Estremadura

Estremadura, a coast-province of Portugal, south of Beira, with an area of 6850 sq. m., divided into nearly equal portions by the river Tagus. The northern section is mountainous, with bare but picturesque continuations of the Castilian ranges; south of the river and along parts of the coast the country is hilly and better wooded. Many dis- tricts are extremely fertile, others utterly barren; scarcely half the province is under cultivation, but in the most favoured localities all the vegetation of middle and southern Europe flourishes. The silk-culture has greatly increased of late years; manufactures are confined to Lisbon, and this city, with Setubal, monopolises also nearly all the trade. Sea-salt, soda, and fruits are the chief exports. The other principal products of the country are wine, oil, corn, and cork; but even the sandy plains are covered with cistus, rosemary, myrtles, and other flowering and fragrant plants. Pop. (1890) 1,111,361, over a fourth of the whole belonging to Lisbon and its suburbs.