of 1,300 miles—and at the S. bend inland, leaving the wide and rich seaboard of Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida. This maritime region includes all the older States, and its inhabitants still amount to one-third of the whole. As far S. as the Hudson river it is hilly; thence, as far as the Alleghenies extend, its surface is divided between a plain and a mountain slope, the base of which appears to have