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with the Army and three years in the Air Corps after which the men belong to the reserves. The first reserve includes those up to the age of 42; the second from 42 to 48, and the third from 48 to 60. Hungary has no Navy, but has a police patrol on the Danube.

Parliament passed (May 3, 1939) anti-Jewish laws limiting Jewish participation in business and the professions to 6 to 12 per cent of the total number of persons engaged in the various callings. Hungary has an estimated Jewish population (1939) of 750,000.

The principal imports in the order of their value are: Raw cotton, paper, hides, machinery and apparatus, metals, and mineral oil.

Chief exports are: Wheat, live animals, electrical machinery and apparatus, poultry, lard and fruits.

Much social legislation has been enacted. The measures include minimum wage, old age pension and the distribution of almost 2,000,000 acres among the landless rural population. Public works and rearmament proceed with the 1,000,000,000 pengos special fund.

Public school education is compulsory and free for eight years. National minorities may acquire a high school education in their native tongue, while there are collegiate institutions where subjects are taught exclusively in English, French or Italian.

Iceland
(ISLAND)

Capital, Reykjavik-Area, 39,709 square miles-Population (1939) 118,888 Iceland is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean of volcanic origin. It has many geysers and hot springs. The climate is much modified by the Gulf Stream. The land is treeless. There are no railroads.

Natural hot water from many of Iceland's volcanic springs is piped into Reykjavik and provides heat for office buildings, homes and hot houses. A public swimming pool and a laundry derive their heat from this source. The flow of hot springs in the vicinity of Reykjavik is more than 200 gallons a minute with a larger supply easily obtainable. Vegetables are rare in Iceland where the climate is too severe for their normal growth, but big garden plantations have sprung up around the hot springs and have been able to grow even semitropical products.

Agriculture engages 47,512 of the population. About six-sevenths of the land is unproductive and only about 65,000 acres are under cultivation, producing potatoes, turnips and hay. The fishing industry is important and the catch, mostly cod and herring, is huge.

Iceland is admitted to have attained approximately absolute justice of the sterner sort. It has neither army nor navy, nor fortifications; no deficit and no unemployment.

The Althing is composed of a varying number of members, not exceeding 49, of whom 38 are elected in constituencies, each electing one or two members of simple majorities except the capital. In the capital six members are elected by proportional representation, while a necessary number of supplementary mandates is distributed among the parties which have got too few in proportion to their voting numbers. The King of Denmark appoints the President of a Council of Ministers, all of whom are subject to the approval of the Althing. Herman Jonasson has been President since July 29, 1934. Men and women over 21 enjoy the suffrage. The people of Iceland celebrated (June 23-28, 1930) the 1,000th anniversary of the Althing, the oldest parliamentary assembly in the world.

The Icelandic language has maintained its purity, as in Eddas and Sagas, for 1,000 years. Danish is widely spoken. Illiteracy is low. There is a University in Reykjavik. The national church is Evangelical Lutheran, but there is complete refreedom.

Iceland was an independent republic (9301263), when it joined with Norway. The two came under Danish rule (1381). When Norway separat-ligious ed from Denmark (1814) Iceland remained under Denmark. Denmark acknowledged Iceland as a Sovereign state (1918) united with Denmark only in that the Danish King, Christian X., was also King of Iceland.

The Althing (Parliament) voted (May, 1941) to cancel the union with Denmark, declaring Iceland independent; resolved to elect a regent to assume the functions of the King and to introduce a republican constitution as soon as the union ceased. The Althing assumed control of Iceland's foreign affairs (April, 1940) when Germany occupied Denmark. A British Expeditionary force occupied Iceland a month later. Sveinn Bjoerrsson was elected regent for a period of one year.

United States naval forces occupied Iceland (1941) on invitation of the island's Government, which later approved the occupation by a vote of 39 to 3.

Leif Ericson, the Norseman, sailed from Iceland in the year 1000 and discovered the American mainland, starting a colony called Vinland, probably at New Bedford, Mass. A colossal bronze statue, by A. Stirling Cadder, the gift of the United States Congress, was presented to Iceland and unveiled at Reykjavik (July 17, 1932.)

The unit of currency is the krona whose value is fixed officially as that of the Danish krone. Government receipts (1941) were estimated at 18,478,173 kronur and expenditures 18,016,263.

The principal imports in the order of their value are-vessels, carriages and machinery: coal: textiles manufactures; oils and tallow; cereals, metals and hardware: timber and wooden goods. Exports, in order, are-living animals and animal food; oils and tallow; fish and herring meal; skins and hair; textile materials.

