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Bukhara

(Encyclopedia)Bukhara bəkäˈrə [key], city, capital of Bukhara region, Uzbekistan, in the Zeravshan River ...

Faisal I

(Encyclopedia)Faisal I or Faysal I both: fīˈsəl [key], 1885–1933, king of Iraq (1921–33). The third son of Husayn ibn Ali, sherif of Mecca, he is also called Faisal ibn Husayn. Faisal was educated in Constan...

Bakhtiari

(Encyclopedia)Bakhtiari bäkhˌtēäˈrē, –ärēˈ, băkhˌ– [key], tribal group, numbering around 850,000, living in SW Iran, in a mountainous region (c.25,000 sq mi/64,750 sq km) in Khuzestan and Esfahan pro...

Baghdadi, Abu Bakr al-

(Encyclopedia)Baghdadi, Abu Bakr al-, nom de guerre of Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarrai, 1971–2019, Iraqi jihadist leader. Following the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, he helped found a Sunni militia. Arres...

Fukuoka

(Encyclopedia)Fukuoka fo͝oko͞oˈōkä [key], city, capital of Fukuoka prefecture, N Kyushu, Japan, on Hakata ...

Sophia Alekseyevna

(Encyclopedia)Sophia Alekseyevna sôˈfyə əlyĭksyāˈyəvnə [key], 1657–1704, regent of Russia (1682–89); daughter of Czar Alexis by his first wife and sister of Czar Feodor III. Supported by the streltsi (...

Bamian

(Encyclopedia)Bamian or Bamiyan both: bəmyänˈ [key], town, capital of Bamian prov., N central Afghanistan, on the Kunduz ...

Rafsanjani, Hashemi

(Encyclopedia)Rafsanjani, Hashemi (Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani) älēˈ äkˈbär häshˈəmē räfˌsänjänˈē [key], 1934–2017, Iranian religious and political leader, president of Iran (1989–97). A Shiite...

Zanzibar, semiautonomous archipelago and island, Tanzania

(Encyclopedia)Zanzibar zănˈzĭbär, zănzĭbärˈ [key], semiautonomous archipelago (2012 pop. 1,303,569), Tanzania, E Africa, in the Indian Ocean c. 20 mi (32 km) off the mainland, consisting of the island of Za...

Abdullah I

(Encyclopedia)Abdullah I (Abdullah ibn Husayn) äbdo͝olˈlä ĭˈbən ho͝osānˈ [key], 1882–1951, king of Jordan (1946–51), b. Mecca; son of Husayn ibn Ali of the Hashemite family. During World War I, Abdull...