RHENISH PRUSSIA

RHENISH PRUSSIA was the most westerly and most densely populated of the Prussian provinces within the valleys of the Rhine and the Lower Moselle, and bordered on Belgium and the Netherlands, mountainous and forest-clad, except in the fertile plains of the N. and in the rich river valleys, where vines, cereals, and vegetables were extensively cultivated. Large quantities of coal, iron, zinc, and lead were being mined. As an industrial and manufacturing province it ranked first in Germany. Coblenz (capital), Aix-la-Chapelle. Bonn, and Cologne were among its chief towns; was formed in 1815 out of several smaller duchies.