Iran

(PERSIA)

Capital, Teheran-Area, 628,000 square miles-Population (1933) 15,055,115 Iran is the official name for Persia. The people refer to themselves as Irani. Persia was the name of a province. The Kingdom occupies the western and larger half of the great Iranian Plateau between the rivers Indus and Tigris in Southwestern

Asia. It is bounded on the north by Transcaucasia (Russia), the Caspian Sea and Turkestan; on the east by Afghanistan and Beluchistan (British India); on the south by the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf: on the west by Mesopotamia (Iraq) and Armenia. The boundaries are indeterminate --a cause of much friction. The people are Moslems, mostly of the Shi'a sect, and generally illiterate. Legislative government consists of a National Assembly called Majilis, elected every two years The king-called Shah-appoints a Prime Minister who (if acceptable himself) selects a cabinet agreeable to the Majilis. Mirza Riza Pahlevi (born March 16, 1878) was proclaimed Shah (Dec. 16, 1925). Crown Prince Mohammed Reza Pahlevi (born Oct. 26, 1919) married Princess Fawzia, 17-year-old sister of King Farouk of Egypt (March 15, 1939). British and Soviet forces occupied Iran (Aug.Sept., 1941) until war conditions permit their withdrawal. Riza Shah Pahlevi abdicated (Sept. 15, 1941) and was succeeded by his son, Mohammed Riza Pahlevi. The Prime Minister is Alo Furanghi.

Across the plateau, which lies at an altitude of 4,000 to 8,000 ft., in the north central part, from northwest to southeast. stretches a desert, 800 miles long, varying from 100 to 200 miles wide. There are many peaks from 9,000 to 10,000 ft. high. Fine forests cover the maritime plains and mountain slopes. Mineral deposits still undeveloped, are known to be considerable. Turquoise mines are worked crudely in Nishapur.

The Iranian oil field in the southwest territory at the head of the Persian Gulf is the richest single field in existence. William Knox D'Arcy, an Englishman, obtained (1901) for about $20,000 a 60year monopoly for the exploitation of petroleum in a territory comprising 500,000 square miles, five-sixths of the Kingdom. The British government owns a controlling interest in the company; the Anglo-Iranian Oil Co. A new agreement, much more favorable to the Iranian government, was drawn up by the League of Nations, and signed by the company and the Persian government (1933). The Shah granted (March 6, 1937) American companies the privilege of developing oil concessions in eastern district of Iran. Other minerals include iron, coal, copper, lead, manganese, marble, borax, nickel and cobalt.

Agriculture is a prime industry, wheat, barley, rice, fruits, gums, drugs, wool, tobacco and cotton

240

Foreign Countries-Iran; Iraq; Italy

being the chief products. Some wines are famous. |
Persian carpets, all made on hand looms, are pro-
duced in Tabriz, Sultanabad and Kerman, Khura-
san is famous for the quality of its wool. The chief
exports are petroleum, cotton, carpets, fruits,
gums, hides, wool, opium and rice; the chief im-
ports are textiles, sugar, tea and manufactures
of metals. Rug exports to the United States aver-
age more than $3,000,000 a year.
Military service is compulsory beginning with
Active service in the Army is for
the age of 21.
a period of two years followed by four years in the

active reserve, 14 years in the first general reserve
and five years in the supplementary reserve. The
strength of the active peace time Army is approxi-
The unit of currency is the rial with an average
mately 120,000 officers and men.
value of $.585.

Government receipts (1940-1941) were 3,094,-
393.000 rials and expenditures 3,210,973.000.

The Trans-Iranian Railway, the nation's major construction project, was opened to freight trame (1938). Branch lines connect Teheran with Tabriz, Yezd and Meshed.

Iraq

(MESOPOTAMIA)

Capital, Bagdad-Area, 140,000 square miles-Population (est. 1937) 3,670,000 Mesopotamia is the name applied to the whole Euphrates country in southwest Asia-the former Turkish Vilayets of Basra, Bagdad and Mosul. The Arab name for this territory is Iraq. bounded on the north by Kurdistan, Turkey; on the east by Persia; on the south by the Persian Gulf and Kuweit and on the west by the Arabian and Syrian deserts.

It is

The country is a great alluvial plain. The temperature varies widely; 120° fahrenheit in the shade is not uncommon with severe frosts in the winter.

Elementary education is free but not compulsory. Arabic is the language of the majority. The people are preponderantly Mohammedan, 1,146,685 adhering to the Sunni sect, and 1,494,015 to the Shi'ah sect. Jews number 87.488: Christians. 78.792. The soil is of extraordinary fertility, and engineers estimate that the Tigris-Euphrates Rivers could irrigate 7,000,000 acres in winter and 3,000,000 of varied crops in summer. The Tigris-Euphrates valley is the legendary cradle of the human race, regarded by some Biblical scholars as the original Garden of Eden. It was here that the ancient cities of Nineveh and Babylon flourished.

Wheat, barley, rice and millet are the chief crops, with tobacco in the Kurdish hills. Dates are grown in the tidal stretches of the Shatt el Arab and the hundred miles from Fao to Qurna on both sides of the river is a continuous date grove. Large flocks of sheep are raised in the north, and wool and skins form a considerable export.

