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Lorient

(Encyclopedia)Lorient lôryăNˈ [key], town (1990 pop. 61,630), Morbihan dept., NW France, a port and naval station on the Atlantic Ocean. A great shipbuilding center, Lorient also produces textiles, furniture, an...

Yale, Elihu

(Encyclopedia)Yale, Elihu, 1649–1721, English merchant, an early benefactor of Yale Univ., b. Boston. The family moved to England c.1652, and Yale was educated in London. He went to Madras (now Chennai) in the se...

Park, Mungo

(Encyclopedia)Park, Mungo, 1771–1806, British explorer in Africa, b. Selkirk, Scotland. After serving as a surgeon with the East India Company, he was employed by the African Association to explore the course of ...

Hyderabad, city, Pakistan

(Encyclopedia)Hyderabad, city, Sind prov., S Pakistan. Pakistan's fourth largest city, it has long been noted for its embroideries, precious-metal goods, and cutlery....

Straits Settlements

(Encyclopedia)Straits Settlements, collective name for certain former British colonies in Southeast Asia. The three British East India Company territories of Pinang, Singapore, and Malacca (see Melaka) were given a...

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...

Purchas, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Purchas, Samuel pûrˈkəs, –chəs [key], 1577?–1626, English clergyman and compiler of travel literature, b. Essex. Chaplain to the archbishop of Canterbury, he later was rector of St. Martin's C...

Java

(Encyclopedia)Java jäˈvə [key], island (1990 pop. 107,525,520), c.51,000 sq mi (132,090 sq km), Indonesia, S of Borneo, from which it is separated by the Java Sea, and SE of Sumatra across Sunda Strait. Although...

Roy, Rammohun

(Encyclopedia)Roy, Rammohun räm-mōˈhən roi [key], 1772–1833, Indian religious and educational reformer. Sometimes called the father of modern India, Roy was born to a wealthy and devout Brahman family in Beng...

Patna

(Encyclopedia)Patna pătˈnə, pŭtˈ– [key], city (1991 pop. 1,099,647), capital of Bihar state, NE India, on the Ganges River. It is the hub of a rice-growing region and is an administrative, commercial, and ed...