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Sulayman II

(Encyclopedia)Sulayman II, 1642–91, Ottoman sultan (1687–91), brother and successor of Muhammad IV to the throne of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). His grand vizier (chief executive officer), Mustafa Köprülü, w...

Yemen

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Yemen yĕmˈən [key], officially Republic of Yemen, republic (2015 est. pop. 26,916,000), 207,300 sq mi (535,800 sq km), SW Asia, at the southern edge of the Arabian peninsula. The present nat...

Tunisia

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Tunisia to͞onēˈzhə, tyo͞o– [key], Fr. Tunisie, officially Republic of Tunisia, republic (2015 est. pop. 11,274,000), 63,378 sq mi (164,150 sq km), NW Africa. Occupying the eastern portio...

Roderick

(Encyclopedia)Roderick rŏdˈərĭk [key], d. 711?, last Visigothic king in Spain (710–711?). After the death of King Witiza, a group of nobles chose Roderick, duke of Baetica, as successor to the king. Having de...

Aubusson, Pierre d'

(Encyclopedia)Aubusson, Pierre d' pyĕr dōbüsôNˈ [key], 1423–1503, French soldier, a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, and grand master of the Knights Hospitalers (1476–1503). In 1480 he valiantly defe...

Ashura

(Encyclopedia)Ashura, holy day in Islam, the 10th day of the month of Muharram. It commemorates the day Noah left the ark and the day Moses was saved by God from the Egyptians, and is a voluntary day of fasting for...

Zarqawi, Abu Musab al-

(Encyclopedia)Zarqawi, Abu Musab al- äˈbo͞o mo͞osäb äl-zärkäˈwē [key], nom de guerre of Ahmad Fadhil Nazzar al-Khalaylah, 1966–2006, Islamic terrorist leader, b. Jordan. Becoming a militant Islamist in ...

Pakistan

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Pakistan păkˈĭstănˌ, päkĭstänˈ [key], officially Islamic Republic of Pakistan, republic (2015 est. pop. 189,381,000), 310,403 sq mi (803,944 sq km), S Asia. Pakistan is bordered by Ind...

Thiers, Adolphe

(Encyclopedia)Thiers, Adolphe ädôlfˈ tyĕr [key], 1797–1877, French statesman, journalist, and historian. After studying law at Aix-en-Provence, Thiers went (1821) to Paris and joined the group of writers that...

Taliban

(Encyclopedia)Taliban or Taleban tälēbänˈ, –lə– [key], Islamic fundamentalist militia of Afghanistan and later Pakistan, originally consisting mainly of Sunni Pashtun religious students from Afghanistan wh...