The Bagdad railway line links Iraq and Turkey. connecting the cities of Iraq. Mosul, Bagdad and Basra. Bagdad has a modern airport.

Iraq is one of the great oil-producing countries of the world. The mandate (under the Treaty of Peace with Turkey, 1920) for Mesopotamia as an independent state was intrusted to Great Britain by the Allies, British and Indian forces having conquered the country during the World War, occupying Basra (Nov. 22, 1914) and Bagdad (March 11, 1917). Emir Feisal, third son of the Grand Sherif of Mecca,

then King of the Hejaz, was chosen ruler by a
was succeeded by his son, Ghazi Ibn Feisal (born
referendum. On his death (Sept. 9, 1933), he
March 21, 1912). King Ghazi was killed in an
automobile accident (April 4, 1939) and was suc-
ceeded on the throne by his son, Emil Feisal, as
King Feisal II (born May 2, 1935). King Feisal II
was proclaimed (April 4) and later a five-man
regency council was named to rule until he became
of age.

A Constituent Assembly met in Bagdad (1924)
the election of a Chamber of Deputies. A Consti-
and passed an organic law and an electoral law for
tutional Monarchy, hereditary in the family of
King Feisal, was created with a Senate of 20 mem-
bers nominated by the King for eight years and a
Chamber of Deputies of 150 members, elected by
king and (if acceptable himself) selects a cabinet
suffrage. The Prime Minister is appointed by the
agreeable to the legislature.

A pro-British Government was set up (June 3, 1941) under Prime Minister Jamil al-Midfai after a revolt had been crushed and the insurgent leaders had fled to Iran. Jamil al-Midfai resigned (Sept. The Iraq army numbers 28,000. Military ser21, 1941) and was succeeded by Nuri es-Said. A treaty with Great Britain was signed at Bagdad vice is compulsory between the ages of 19 and 25. (June 30, 1930). By it the British mandatory rights were formally renounced and the independence of Iraq recognized.

The monetary unit is the dinar, equal to about $5 in American money. The government's receipts (1939-1940) were 6,093,054 dinars, exclusive of oil royalties totaling 2,054,503; expenditures were 6,369,148. exclusive of capital works expenditures amounting to 2,232,916 dinars.

The principal imports in the order of their monetary value are iron and steel; cotton piece goods; machinery and tools; silk and rayon goods; sugar; tea; vehicles; and woollen piece-goods. Exports, in order, are (besides petroleum) dates, sources of imports are Great Britain, Japan, India, barley, wool, wheat, hides and skins. The chief Germany, United States and Iran, respectively. Exports are consigned mainly to Great Britain, United States, India and Iran.

Italy

(REGNO d'ITALIA)

Capital, Rome-Area, 119,800 square miles-Population (1940) 45,330,441

ord of more than 120 eruptions. The active volThe Kingdom of Italy occupies the entire Italian | cano, Mt. Etna (altitude 10,755 ft.) having a recpeninsula, stretching from the Alps southeast into On the with a record of 50 known eruptions, rises to an the Mediterranean, with the islands of Sicily, Sar- cano, Mt. Vesuvius (altitude about 4,300 ft.), dinia, Elba and about 70 smaller ones. east is the Adriatic Sea, which it dominates; altitude of more than 4,000 ft. on the Bay of on the south, the Mediterranean, on the west be- Naples, and north of the Strait of Messina is the tween the mainland and Sicily and Sardinia is the island volcano of Stromboli (3,040 ft.) Tyrrhenian Sea, and further north the Ligurian Sea. The Maritime Alps on the west separate it from France, the Swiss Alps in the north from Switzerland, and the Dolomite Alps from Germany (Austria), and the Carnac and Julian Alps on the east from Yugo-Slavia. The great plain shut in by these huge mountains, and the Ligurian Apennines, and watered by the River Po (220 miles long) and the Adige, shared by the departments, Piedmont, Lombardy, Emilia and Venetia, stretches across the top from the Maritime Alps to the head of the Adriatic. The Ligurian Mountains, circling the Gulf of Genoa, run down the middle of the peninsula as the Apennines, with many summits like Monte Cimone (altitude 7,103 ft.) in the northern part, and the Gran Sasso d'Italia (9,560 ft.) in Central Italy nearing the western coastline in Campagna and continuing down (with altitudes of about 6,000 ft.), through the southern province, Calabria, to the "toe of the boot" at Cap Spartivento. Across the narrow Strait of Messina the mountain range continues through the Island of Sicily with its famous vol

[graphic]

The length of the peninsula is 760 miles, while not generally measure more than 100 miles. Italy its breadth nowhere exceeds 150 miles and does is slightly larger than New England and New Two rivers, having the greatest historic imporYork and has more than twice their population. tance, rise in the Apennines, and flow west to the sea-the Tiber, which moves through Rome, and the Arno, which waters the Florentine plain. Between the spurs of the Alps lie seven beautiful Italian lakes, especially noteworthy being Como, Lugano, Maggiore and Garda, the largest. Both The Adriatic coastline is flat and has five ports Maggiore and Garda are more than 30 miles long.

of major importance. Trieste, Venice, Ancona, Bari and Brindisi. Trento and Trieste, which formed the "Italia Irredenta," were annexed to Italy as a result of the World War. Fiume, after a bitter quarrel, was annexed (1924) through the inspiration and efforts of Gabriel D'Annunzio. Italy's famed poet and soldier. Its annexation was acknowledged by Yugo-Slavia (April 5, 1925) in a treaty which also granted Hungary free port rights in Fiume.

