Beira

Beira (Bay'ee-ra), a Portuguese province; area about 9222 sq. m., and a pop. of 1,517,432. The surface is mountainous; the rivers are the Douro and Tagus. It is divided into the districts of Aveiro, Castello Branco, Coimbra, Guarda, and Vizeu. The capital is Coimbra.

Beira

Beira, a small town (pop. 5000) in Portuguese East Africa, near the mouth of the Pungwe River, 12 miles from the point whence the railway towards Mashonaland starts.

Beiram

Beiram. See Bairam.

Beit-el-Fakih

Beit-el-Fakih, a town of Yemen, Arabia, near the Red Sea, 87 miles N. of Mocha. Hodeida, on the Red Sea, is the port. Pop. 8000.

Beith

Beith, a small town of North Ayrshire, on the borders of Renfrewshire, 18 miles SW. of Glasgow by rail. It has large cabinet-works and the Speir School (1887), resembling the old college at Glasgow. Pop. 4963.

Beja

Beja (Bay'zha; Roman Pax Julia), a town in the province of Alemtejo, Portugal, 101 miles SE. of Lisbon by rail. It has a castle and a cathedral. Pop. 8887.

Bejapur

Bejapur. See Bijapur.

Bejar

Bejar, a town of Spain, 45 miles S. of Sala-manca. Pop. 9500.

Bekaa

Bekaa. See CŒle-Syria.

Bekes

Bekes, or Bekesvar, a town of Hungary, at the confluence of the Black and White Koros, 113 miles SE. of Pesth. Pop. 25,700.

Bekes Csaba

Bekes Csaba, a town of Hungary, 7 miles S. of Bekes by rail. Pop. 37,243.

Belbeis

Belbeis (anc. Bubastis Agria), a town on the east arm of the Nile, Lower Egypt, 28 miles NNE. of Cairo. Pop. 11,500.

Belchite

Belchi'te, a town of Spain, on the Aguas, 22 miles SSE. of Saragossa. Here, on June 18, 1809, the French completely routed the Spanish. Pop. 3279.

Belem

Belem'. See Lisbon.

Belem

Belem', or Para', capital of the Brazilian province of Para (q.v.).

Belford

Belford, a town of Northumberland, 15 miles SSB. of Berwick-on-Tweed. Pop. of parish, 854.

Belfort

Belfort (Bel-forr'), capital of the French remnant of the dep. of Haut-Rhin, 117 in. ENB. of Dijon by rail. From 1870 this remnant (235 sq. m.), taking its name from the town, has been called the Territoire de Belfort (or, alternatively, Haut-Rhin), and consists of those portions of Haut-Rhin which, seized by the Germans during the Franco-German war, were restored to France in 1871. The strategical importance of Belfort was recognised by France on its cession by Austria in 1648, and it was fortified by Vauban. A fortress of the first rank, it maintained, from 3d December 1870 till 16th February 1871, a gallant defence against the Germans. It then capitulated, the defenders inarching out with all the honours of war. The fortifications have been enormously strengthened since 1874. Pop. (1872) 8014; (1901) 32,570; of territory (1901) 92,304.

Belgard

Belgard, a Prussian town of Pomerania, on the Persante, 16 miles SSW. of Koslin. Pop. 7617.

Belgaum

Belgaum', or Belgam, the chief city of a district in the presidency of Bombay, situated to the E. of the dividing ridge of the West Ghats, at a height of 2500 feet above the sea, 55 miles NE. of Goa. Its fort in 1818 was taken from the Peishwa by the British. The chief articles of commerce are dry fish, salt, dates, cocoa-nuts, coir. Cotton cloth is manufactured here. Pop. 36,800.