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* PUNJAB. 551 PUNO. itants are engaged in agriculture. The soil as a rule i3 highly fertile and only lacks an adequate water supply. In the south there is practically a barren desert. In the extreme north good crops are usually raised and without irrigation. There is a larger irrigated area in this province — 11,375,000 acres — than in any of the other gov- ernmental divisions. This area has been greatly extended in recent years, owing to the large irri- gating enterprises of the British Government, the Government canals su])])lying an area of 4,:243,000 acres. An area almost equal to this amount i^s watered from wells, but reservoirs or 'tanks' arc almost whbllv wanting. In the south the canal system of irrigation prevails and the irrigated areas fringe the river courses. In the nortliern half of the country wells are common, and the cultivated area is not limited to the prox- imity of the rivers. The Punjab has become noted for its wheat crops. It produces more wheat than any other province. The wheat- growing area, liowever. has not increased for some time. Rice, on the contrary, receives much less attention than in most of the sections of the country, less than 500,000 acres being devoted to it. Large quantities of pulse, millet, and other food grains are grown, and sugar-cane, cotton, and oil seeds are also important products. The genera! desert conditions are of course a serious disadvantage to pastoral pursuits, yet this in- dustry receives considerable attention, and the cattle for 1900 were estimated at 8,197.000 head, the buffaloes at 2.495,000, and sheep and goats at 9,901,000. The horses, mules, and donkeys together numbered less than 1.000.000, In the drier portions of the country camels are the most serviceable animals, and the province con- tains twice as many of them — 271,000 — as any British Indian Province. See IXDi.. Some manufacturing is engaged in, the Ori- ental domestic methods being most common. In 1899 there were 106 factories, employing 12.054 hands. Among the chief ]iroducts are muslins and other cotton goods, manufactures of camel's hair, and glazed tiles and pottery. The potter's art es- pecially has degenerated under foreign influence. The province now has railroad connection with the three principal trade centres of India — Cal- cutta, Bombay, and Karachi. The Indus River affords water transportation, but railway compe- tition has reduced this to a mininunn. The im- ports into the Punjab from other parts of India average about $35,640,000 annually, the largest items being cotton goods (mostly European), sugar, rice, and iron. The exports average about $29,160,000 annually, the principal articles being' wheat, raw cotton, hides, grain and pulse, rape and mustard seed. Over 90 per cent, of the wheat passes through the port of Karachi. The chief executive officer of the province is the Lieutenant-Governor, who is appointed by the Governor-General of India with the approval of the Crown. Since 1897 the province has had a legislative council of nine nominated members. There are 148 municipalities, in two-thirds of which the municipal committees are elected by the rate-payers. District boards have oversight of the rural regions, and most of the districts are divided into smaller divisions with local boards. The population, in 1901, numbered 22,455,819 (of which, however, 2.125.480 have since been deducted as belonging to the Northwest Frontier Province). Between 1890 and 1900 there was an increase of 7.13 per cent., as against an increase of 10.74 per cent, in the prec-eding decade. There were 202 inhabitants to the square mile, or considerably less than half the density of the Ganges Valley region. Since the Punjab lies at the northwest gateway of India, the numerous migrations and military expeditions from the west have passed through it, making it the scene of numerous conflicts. The result has been that in many respects it is different from the* other portions of India. The Caucasian blood is more pronounced, as is also the militaiy spirit. The .lats constitute a large part of the populatiim. The Pathans have scattered settlements through- out the province, and the Beluehis have settle- ments on the Lower Indus. Over one-half of the people are Mohammedans — a larger per cent, than is found in other parts of India. The Pathans and the Beluehis nearly all hold to that faith. A large number of .Tats "are Hindus. The Sikhs (q.v.) are an offshoot from the Hindu Jats. The Christians numbered in 1901 only 53,- 587, of whom 30,839 are Europeans. The "caste system, as adopted by the Indus Valley Jats, dif- fers materially from the original system. The Sikhs have endeavored without success to abolish caste. As in other parts of India, most of the population lives in rural villages. Delhi, the largest city, had a population in 1901 of 208,300. Lahore, the capital, ranks second with 120,000, having decreased from 176,800 since 1891. In 1897 there were 8507 schools of all grades, with 265.922 pupils. The cost of maintaining these was divided between the provincial and the local units of government supplemented from fees and other sources. For the histoiy of the Punjab, see Sikhs; and for the language, see Panjabi Language and Literature. Bibliography. Griffin, The Rajas of the Pun- jab (2d ed., London, 1872) ; Report on the Ad- mliiistrafion of the Punjab (Lahore. 1863-1902) ; Cunningham, Arehceotogieal Surrey of India, vol. xiv. (London. 1882) : 'jledlicott. Sketch of the Geology of the Punjab (Calcutta, 1888) ; Gore, Lights and Shades of Hill Life in the Afghan and Hindu Highlands of the Punjab (London, 1895) ; Latif, Bistort/ of the Punjab from the Earliest Antiquitt/ to the Present Time (ib., 1896). PUNKIE (of uncertain et-s-mology). One of the biting midgets of the family Chironomidic and genus Ceratopagon. These flies are very minute, and one species (Ceratopagon nocii'um) is the cause of considerable distress to hunters in the Maine woods, where it is called 'no-.see-um.' Other species are found in both North and South America. The larvae feed on decaying animal or vegetable matter. PUNNAH, pan'a. A native State of India. See Pax.na. PUNO. ptJo'no. The southeasternmost depart- ment of Peru, bounded on the north by Cuzco, on the east and south by Bolivia, and on the west by Moquegua and Arequipa (ilap: Peru, C 6), Area, about 40.000 square miles. The northern part of the department is occupied by the Cara- baya Range of the eastern cordillera of the Andes, whose forest-covered slopes belong to the region of the Montaiia. and give rise to the River ^Madre de Dios, The southern half belongs to the basin of Lake Titicaca, whose waters form the southeastern boundary of the department. The