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Gorno-Badakhshan

(Encyclopedia)Gorno-Badakhshan gôrˈnə-bädäkhshänˈ, –bədəkhshänˈ [key] or Badakhshan, Tajik Kuhistoni Badakhshon, autonomous province (1991 est. pop. 167,100), c.24,600 sq mi (63,710 sq km), roughly con...

Amu Darya

(Encyclopedia)Amu Darya or Amudarya both: ämo͞oˈ däryäˈ, äˈmo͞o därˈyə [key], river, c.1,600 mi (2,580 km) long, formed by the junction of the Vakhsh and Pandj rivers, which rise in the Pamir Mts. of ce...

Babur

(Encyclopedia)Babur bäˈbər [key] [Turk.,=lion], 1483–1530, founder of the Mughal empire of India. His full name was Zahir ud-Din Muhammad. A descendant of Timur (Tamerlane) and of Jenghiz Khan, he succeeded (1...

Pérez de Cuéllar, Javier

(Encyclopedia)Pérez de Cuéllar, Javier, 1920–2020, Peruvian diplomat, secretary-general of the United Nations (1982–92). He entered the Peruvian foreign service in 1940 and served in several posts, including ...

Third World

(Encyclopedia)Third World, the technologically less advanced, or developing, nations of Asia, Africa, and Latin America, generally characterized as poor, having economies distorted by their dependence on the export...

Bassiouni, M. Cherif

(Encyclopedia)Bassiouni, M. Cherif (Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni), 1937–2017, Egyptian-American international criminal law jurist and human-rights advocate, b. Cairo. Bassiouni fought for Egypt in the Suez conflict (...

Bactria

(Encyclopedia)Bactria băkˈtrēə [key], ancient Greek kingdom in central Asia. Its capital was Bactra, present-day Balkh in N Afghanistan. Before the Greek conquest, the region was an eastern province of the Pers...

Hersh, Seymour Myron

(Encyclopedia)Hersh, Seymour Myron, 1937–, American investigative journalist, b. Chicago, grad. Univ. of Chicago (1958). He began his career (1959) at a local news bureau, then became a wire service correspondent...

Jenghiz Khan

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Empire of Jenghiz Khan (1227) Jenghiz Khan jĕngˈgĭs, gĕngˈgĭs kän [key], Mongolian Chinggis Khaan, 1167?–1227, Mongol conqueror, originally named Temujin. He succeeded his father, Yek...

madrasa

(Encyclopedia)madrasa or madrassah, in Islamic countries, a school, historically usually one devoted to higher education in religious studies, but the term may refer to any school. Privately endowed, often by royal...