MARGHELAN, or Marghilan, a town of Asiatic Russia, situated in 40º 28’ N. and 71º 45’ E., the administrative centre of the province of Ferghana. Pop. (1900), 42,855, mostly Sarts, with Tajiks and Jews. It is a very old town, with high earthen walls and twelve gates, commanded by a fort. It lies in a beautiful, extraordinarily fertile and well irrigated district. The heat in summer is excessive. The principal industry is the manufacture of silk; camels’ hair and woollen fabrics are also made. The new Russian town, founded in 1877, is 10 m. distant to the south-east, and has a population (1897) of 8977.