The first road in Spain was opened in 1848 between Barcelona and Mataro. The government greatly encouraged railroad construction by subsidies, and during the decade following 1855 the development of the railway system of the country was rapid. More than thirty companies have been formed, which have built about twenty main lines, aggregating 6,200 miles. In Portugal very little railroad building was done previous to 1863, when a little over three hundred miles of road was constructed. The government owns nearly half of the roads of the country, the remaining lines being the property of private companies. The total number of miles operated in the kingdom in 1889 was 1,280. The service and the financial condition of the roads of Portugal are far from being satisfactory. In Denmark the first railroad was built on the island of Seeland in 1847. Previous to 1880 the larger part of the roads of the kingdom was owned by private companies. Since then several of the most important private roads have been purchased by the state, which in 1889 owned 963 miles, while only 251 miles remained in private control. Only about thirty miles more have since been constructed. The roads are well managed, but their net earnings are less than two per cent. of the capital invested. On the Scandinavian Peninsula the railroad system has developed rather slowly. Norway built the first line from Christiana to Eidsvold in 1854, and Sweden commenced railroad building two years later. The narrow-gauge system is fully developed here. While in Norway the greater part of the lines is owned by the state, the roads of Sweden are chiefly in the hands of private companies which on an average control but little more than twenty-five miles each. The total mileage of Sweden is 5,970, and that of Norway 970. The first line of railroad in the Russian Empire was constructed from St. Petersburg, sixteen miles, to Tsarskoji-Sielo, in 1842. The St. Petersburg and Moscow line was opened in 1851. Railroad building then stagnated until after the Crimean War, when a large number of lines were constructed at once. The roads were surveyed by the government, but constructed and operated by private companies. State aid was, however, freely given. During the past ten years the Russian government has directed its attention to the development of the railroad system in its Asiatic possessions. A railway between the Black and Caspian seas was completed in 1883, and the Siberian railroad is extended as fast as the financial condition of the empire permits. There are now about 20,000 miles of road in the Russian Empire operated by private companies. The construction of a large number of the Russian railways was dictated by military rather than commercial considerations. Maximum rates are specified in charter, and every change of rates must be approved by the Minister of Finance.