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.
Uxmal (u as oo), a ruined city in the NW. of Yucatan, 40 miles SW. of Merida, with vast remains of ancient grandeur, temple-terraces, &c
VAA.L (Vahl), a river of South Africa, rises in the Drakenberg, and flows 500 miles between the Transvaal and the Orange River Colony to the Orange. Valais (Valay; Ger. Wallis), a mountainous Swiss canton, bounded S. by Italy. Area, 2036 sq. 7n.; pop. (1900) 114,438. Towns are Sion and Martigny. Valdai Hills. See Volga. Valdepenas (Val-de-payn'yas), a town of Spain, 140 miles S. by E. of Madrid. Pop. 20,700.
Val de Travers (French pron. Travayr, a valley in the Swiss canton of Neuchatel, with great asphalt-mines.
Valdivia (Val-dee-via), capital of a southern province of Chili, on the Callecalle, 15 miles above its mouth in Valdivia Bay. Pop. 9850.
Valence (Valon9ss), capital of the French dep. Drome, is on the left bank of the Rhone (crossed by an iron bridge), below the Isere's mouth, and 66 miles S. of Lyons. It has several interesting Renaissance buildings, an 11th-century cathedral, an 18th-century Protestant temple, and manufactures of silk, glass, iron, etc. Pop. 24,200.
Valenciennes (Va-lon9ss-yenn'), a dark, ill-built manufacturing town and first-class fortress of France, in the dep. of Nord, stands at the entrance of the Rhonelle into the Scheldt (which flows through the town in several arms), by rail 155 miles NNE. of Paris and 58 SW. of Brussels. It possesses a citadel constructed by Vauban, a fine hotel-de-ville, and a modern Gothic church, with tower 272 feet high. The famous lace is no longer made here, only a coarse sort. Other manufactures are cambric, cotton yarn, hosiery, linseed-oil, beet-root sugar, and there are great ironworks. The country round about is a great coal-basin. Valenciennes (the Valentinianoe or Valentiana of the Romans) was ceded to France in 1678, and was taken by the Allies in 1793, after a siege of 84 days, but restored next year. It is the birthplace of Watteau and Froissart (statue, 1856). Pop. (1872) 22,118 ; (1901)28,786.
Valentia, or Valencia, a rocky island (5x2 miles) off County Kerry, 42 miles by rail WSW. of Killarney, with cliffs nearly 900 feet high at the north end. It is the terminus since 1857-66 of more than one Atlantic telegraph. The name is most likely corrupted from the Irish Fail-inis.
Valenza (Valent'za; anc. Valentia), a town of N. Italy, on the Po, 9 miles by rail N. of Alessandria. Pop. 7466.
Valguarnera (Val-gwar-nay'ra), a town of Sicily, 16 miles E. of Caltanisetta. Pop. 14,000.
Valle Crucis Abbey. See Llangollen.
Vallejo (Val-yay'ho), a port of California, on San Pablo Bay, 31 miles NE. of San Francisco. On Mare Island is a navy-yard. Pop. 7970.
Valleyfield, a manufacturing town of Quebec, on the St Lawrence, 54 miles by rail SW. of Montreal. Pop. 11,060.
 
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