The New International Encyclopædia/Niigata

NIIGATA, nē'ḗ-gä'tȧ. A seaport on the west coast of Hondo, Japan, and capital of a prefecture, at the mouth of the Shinano River, in latitude 37° 55' N, and longitude 139° 3' E. (Map: Japan, F 5). By the treaty of 1858 Niigata was opened to foreign commerce on January 1, 1869, but the existence of a heavy bar at the mouth of the river has prevented its commercial development. The Province of Echigo, in which Niigata lies, abounds in mineral wealth, petroleum, coal, and metals, and the soil yields rice, silk, tea, and the lacquer tree, and inferior lacquer ware is numufactured at Niigata on a large scale. The town is clean, and well provided with schools, banks, newspapers, and post offices. The climate is very hot in the summer and extremely cold in the winter. Population, in 1898, 53,336.