The importance of the geographical position of Lemberg is in the fact that it lies at the point of the easiest passage from the low country of the Buh to the west, and into the Carpathian country across the Ukrainian group of plateaus, which is narrowest here. Lemberg commands all the more important roads of the Western Ukraine, and, after their union, leads them westward. Lemberg is the greatest railroad center of all the Ukraine; nine railroads as well as eight highroads converge here from all parts of the continent. The thing that has contributed most to the remarkable growth of Lemberg in the last half-century, besides the railroads, is its position as the capital of Galicia, that largest of the Austrian crown-provinces. Founded about the middle of the 13th Century by the Ukrainian princes of Halich, Danilo and Lev, Lemberg, about the middle of the 14th Century, fell under Polish rule. Here industry and commerce flourished in the 15th and 16th Centuries, thanks to the German middle-class of the city; then Lemberg declined irresistibly until it came under Austria’s dominion as a little town, from which time on, it flourished again. At present Lemberg is the trade center of Ukrainian-Galicia and shows some industrial progress (brick-kilns, breweries, alcohol distilleries, railroad shops, etc.). As a result of recent rapid development, the character of the city is almost wholly modern; the number of historical landmarks is not large. Lemberg is the seat of three archbishops, a University with several Ukrainian chairs, a technical and a commercial college, as well as many trade schools and intermediate schools. Lemberg is also one of the chief centers of Ukrainian cultural life, and the seat of many important Ukrainian societies and institutions. In the Galician Rostoche region there are besides Lemberg, only small towns: Zovkva, Yavoriv (10,000 pop.), [317]with lumber industry, Rava (11,000 pop.). At the railroad junction, Nemiriv with mineral springs, Potilich with a considerable pottery industry. Mosti veliki, the large village of Kaminka voloska (10,000 pop.), Belz, formerly a Ukrainian royal residence. On the Buh lie the following: the old town of Busk, Kaminka strumilova, Sokal, at the point where more active river navigation begins. In the Kholm Rostoche, the most important city is Kholm (20,000 pop.), founded, like Lemberg, by Prince Danilo, now a Jewish city carrying on a lively trade in the agricultural products of this fertile region, and the capital of the Government of the same name. Tarnohorod and Tomashiv are notorious for their smuggling, Bilhoray is known for its sieve industry, Hrubeshiv and Zamostye (12,000 pop.) for their trade in foodstuffs.