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village

(Encyclopedia)village, small rural population unit, held together by common economic and political ties. Based on agricultural production, a village is smaller than a town and has been the normal unit of community ...

Al Kut

(Encyclopedia)Al Kut äl ko͞ot [key], town, SE Iraq, on the Tigris River. It is a port and a market center for grains, dates, fruit, and vegetables. There is a large barrage on the Tigris there diverting much of i...

Failaka

(Encyclopedia)Failaka or Feilaka fīläˈkä [key], island, 15 sq mi (39 sq km), Kuwait, in Persian Gulf 17 mi (27 km) E of Kuwait City. Inhabited since the Bronze Age, it was the site of an outpost established by ...

Jarring, Gunnar

(Encyclopedia)Jarring, Gunnar gŭnˈär yärˈĭng [key], 1907–2002, Swedish diplomat. He entered diplomatic service during World War II and was minister to India (1948–51), Ceylon (now Sri Lanka; 1950–51), a...

Kufa

(Encyclopedia)Kufa ko͞oˈfə [key], former Mesopotamian city, near the Euphrates River, c.110 mi (177 km) S of Baghdad. Founded in 638, Kufa soon rivaled Basra in size. The Arab governor of Iraq resided there unti...

Monroe, Paul

(Encyclopedia)Monroe, Paul, 1869–1947, American educator, b. North Madison, Ind., grad. Franklin College, 1890, Ph.D. Univ. of Chicago, 1897. At Teachers College, Columbia, he was professor of education from 1902...

Khark

(Encyclopedia)Khark khärg [key], island, c.4 mi (6 km) long and c.2 mi (3 km) wide, SW Iran, in the Persian Gulf. Site of one of the world's largest deepwater oil ports, it is linked to the mainland by a 25-mi (40...

Hare, Sir David

(Encyclopedia)Hare, Sir David, 1947–, British playwright. Hare is a prominent member of the British theatrical left. A founder of the Portable Theatre and the Joint Stock, he became resident dramatist at the Roya...

Ahmadinejad, Mahmoud

(Encyclopedia)Ahmadinejad, Mahmoud mämo͞odˈ ämädēnĕzhädˈ [key], 1956–, Iranian politician. From a humble background, he supported the Islamic revolution (1979) while working toward his civil engineering ...

Arabia

(Encyclopedia)Arabia ərāˈbēə [key], peninsula (1991 est. pop. 35,000,000), c.1,000,000 sq mi (2,590,000 sq km), SW Asia. It is bordered on the W by the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea, on the S by the Gulf of Ad...