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ORENBURG, a government of south-eastern Russia, bounded N. by the governments of Ufa and Perm, E. by Tobolsk, S.E. by Turgai, and W. by Uralsk and Samara, with an area of 73,794 sq. m. Situated at the southern extremity of the Urals and extending to the north-east on their eastern slope, Orenburg consists of a hilly tract bordered on both sides by steppes. The central ridge occasionally reaches an elevation of 5000 ft.; there are several parallel ridges, which, however, nowhere exceed 2600 ft., and gradually sink towards the south. A great variety of geological formations are represented within the government, which is rich in minerals. Diorites and granites enter it from the north and crop out at many places from underneath the Silurian and Devonian deposits. The Carboniferous limestones and sandstones, as well as softer Permian, Jurassic and Cretaceous deposits, have a wide extension in the south and east. Coal has been found on the Miyas (in N.) and near Iletsk (in S.). The extremely rich layers of rock salt at Iletsk yield about 24,000 tons every year. Very fertile “black earth” covers wide areas around the Urals. The government is traversed from north to south by the Ural river, which also forms its southern boundary; the chief tributaries are the Sakmara and the Ilek. The upper courses of the Byelaya and Samara, tributaries of the Kama and the Volga, also lie within the government, as well as affluents of the Tobol on the eastern slope of the Ural range. Numerous salt lakes occur in the district of Chelyabinsk; but several parts of the flat lands occasionally suffer from want of water. Sixteen per cent of the surface is under wood. The climate is continental and dry, the average temperature at Orenburg being 37·4° Fahr. (4·5° in January, 69·8° in July). Frosts of –33° and heats of 98° are not uncommon.

The estimated population in 1906 was 1,836,500, mainly Great Russians, with Bashkirs and Meshcheryaks (25%). Gold is extracted chiefly from alluvial deposits, about 116,500 oz. every year; also some silver. Nearly one-fifth of all the copper ore extracted in Russia comes from Orenburg (about 16,000 tons annually); and every year 16,000 to 20,000 tons of cast iron and 11,500 tons of iron are obtained. Agriculture is carried on on a large scale, the principal crops being wheat, rye, oats, barley and potatoes. Horses, cattle and sheep are kept in large numbers and camels are bred. Kitchen-gardening gives occupation to nearly 11,000 persons. Various kinds of animal produce are largely exported, and by knitting “Orenburg shawls” of goats wool the women earn £10,000 every year. The growth of the industries is slow, but trade, especially with the Kirghiz, is prosperous. The chief towns of the five districts into which the government is divided are Orenburg, Orsk, Chelyabinsk, Troitsk and Verkhne-Uralsk.

The government of Orenburg was formerly inhabited by the Kirghiz in the south, and by the Bashkirs in the north. The latter were brought under the rule of Russia in 1557, and a few years later the fort of Ufa was erected in order to protect them against the raids of the Kirghiz. The frequent risings of the Bashkirs, and the continuous attacks of the Kirghiz, led the Russian government in the 18th century to erect a line of forts and blockhouses on the Ural and Sakmara rivers, and these were afterwards extended south-westwards towards the Caspian, and eastwards towards Omsk. The central point of these military lines was the fort of Orenburg, originally founded in 1735 at the confluence (now Orsk) of the Or with the Ural, and removed in 1740–1743 120 m. lower down the Ural river to its present site. In 1773 it was besieged by Pugachev, the leader of the revolt of the peasantry.

 ORENBURG, a town of Russia, capital of the government of the same name, on the Ural river; connected by rail with Samara (262 m.), and since 1905 with Tashkent (1150 m.). Pop. (1900) 65,906, of whom about 30% were Tatars, Jews, Bashkirs, &c. The town now includes the former suburbs of Golubinaya and Novaya. It is an episcopal see of the Orthodox Greek Church and the headquarters of the hetman of the Orenburg Cossacks. To a “barter house,” 3 m. from the town, the camel caravans bring carpets, silks, cottons, lambskins, dried fruits, &c., from Bokhara, Khiva, Kokand and Tashkent, to be bartered against the textiles, metallic goods, sugar and manufactured wares of Russia. From 20,000 to 100,000 horses, 40,000 to 160,000 cattle, and 450,000 to 750,000 sheep are also sold every year at the barter house. Formerly most of these were sent alive to Russia; now some 200,000 head of cattle and sheep are killed every year, and exported in cold-storage wagons. Cattle are also bought by wandering merchants in the Steppe provinces and Turkestan. Every year many tons of tallow, hams, sausages, butter, cheese and game are exported by rail to Samara. Besides these, nearly a million hides and sheepskins, goat and astrakhan skins, as well as wool, horsehair, bristles, down, horns, bones, &c., are exported. There are two cadet corps, a theological seminary, seminaries for Russian and Kirghiz teachers, a museum, branches of the Russian Geographical Society and the Gardening Society, and a military arsenal.

 ORENDEL, a Middle High German poem, of no great literary merit, dating from the close of the 12th century. The story is associated with the town of Treves (Trier), where the poem was probably written. The introduction narrates the story of the Holy Coat, which, after many adventures, is swallowed by a whale. It is recovered by Orendel, son of King Eigel of Treves, who had embarked with twenty-two ships in order to woo the lovely Brida, the mistress of the Holy Sepulchre, as his wife. Suffering shipwreck, he falls into the hands of the fisherman Eise, and in his service catches the whale that has swallowed the Holy Coat. The coat has the property of rendering the wearer proof against wounds, and Orendel successfully overcomes innumerable perils and eventually wins Brida for his wife. A message brought by an angel summons both back to Treves, where Orendel meets with many adventures and at last disposes of the Holy Coat by placing it in a stone sarcophagus. Another angel announces both his and Brida’s approaching death, when they renounce the world and prepare for the end.

 ORENSE, an inland province of north-western Spain, formed in 1833 of districts previously included in Galicia, and bounded on the N. by Pontevedra and Lugo, E. by Leon and Zamora, S. by Portugal, and W. by Portugal and Pontevedra. Pop. (1900) 404,311; area 2694 sq. m. The surface of the province is almost everywhere mountainous. Its western half is traversed in a south-westerly direction by the river Miño (Portuguese Minho), which flows through Portugal to the Atlantic; the Sil, a left-hand tributary of the Miño, waters the north-eastern districts; and the Limia rises in the central mountains and flows west-south-west, reaching the sea at the Portuguese port of Vianna do Castello. The upper valley of the Limia is the only large tract of level country. The climate is very varied, mild in some valleys, cold and damp in the highlands, rainy near the northern border, and subject to rapid changes of temperature. The railway from Monforte to Vigo runs through the province. There are a few iron foundries of a primitive sort, but lack of transport and of cheap coal hinder the growth of mining and manufactures.

Though the soil is fertile and well watered, agricultural products are not so important as arboriculture. The oak, beech, pine, chestnut, walnut and plane grow in abundance on the hills and mountains; pears, apples, cherries, almonds, figs, roses and olives in the valleys, and even oranges and lemons in sheltered spots. The chief towns are the capital, Orense, Allariz, Carballino, Viana, Nogueira de Ramuin, Boborás, Cartella and La Vega. See also.