Marne

Marne (Man), a river of France, rises in the plateau of Langres, and flows 326 miles NW. and W. past Chalons and Epernay to the Seine at Charenton, a few miles above Paris. It is navigable for 126 miles up to St Dizier.

Marne

Marne, a dep. of NE. France formed out of the old province of Champagne, is traversed by the river Marne, and to a less extent by the Seine and Aisne. Area, 3159 sq. m.; population, 432,000. Its arrondissements are Chalons-sur-Marne (the capital), Epernay, Rheims, Sainte-Menehould, and Vitry-le-Frangois.

Marne

Marne, Haute, a dep. of NE. France, formed chiefly out of the old province of Champagne, and embracing the upper basins of the Marne and Meuse. Area, 2402 sq. m. ; population, 225,000. There are three arrondissements, Chau-mont (the capital), Langres, and Vassy.

Marnoch

Marnoch, a Banffshire parish, 8 1/2 miles NNE. of Huntly. It figures in Disruption annals.

Marocco

Marocco. See Morocco.

Maros-Vasarhely

Maros-Vasarhely, capital of the Szekler districts in Transylvania, on the Maros, a tributary of the Theiss, 28 miles SE. of Klausenburg. It has a castle. Pop. 19,883.

Marple

Marple, a Cheshire town, 4 miles SE. of Stockport. Bradshaw the regicide was a native. Pop. 5600.

Marquesas Islands

Marquesas Islands (Markay'sas), or Men-danas, a volcanic group in Polynesia, since 1842 a French protectorate, N. of Tuamotu or Low Archipelago, between 8° and 11° S. lat. and 138° and 141° W. long. The name strictly applies to four or five islands discovered by Mendana in 1595, but usually includes now the Washington group of seven islands, to the north-west. Total area, 492 sq. m. In Cook's time (1774) there were 100,000 inhabitants, but in 1838 they had decreased to 20,000, and now to 5000.

Marquette

Marquette, capital of Marquette county, Michigan, on the S. shore of Lake Superior, 430 miles by rail N. of Chicago. It has a R. C. cathedral, foundries, blast-furnaces, sawmills, machine-shops, and a slate-quarry. Pop. 9993.

Marsala

Marsala (Marsa'la; anc. Lilybœum), a seaport on the westernmost point of Sicily, 102 miles by rail and 55 as the crow flies SW. of Palermo. It has a citadel, a cathedral, and a large trade in wine, the well-known sherry-like Marsala. It got its present name from the Saracens, who occupied it in the 9th c, but were expelled by the Normans in the 11th. The harbour, filled up in 1567 to prevent a Turkish attack, was reconstructed during the 19th c. Garibaldi landed here in 1860. Pop. 50,750.

Marsden

Marsden, a town of Yorkshire, on the Colne, 7 miles SW. of Huddersfield. It has woollen, cotton, and silk factories. Pop. 4855.

Marshall

Marshall, capital of Harrison county, Texas, 40 miles W. of Shreveport. It has railway machine-shops, foundries, etc. Pop. 7907.

Marshall Islands

Marshall Islands, a group in the western Pacific, annexed by Germany in 1885. Bisected by 10° N. lat., and having the Caroline group to the west, it consists of two parallel chains of low coral-reefs - one, the Ratak group, consisting of thirteen islands (48 sq. m.); the other, the Ralik group, eleven islands (107 sq. m.). Copra is the only export. Pop. 13,600.