" 1584 " " " " 2,650,000
" 1598 " " " " 3,328,000
" 1676 " " " " 5,448,000
" 1682 " " " " 5,618,000

Of these 5,618,000 English square miles about 1,696,000 were in Europe
and about 3,922,000 in Asia. Peter the Great, though famous as a
conqueror, did not annex nearly so much territory as many of his
predecessors and successors. At his death, in 1752, the Empire
contained, in round numbers, 1,738,000 square miles in Europe and
4,092,000 in Asia. The following table shows the subsequent expansion:

In Europe and the Caucasus In Asia.
Eng. sq. m Eng. sq. m.
In 1725 the Russian Empire contained about 1,738,000 4,092,000
" 1770 " " " " 1,780,000 4,452,000
" 1800 " " " " 2,014,000 4,452,000
" 1825 " " " " 2,226,000 4,452,000
" 1855 " " " " 2,261,250 5,194,000
" 1867 " " " " 2,267,360 5,267,560
" 1897 " " " " 2,267,360 6,382,321

In this table is not included the territory in the North-west of
America--containing about 513,250 English square miles--which was
annexed to Russia in 1799 and ceded to the United States in 1867.

When once Russia has annexed she does not readily relax her grasp. She
has, however, since the death of Peter the Great, on four occasions
ceded territory which had come into her possession. To Persia she ceded,
in 1729, Mazanderan and Astrabad, and in 1735 a large portion of the
Caucasus; in 1856, by the Treaty of Paris, she gave up the mouths of the
Danube and part of Bessarabia; in 1867 she sold to the United States her
American possessions; in 1881 she retroceded to China the greater
part of Kuldja, which she had occupied for ten years; and now she is
releasing her hold on Manchuria under the pressure of Japan.

The increase in the population--due in part to territorial
acquisitions--since 1722, when the first census was taken, has been as
follows:--

In 1722 the Empire contained about 14 million inhabitants.
" 1742 " " " 16 "
" 1762 " " " 19 "
" 1782 " " "