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Germans

(Encyclopedia)Germans, great ethnic complex of ancient Europe, a basic stock in the composition of the modern peoples of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, N Italy, the Netherlands, Be...

Talleyrand, Charles Maurice de

(Encyclopedia)Talleyrand or Talleyrand-Périgord, Charles Maurice de tălˈērăndˌ, Fr. shärl mōrēsˈ də tälāräNˈ-pārēgôrˈ [key], 1754–1838, French statesman and diplomat. Born into the high nobilit...

São Tomé and Principe

(Encyclopedia)CE5 São Tomé and Principe prēnˈsēpə [key], officially Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Principe, republic (2015 est. pop. 196,000), 372 sq mi (964 sq km), W Africa, in the Gulf of Guinea...

tunnel

(Encyclopedia)tunnel, underground passage usually made without removing the overlying rock or soil. Although tunnels are approximately horizontal, they must be built with sufficient gradient for proper drainage. Tu...

Orléans, French royal family

(Encyclopedia)Orléans ôrlāäNˈ [key], family name of two branches of the French royal line. The house of Valois-Orléans was founded by Louis, duc d'Orléans (see separate article), whose assassination (1407) c...

Rwanda

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Rwanda ro͝oänˈdä [key], officially Republic of Rwanda, republic (2015 est. pop. 11,630,000), 10,169 sq mi (26,338 sq km), E central Africa. It borders on Congo (Kinshasa) in the west, on Ug...

Dutch and Flemish literature

(Encyclopedia)Dutch and Flemish literature, literary works written in the standard language of the Low Countries since the Middle Ages. It is conventional to use the term Dutch when referring to the language spoken...

European Monetary System

(Encyclopedia)European Monetary System, arrangement by which most nations of the European Union (EU) linked their currencies to prevent large fluctuations relative to one another. It was organized in 1979 to stabil...

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