The climate of Italy is sunny, although northern Italy has a cold winter; snow is rarely seen in Naples, and olives, oranges, lemons, figs, cotton and pomegranates flourish in Calabria. The soil is fertile. Italy, though drained before the war by emigration, is one of the most densely populated states in Europe, having a population of 371-2 (1939) to the square mile.

It is a country of immense interest to the tourist, with its lively landscape and picturesque people, its masterpieces of ancient, medieval and modern art. Here are awe-inspiring works of Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael, in churches and galleries that look back through the centuries. The glory that was ancient Rome may still be seen in the Catacombs and Coliseum. St. Peter's Church-a masterpiece of architecture and the mecca of Christian pilgrimages for hundreds of years-is the largest church in the world; and the Vatican, the home of Roman Catholicism, the largest residence extant.

The population is unusually homogeneous. In pre-war Italy there were about 85,000 of French origin, in the Val d'Aosta, 10,000 Teutonic. There were about 250,000 German (Austrians) in the South Tyrol (ceded to Italy in 1919). They are being transferred to Germany according to a plan by which the evacuation will be completed by 1941. 81,000 Albanian in Calabria and Sicily, 29,000 Greek, 43,000 Slav, mostly in Cividale, and 12,000 Spanish (Catalans) in Sardinia. In the "redeemed" provinces, formerly Austrian, annexed after the war, there were 215,345 Germans, 326,715 Slovenes, and 141,663 Croats. Rome (1940) had a population of 1,338,074.

The Governments of Italy and of Germany reached an accord (Dec. 31, 1939) whereby the German population of the former Austrian provinces got the option of remaining in Italy. after accepting Italian citizenship, or of emigrating to the Reich. Of the 229,500 who were present in the area, 166,488 decided in favor of emigration; 27,712 preferred to remain in Italy as Italian citizens; and 35,300 did not turn in a ballot and therefore, according to the terms of the agreement, acquired Italian nationality. The exodus, which is still under way, is taking place at the rate of 200/300 individuals per day and, according to the prearranged schedule, should be completed by December, 1942.

The religion of the great majority is Roman Catholic, the census of 1936 returning 41,017,369 Catholics (99.6%), 83,618 Protestant, 47,825 Jews. Italy has 26 universities, with ten of them dating from the 13th century or the first years of the 14th. Famous among these are Bologna (founded 1200); Genoa (1243); Naples (1224); Padua (1222); Pisa (1338); Rome (1303), and Turin (1404). Primary education is compulsory between the ages of six and 14. Much progress has been made in combating illiteracy, especially in Calabria and other southern provinces.

Agriculture is the chief industry, with an area (1939) comprising 70,548,131 acres with 8,756,848 engaged in it (1936). The principal crops are wheat, barley, oats, rye, corn, rice, beans, potatoes, sugar beets, grapes and olives.. Dairy farming and cheese making are important in Northern Italy.

Italy is not rich in mineral deposits. and is especially lacking in coal, although she is a large producer of sulphur, chiefly in the volcanic regions of Sicily. Other minerals are iron, manganese, mercury, lead, zinc, antimony and bauxite.

The largest and most important industry, aside from agriculture. is the manufacture of textiles. Silk culture is carried on extensively in Lombardy, Piedmont and Venetia. Other principal manufactures are chemicals (sulphuric acid, superphosphate and copper phosphate); sugar; cheese, and macaroni.

It is estimated that Italy has water power sites that would yield 9,000,000 horsepower, but only one half of this has been harnessed.

Italy's principal exports in the order of their monetary value are-vegetables and fruit: cotton; vehicles; artificial silk: cereals and roots: wool and hair; hemp. linen and jute: stones, earths and minerals; silk: machines and apparatus: dairy products: iron and steel. Imports, in order, arestones, earths and minerals; cereals, roots; mineral oils; iron and steel; wool and hair; machines and

apparatus: seeds and fruits; copper; skins and furs: paper and cardboard.

Air travel is greatly developed in Italy with the aviation companies subsidized by the State.

