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Shultz, George Pratt

(Encyclopedia)Shultz, George Pratt, 1920–2021, American public official, b. New York City, grad. Princeton Univ. (Ph.D., 1942), Massachusetts Institute of Technolog...

Baluchistan

(Encyclopedia)Baluchistan bəlôˈ– [key], province (2017 provisional pop. 12,344,408), c.134,000 sq mi (347,000 sq km), Pakistan. The country's largest and least populous province, it is bounded by Iran on the w...

fatwa

(Encyclopedia)fatwa, in Islamic law, an opinion made by a judicial/religious scholar (a mufti) on a legal, civil, or religious matter. The fatwa is usually a valuable source of information on any subject for privat...

Hormoz

(Encyclopedia)Hormoz ôrˈ–, ôr– [key], island (1989 est. pop. 2,500), 5 mi (8.1 km) long and 3.5 mi (5.6 km) wide, S Iran, in the Strait of Hormuz (Hormoz), between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Salt...

Hamadan

(Encyclopedia)Hamadan hämädänˈ [key], city, capital of Hamadan prov., W Iran, at the foot of Mt. Alwand. ...

pistachio

(Encyclopedia)pistachio pĭstăshˈēō, pĭstäˈshēō [key], tree or shrub (of the genus Pistacia) of the family Anacardiaceae (sumac family). The species that yields the pistachio nut of commerce is P. vera, na...

Sistan

(Encyclopedia)Sistan sā– [key], border lowland region of SW Afghanistan and E Iran, c.6,000 sq mi (15,540 sq km), fed mainly by the spring flood of the Helmand River and other streams. At low water, the region i...

Bahrain

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Bahrain or Bahrein both: bärānˈ, bə– [key], officially Kingdom of Bahrain, constitutional monarchy and ...

alabaster

(Encyclopedia)alabaster, fine-grained, massive, translucent variety of gypsum, a hydrous calcium sulfate. It is pure white or streaked with reddish brown. Alabaster, like all other forms of gypsum, forms by the eva...

Jaafari, Ibrahim al-

(Encyclopedia)Jaafari, Ibrahim al- ēbrähēmˈ äl-jäˈfärē [key], 1947–, Iraqi political leader, b. Karbala as Ibrahim al-Eshaiker. A Shiite, a physician, and the leader of the Dawa religious party, he fled ...