When the first edition of this work was published, in 1877, European Russia in the narrower sense of the term--excluding Finland, the Baltic Provinces, Lithuania, Poland, and the Caucasus--had only 11 towns with a population of over 50,000, and now there are 34; that is to say, the number of such towns has more than trebled.

In the other portions of the country a similar increase has taken place.

The towns which have become important industrial and commercial centres have naturally grown most rapidly.

For example, in a period of twelve years (1885-97) the populations of Lodz, of Ekaterinoslaf, of Baku, of Yaroslavl, and of Libau, have more than doubled.

In the five largest towns of the Empire--St.Petersburg, Moscow, Warsaw, Odessa and Lodz--the aggregate population rose during the same twelve years from 2,423,000 to 3,590,000, or nearly 50 per cent.