Divided, dismembered even for centuries, Italy began to take shape as a unity when, following the war of 1859, Lombardy, by the peace of Zurich, came under the crown of King Victor Emmanuel II, of Sardinia of the house of Savoy. By plebiscite (1860) Parma, Modena, the Romagna and Tuscany joined, to be followed at once by Sicily and Naples, and by The Marches and Umbria. The first Italian Parliament assembled (February, 1861) and (March 17, 1861) declared Victor Emmanuel King of Italy. Mantua and Venetia were added (1866), an outcome of the Austro-Prussian war. The papal States were taken possession of by Italian troops (Sept. 20, 1870) after the withdrawal of the French garrison in the Franco-Prussian war (see Index, VATICAN CITY), and by plebiscite (Oct. 2) were annexed to the kingdom, thereby rounding out United Italy. The Papal States were Marches, Romaqua and Umbria, which were annexed previously. What was occupied in 1870 was the city of Rome and environments, long known as the "Patrimony of St. Peter."

Since the advent of Fascism, the government of Italy has consisted of a Sovereign, a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies, whose activities have all been subordinate to the Grand Council of Fascism. (A decree signed by the Grand Council (Oct. 8, 1938) effective (March, 1939), abolishes the Chamber of Deputies and substitutes a Chamber of Fasces and Corporations composed exclusively of government and Fascist party appointees, without benefit of election. Laws passed by the new Chamber are transmitted to Premier Mussolini in his capacity the Duce of Fascism and head of the State, and he submits them to the King for his signature). The Senate-whose members are appointed for life by the King-is composed of princes of the royal house and persons of fame in science, literature or in a pursuit particularly beneficial to the nation. The number (1939) was 543.

Candidates

The Chamber of Deputies-the most democratic 400 members, elected for five years. of the Fascist governmental agencies-contained for the Chamber were proposed by the National Syndicate Confederation" (representing labor and industry jointly), and by several other associations of a national character, including the representatives of the judiciary. Candidates were presented to the electorate for acceptance or rejection only after the Grand Council had first approved of them.

The Grand Council of Fascism is composed of the original leaders of the Black Shirt party. ministers and other high dignitaries of the governappointed by the Premier for a term of three ment, and of an undetermined number of members years. The Council co-ordinates the work of the absolute power in questions of a constitutional Sovereign, the Senate and the Chamber, and has

nature.

The King of Italy is Victor Emmanuel III (born Nov. 11, 1869), who succeeded his father. King Humbert I (July 29, 1900). He married Helena, daughter of Nicholas. King of Montenegro (Oct. Piedmont (born Sept. 15, 1904), and was married 24. 1896). The Crown Prince, Humbert, Prince of (Jan. 8, 1930) to Princess Maria Jose of Belgium (born Aug. 4, 1906). They have a daughter, Princess Maria Pia, (born Sept. 24, 1934), and a son, Victor-Emmanuel, Prince of Naples (born Feb. 13, 1937), a daughter, Maria Gabriella (born Feb. 24, 1940).

The daughters of the King and Queen of Italy are-Princess Yolanda (born June 1, 1901), married (April 9, 1923) Capt. Count Carlo Calvi di Bergolo; Prince Philip of Hesse (Sept. 23. 1925): Princess Princess Mafalda (born Nov. 19, 1902), married Giovanna (born Nov. 13, 1907), married (Oct. 25, 1930) King Boris III of Bulgaria; and Princess Marie (born Dec. 26, 1914), married (Jan. 23, 1939) Prince Louis of Bourbon-Parma.

The Italian Cabinet follows:

Prime Minister, Chief of the Government and Minister of the Interior, of War, of the Navy, of the Air and Justice-Benito Mussolini. Minister of State-Alfred Baelolio. Minister of Italian Africa-Attilio Teruzzi. Foreign Affairs, Count Galeazzo Ciano di Cortellazzo.

Corporations, Renato Ricci.

National Education, Giuseppe Bottal.
Agriculture and Forests, Guiseppe Tassinari.
Finance, Count Paolo Thaon di Revel.
Justice, Count Dino Grandi.

Communications, Giovanni Host Venturi.
Popular Culture, Alessandro Pavolini.
Public Works, Giuseppe Gorla.

Trade and International Payments, Raffael Ric cardi.

Minister-Secretary of Fascist Party, Adelchi

Serena.

Bottai, Ciano, Gorla, Grandi, Farinacci, Ricci Riccardi, di Revel and Pavolini were called to active war duty (1940).

Four Under-Secretaries of State were named to carry on the work of superiors or predecessors called to the front. The appointees named for the duration of the war are:

Public Works, Pio Calletti; Finance, Pietro Lissia; Education, Emilio Bodrero; Trade and International Payments, Salvatore Gatti. Bodrero shares the Education post with Riccardo del Guidice.

The original Fascisti-called Black Shirts because of their garb-were a group of ex-soldiers (150 in number) organized (March 23, 1919) into an association against Communism and Socialism by Benito Mussolini, himself an ex-Socialist and former newspaper editor, who had fought and been wounded in the World War. The organization grew in numbers and power until (Oct. 24, 1922), following a general strike (Aug. 22, 1922) and chaotic conditions in the capital, it marched on Rome and in a bloodless revolution took over the government at the invitation of the King.

