This section is from the book "Chambers's Concise Gazetteer Of The World", by David Patrick. Also available from Amazon: Chambers's Concise Gazetteer Of The World.
Balasinor, a tributary state of India, in the province of Guzerat, Bombay. Area about 150 sq. m.; pop. 42,000. - The chief town, Balasinor, is 51 miles N. of Baroda. Pop. 9000.
Balasor', a seaport of Bengal, on the right bank of the Burabalang River, 15 miles from its mouth. Pop. 20,865.
Balaton, Lake (Ger. Platten-See), a lake, the largest in Hungary, 55 miles SW. of Pesth. Lying 426 feet above sea-level, it has a length of 48 miles, a breadth of 10, and an area of 245 sq. m. Its mean depth is 20 feet, but in one part it sinks to 150. It is fed by over thirty streams - the chief the Szala - as well as by numerous springs. Its outlet is by the Sio, which flows to the Sarvitz, a feeder of the Danube. The waters have a slightly brackish taste. Fish of various kinds abound, including a kind of perch, weighing from 10 to 20 pounds, and found nowhere else.
Balbriggan, a watering-place in Dublin county, 21 miles N. by E. of Dublin. It manufactures linen, cotton (especially cotton stockings), and calico. Pop. 2233.
Balcarres, a Fife mansion near Colinsburgh, where Lady Ann Barnard wrote 'Auld Robin Gray.' It is a seat now of the Earl of Crawford.
Baldock, a town of Hertfordshire, 37 miles N. of London. Pop. 2057.
Baldoon', a ruin 1 3/4 mile SSW. of Wigtown, the true scene of Scott's Bride of Lammervioor.
Bale. See Basel.
Balearic Isles, a group of islands - Mallorca (Majorca), Minorca, Iviza, Formentera, Cabrera, and several smaller islets - lying off the coast of Valencia. They formed from 1220 to 1344 the kingdom of Mallorca, which was united in 1349 with the crown of Aragon; and they now form a Spanish province, with an area of 1935 sq. m., and a population of 312,000. The Phoenicians visited the Balearic Isles at a very early date, and they were followed by the Greeks, the Carthaginians, and (123 b.c.) the Romans. The Baleares were famous slingers. See Bidwell's Balearic Isles (1876).
Balerno, a Midlothian village, with paperworks, on the Water of Leith, 7 miles SW. of Edinburgh. Pop. 699.
Balfron', a Stirlingshire village, 19 miles NNW. of Glasgow. Pop. 737.
Balfrush' (more correctly Barfurush, ' mart of burdens'), a town in the Persian province of Mazanderan, on the Bhawal, 12 miles from its mouth in the Caspian Sea. It is a centre of trade between Russia and Persia. Pop. 30,000.
Balgownie. See Don (Aberdeenshire).
Balham, part of Streatham (q.v.).
Bali (Bah'lee), or Little Java, one of the Sunda Islands, lying east of Java. It is 75 miles long, 60 broad, and 2300 sq. m. in area; pop. 760,000. A chain of mountains crosses the island from east to west, rising in the volcanic peak of Gunungagung to 12,379 feet. The Balinese are a superior race, and speak a language related to Javanese. Their religion is Brahmanism of an ancient type. Under the Dutch, the nine little principalities of the island are governed by native rulers. Chinese and a few Europeans are the chief traders.
 
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