MAHILYOW

also spelled Mahilyou, Russian Mogilyov, oblast (province), east-central Belarus, occupying an area of 11,200 square miles (29,000 square km) in the middle Dnieper River lowland, astride the Dnieper, which bisects it north-south. It consists of a level plain of loesslike deposits, sloping gently southward from the rolling morainic hills of the Orsha and Smolensk uplands in the north. Much of the province is in mixed forest of pine, spruce, oak, and birch; areas of reed and grass marsh and peat bog are extensive. Communities, other than Mahilyow and Babruysk, are small local centres engaged in processing timber and farm produce. The principal branches of agriculture are flax growing and livestock husbandry; winter rye, barley, and buckwheat are the main grain crops. Vegetable and fruit growing is important locally. Pop. (1995 est.) 1,259,000. also spelled Mahilyou, Russian Mogilyov city and administrative centre of Mahilyow oblast (province), east-central Belarus, on the Dnieper River. It was founded in 1267 as a fortress and became a town in 1526, when it was under Lithuanian rule. Later passing to Poland, it became Russian by the First Partition of Poland, in 1772. In 1812 a major engagement with Napoleon's troops took place outside the town. Mahilyow was long a significant trading centre, and its importance was much enhanced by the coming of the railway in 1904. Serious damage was inflicted in World War II, but four churches of the 16th and 17th centuries have survived. Modern Mahilyow is a major industrial city, producing synthetic fibres, industrial equipment, electric motors, and a range of consumer goods. Mahilyow has teacher-training and machine-building institutes. Pop. (1995 est.) 366,000.