As leader of the Fascisti and head of the government. Mussolini, the son of a poor Socialist blacksmith and school teacher mother, has acquired dictatorial powers over the life of the country. The Fascist party exercises virtual control over every private and public activity of the nation. Industry. labor, agriculture. commerce, the professions, the arts, the press-all are controlled by the Fascisti.

Under the terms of a decree issued by the Fascist Grand Council (Oct. 6. 1938) no Italian is permitted to marry a Jew. whether or not the Jew is a citizen of Italy, and no Italian is allowed to marry a foreigner unless the marriage is specifically approved by the Ministry of Interior Affairs.

The Fascist party membership (as of Oct. 28, 1939) follows:

Fasces (Fasce di Combattimento) 2,633,514. Women groups (Fasci Femminili) 774,181. University Group (Gruppi Universitari) 105,883. Youth Organizations (Gioventù Italiana del Littorio) 7,891,547, divided as follows:

BOYS

4-5 Figli della Lupa, 1,546,389.
6-14 Balilla, 1,746,560.
14-18 Avanguardisti, 906,785.
18-21 Giovani Fascisti, 1,176,798.
GIRLS
Piccole Italiane, 1,622,766.
Giovani Italiane, 441,254.
Giovani Fasciste, 450,995.

The teachers in all Italian schools, both men and women, are ordered to wear the uniform of officers of either the Balilla or the Fascist militia. In secondary schools and colleges, army officers in uniform now occupy the platforms of teachers during the period of compulsory military courses (military history, military mathematics. geography and tactics and manoeuvres) prescribed by a decree (Sept. 18, 1934). No student can be promoted or graduated unless he has satisfactorily completed his military course.

war

Military service is compulsory between the ages of 18 and 55. The normal period of training service in all branches is 18 months, after which the recruits are transferred to the reserve where they remain until 55. Military expenditures (1941-1942) are estimated at 12,210,400,000 lire for all three services.

The monetary unit is the lira with an average value of $.0526.

The budget (1941-1942) estimates receipts of 31,082,400,000 lire and expenditures of 39,876,500,

000.

Italian Colonies

ERITREA

Italy's colonial venture in Africa began (1870) when the port of Assab, in the extreme southern part of Eritrea, was purchased. Lagging interest was revived (1885), when the colonial project was vigorously pushed. An effort to establish a' protectorate over Abyssinia (now called Ethiopia) was made in (1889) but was upset by King Menelek, who, with an army of 80,000, annihilated a force of 12,000 Italians at the Battle of Adowa (1896). Eritrea was constituted a colony (1890).

Eritrea stretches for 670 miles along the African coast of the Red Sea from Cape Kasar to Cape Dumereh. To the west it is bordered by the Soudan, on the south by Ethiopia, and French Somaliland, a small section of which bordering on the Gulf of Eden was transferred to Italy by France (1935) when an interest in the railroad from Djibouti to Addis Ababa was also transferred to her. The total area (1931) was 15,754 square miles and the population 600,573, including 4,188 Italians. The Italian government (June 1, 1936) transferred the districts of Tigry (Tigrai), Danakilland (Dancalia) and Haussa (Aussa), all formerly a part of Ethiopia, to Eritrea.

Eritrea was occupied by British Colonial Forces (April, 1940).

Irrigation is necessary to supplement rainfall for the crops, and the soil is poor. Agriculture and stock raising are the chief industries. There is a railroad 75 miles long connecting the seaport Massawa (population. 12,277) with the capital, Asmara (altitude 7,765 ft.), thence 65 miles to Cheren, thence 53 miles to Agordat. It is being constructed to Tessenei to open up a cotton-growing district. Gold is mined in Hamassen and petroleum is found but there has been as yet no development. The monetary unit is the Italian lira.

Italian Somaliland (area, 194,000 square miles; population, (est. 1936) 1,300,000) extends along the Indian Ocean from the Gulf of Aden to the Juba River. The coastline extending in a northeast-southwest direction, is 1,100 miles long, with no indentation of importance.

Italian Somaliland was occupied by British Colonial forces (April, 1940).

Italian Somaliland is the source of half the world's supply of incense. Other exports are oil, gum, hides, kapok, resin, and ivory. The principal imports are cottons, sugar, rice, tea, coffee, iron. machinery and timber. The Italian lira is the monetary unit. The budget (1935-36) showed receipts of 70,750,000 lire, including a contribution of 47,190,000 from the Italian Government; expenditures were 70,750,000, of which 29,960,000 de

The lowlands along the coast are hot and malarial, but the uplands are cool, sometimes cold. frayed military expenses.

