Nikolaieff

Nikolaieff (Nikolieffr), headquarters of the Russian Black Sea fleet, in the government of Kherson, at the confluence of the Ingul with the Bug, and 42 miles from the Black Sea. It is a great fortified naval station, with docks, an arsenal, etc, and exports grain. Pop. 95,840.

Nikolsburg

Nikolsburg (u as oo; Czech Mikulov), a town of Moravia, 27 miles S. of Brunn by rail, lies at the foot of hills famous for their rich red wines. In the middle of it, on a rock, stands the castle of the princely Dietrichstein family. Pop. 8642.

Nikosia

Nikosia. See Nicosia.

Nilgiri

Nilgir'i. See Neilgherry.

Nimach

Nimach (Neematch), a town of India, in the native state of Gwalior, on the north-west border of Malwa, 370 miles SW. of Delhi by rail, 1613 feet above sea-level, with an agreeable climate. There has been a British cantonment here since 1817. Pop. of town, 5161; of cantonment, 13,069.

Nimeguen

Nimeguen (Neem'e-gen; Fr. Nimrgue; Dutch Nijmegen), a town of Holland, in Guelderland, on the left bank of the Waal, 73 miles by rail E. of Rotterdam. It is built on the slope of the ' Hill of the Huns,' on which the Romans formed the permanent camp of Noviomagum. Near by stood till 1796 a castle, said to have been founded by Caesar and inhabited by Charlemagne ; here still stands a little sixteen-sided Romanesque baptistery of the 12th or 13th century. On another eminence is a modern Belvidere. The fortifications have been demolished ; but Nimeguen retains its Renaissance town-hall (1554), and the fine Gothic church of St Stephen (dating from 1272). The manufactures include tobacco, eau de Cologne, metal-work, beer, etc. Pop. (1875) 22,929; (1900) 42,756. Regained by the Spaniards (1585-91), Nimeguen is celebrated for its great peace congress in 1678-79, at which France made treaties with Holland, Spain, and Austria.

Nineveh

Nin'eveh, long capital of the ancient kingdom of Assyria. Rich in 1818 conjectured that the mounds of Kouyunjik, opposite the modern town of Mosul, concealed its ruins beneath, but it was not until the excavations of Botta in 1842 and Layard in 1845 that the remains of Nineveh were revealed to the world.

Ning-po

Ning-po, a treaty-port of the Chinese province of Che-keang, stands in a fertile plain, 16 miles from the mouth of the Takia (Ning-po) River and 100 S. of Shanghai. It is surrounded by a wall 25 feet high and 16 thick, and contains numerous temples, colleges, etc, chief amongst them the temple of the Queen of Heaven, founded in the 12th century, though the present building dates from 16S0. The imports include opium, cottons and woollens, tin, iron, medicines, etc.; the exports, green tea, cuttle-fish, sedge hats and mats, silk goods, and cotton. Pop. 250,000.

Niort

Niort (Nee-orr'), capital of the French dep. of Deux-Sevres, on the Sevre Niortaise, 43 miles NE. of La Rochelle. An important railway junction, it has an old castle, an hotel-de-ville (1530), a fine public garden, and the 16th-century church of Notre Dame, with a spire 246 feet high. Tanning and glove-making are the leading industries. The population is about 21,000. Niort, which in the 14th century was held for eighteen years by the English, was the birthplace of Madame de Maintenon.