LIBYA

(Libia Italiana)

Italian Libya in North Africa extends along the Mediterranean Sea from Egypt on the East to Tunis (French) and Algeria on the West. On the South Libya extends to Algeria, to French West Africa and the Soudan. Libya for administrative and military purposes is divided into four provinces (Tripoli, Misurata, Benghazi and Derne) and into a military territory in the South having jurisdiction over the southern sections of the four provinces. The area of the territory is estimated at 679,358 square miles with a population (1939) of 888.401. The capitals are Tripoli and Benghazi. Tripoli, formerly one of the Barbary States and independent (since 1714) was reconquered by Turkey (1835). During the Turko-Italian war (191112) Italy proclaimed the annexation of Tripoli, which was recognized by the great powers in the Treaty of Ouchy (Oct. 18, 1912). The oasis of Jarabub, on the eastern side of Cirenaica, was ceded to Italy by Egypt (1926).

The legislative power is reserved to Rome, and governors have purely administrative functions. San courts have final jurisdiction.

The prevailing religion is Mohammedan, and Arabic is generally spoken.

The country is rather barren, but has date palm orchards, olive groves, lemon, almond and fig trees, and vineyards. Other products include tobacco. matting, carpets. leather articles, and fabrics embroidered with gold and silver.

The Italian lira is the monetary unit. Governmental receipts and expenditures (1939-1940) were balanced at 600,115,000.

Fourteen Aegean Isles were occupied by Italy during the war of 1912 with Turkey and though claimed by Greece have been retained by Italy. Rhodes has been fortified. The area is 1,035 square miles, and population 140,848. Rhodes (population, 56,754) is the capital. It is heavily fortified and was made in 1935 a hospital and munitions center.

Tientsin, an Italian concession (since June 7, 1902) lies on the left bank of Hai-Ho and consists of about 130 acres with a population (1936) of 7,953 (Chinese, 7,411; Italians, 358; other Europeans, 184).

Japan

(NIPPON)

Capital, Tokio-Area, 148,756 square miles-Population (est. 1939), 72,875,800 The island empire of Japan lies in the north Pacific Ocean off the coast of China and Siberia from 21° 46' north latitude. the southern point of Formost (Taiwan), due east of Hong Kong, to 50° 55' north latitude. the last of the Kurile Islands, a few miles south of Kamchatka. It includes also the southern half of the island of Sakhalin, and the ancient Kingdom of Korea (annexed Aug. 22. 1910) on the mainland. Japan also holds the Kwantung peninsula (Port Arthur and Dairen) on a 99-year lease, and has the mandate for the Marshall, Caroline, Ladrone and Pelew Islands. former German possessions in the Pacific.

wool, wrought iron, mineral oil, machinery, beans, crude rubber, wood, iron ore and coal. Exports comprise, in order, cotton tissues, raw silk, rayon cloth. machinery. canned goods. silk tissues, knitted goods, potteries, wrought iron. cotton yarns, toys and vegetable oil.

The southernmost island is subtropical: the northernmost subarctic. Were the empire stretched out in the Atlantic off the coast of the United States at the same latitudes, Formosa would lie across Cuba and Southern Florida. Tokio would be que east of Norfolk, Hakodate due east of New York, and Sakhalin would be athwart Newfoundland with the northernmost island. Paramushir, off Labrador.

Japan's trade (1939) was distributed among these nations in the following order: ImportsUnited States, Manchukuo, British India, China and Germany. Exports-Manchukuo, United States China, British India, and Netherlands Indies. There are 67 ports open to foreign trade. the most important being Yokohama, Kobe and Osaka on the Pacific Coast of the main island, and Nigata on the Japan Sea Coast, the port of trans-shipment for Vladivostok.

The monetary unit is the yen with an average value of $.2344.

The budget (1941-1942), including war expenditures. is 13,875,000,000 yen, of which 7,574,000,000 yen must be borrowed. The extraordinary war expenditures, including the "affair in China." is

The Japanese Empire has a total area of 260,644 20 000.000 yene budget shows an increase of

square miles and a population (est. 1940) of 105.226,101.

While nominally an independent State. Manchukuo (formerly Manchuria, a Chinese province) is in reality a Japanese possession with Nipponese advisers in practical control of the government. The Sino-Japanese conflict has brought other large sections of China under Japanese tutelage.

The Japanese coast is deeply indented, its coast line measuring 17,150 miles. Few places in Japan are far removed from the mountains or really distant from the sea. The northern islands are a continuation of the Russian Karafuto chain_running down through Yezo and the mainland. The continuation of the Kuentin mountain range of China appears in the southern islands, the ranges meeting in the grand Japanese Alps. In the vast transverse fissure crossing the mainland from the Sea of Japan to the Pacific rises a group of volcanoes, mostly extinct or dormant, with the majestic sacred mountain Fujiyama lifting its white cone 60 miles west of Tokio to an altitude of 12,425 ft. The earthquake zone-where the average is said to be four slight ones a day, with serious ones every six or seven years has its greatest center along the Pacific Coast near the Bay of Tokio.

Tokio (1939) had an estimated population of 7,094,600. The city absorbed (Oct. 1. 1932) 82 suburban boroughs and villages, increasing its area 214 square miles (137,190 acres), about the size of Chicago.

Separating the islands of Shikoku and Kiushiu from the mainland is the famous Inland Sea, opening both into the Sea of Japan and the Pacific. It is 255 miles long and 56 wide. with a coast line of 700 miles and a surface expanse of 1,325 square miles.

Heavy snowfalls are frequent on the Japan Sea slopes of the mountains of Yezo, while the Pacific side, by which flows the Japan Current. enjoys pleasing winter weather. There is an abundant rainfall. The streams are short, swift and often unruly, of little value for transportation, yet offering a vast but as yet little developed supply of hydroelectric power.

Myriads of waterfalls add their charm to the magnificent scenery. The "Splendor of the Sun" at Nikko makes an unbroken plunge of 350 ft. There are a thousand mineral springs.

Three-fourths of the mountain land is uncultivable, and the soil of the rest is only moderately fertile, yet by intensive cultivation, hard work and great frugality more than half the people wrest their living from the soil. There is a rich supply of fish of many kinds in the sea, and fish is a staple diet.

About three-fifths of the arable land is cultivated by small peasant proprietors, the rest by tenants. More than half the land is used for growing rice, the chief food of the country. Wheat, barley, rye, tobacco, tea, beans, peaches, pears, apples, grapes. persimmons and mandarins are also produced. Mulberry trees are widely grown, and the annual output of silk is huge (three-fourths of the world's total). The country possesses a variety of minerals including gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, iron, chromite, white arsenic, coal, sulphur, salt and petroleum.

After agriculture and the making of silk, the principal industries are the

over the preceding fiscal year.

The cabinet, at a special meeting (July 12, 1941) decided on an extension of government control over finance, industry, production and distribution in line with the wartime planned economy. A capital mobilization plan is to be formulated each year on the "composite basis of the total production of the nation's economy." Available capital is to be allocated rationally" under government control.

Japan put herself on a full economic war footing (Aug. 11, 1941) by invoking the terms of the general mobilization act of 1938. This act provides a parallel, in an economic sense, of military mobilization. It confers on the Government unlimited power to draft man power for industry and to draft all economic resources. The act virtually permits all constitutional checks on executive action to be set aside.

The government of Japan rests in an Emperor and an Imperial Diet consisting of a House of Peers and a House of Representatives. There are 404 members of the House of Peers composed of princes, marquises, counts, viscounts, barons and persons of great distinction or wealth. The 466 members of the House of Representatives are elected by direct suffrage for terms of four years. The Emperor exercises complete executive power with the advice and assistance of Cabinet Ministers appointed by him and responsible to him, and (in important matters of State) with the help of a Privy Council. The Emperor exercises legislative power with the consent of the Imperial Diet. He may declare war, conclude peace and consummate treaties; and give sanction to legislation enacted by the Houses of the Diet. in either of which it may originate, and he may dissolve, prorogue, open and close the Diet.

The Emperor is Hirohito (the 124th of his line, born April 29, 1901). He succeeded his father, Yoshihito (Dec. 26, 1926); was crowned (Nov. 10-14. 1928); constituted Regent (Nov. 25, 1921) because of his father's ill health; was married (Jan. 26. 1924) to Princess Nagako Kuni. The Crown Prince is Akihito Tsugu No Miya (born Dec. 23, 1933). Other children are Princess Shigeko (born Dec. 6, 1925), Princess Kazuko (born Sept. 30, 1929), Princess Atsuko (born March 7, 1931), Princess Masahito (born Nov. 28, 1935). A daughter, the sixth child, was born (March 2, 1939) and christened Takako Suganomiya (pure and noble princess). She is known as Princess Suga.

The Emperor has three brothers-Prince Yasuhito Chicibu (born June 25, 1902), married Miss Setsu Matsudarra (Sept. 28, 1929); Prince Nobuhito Takamatsu (born Jan. 3, 1905), married Princess Kikuko Tokugawa, granddaughter of the last of the Shogun of Japan (Feb. 4, 1930), and Prince Takahito (born Dec. 2, 1915).

The succession to the throne is fixed by Imperial failure of direct descendants, the throne passes House Law upon the male descendants; in case of to the nearest prince and his descendants.

The political affiliation of the members of the Diet (elected April 30, 1937) is-Minseito, 179; Seiyukai. 175: Labor, 36; Independents, 29: Showakai. 18: Kokumindome. 11; other groups. 18.

The Cabinet (organized July 16, 1941) follows:
Premier-Prince Fuminaro Konoye.
Foreign and Overseas Affairs-Vice

Toyoda. manufacture of

woollens, cottons. paper, pottery, vegetable oil. leather and matting. The chief imports in the order of their monetary value are-raw cotton,

War-Lieut. Gen. Eiki Tojo. Navy-Admiral Koshiro Oikawa. Home-Harumichi Tanabe.

Admiral

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