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Portuguese language

(Encyclopedia)CEE Portuguese language, member of the Romance group of the Italic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Romance languages). It is the mother tongue of about 170 million people, c...

Alfonso XI, Spanish king of Castile and León

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso XI, 1311–50, Spanish king of Castile and León (1312–50), son and successor of Ferdinand IV. His vigorous campaign against Granada provoked an invasion by the Moors from Morocco; they took...

Funchal

(Encyclopedia)Funchal fo͞onshälˈ [key], city, capital of Funchal dist., on Madeira island, Portugal. A busy ...

Luna, Alvaro de

(Encyclopedia)Luna, Alvaro de älväˈrō dā lo͞oˈnä [key], 1391?–1453, constable of Castile, grand master of the Order of Santiago. The favorite of John II of Castile, he virtually ruled the kingdom, winning...

Pais, Sidónio

(Encyclopedia)Pais or Pães, Sidónio sēdôˈnyo͝o päNsh [key], 1872–1918, Portuguese dictator. After service in the army he was a professor of mathematics at the Univ. of Coimbra and a leader in establishing ...

Sá de Miranda, Francisco de

(Encyclopedia)Sá de Miranda, Francisco de fränsēshˈkō də sä də mēränˈdä [key], 1481–1558, Portuguese writer. A noble and a courtier, he lived for a time in Italy and became acquainted with the literat...

Santa Cruz, Álvaro de Bazán, marqués de

(Encyclopedia)Santa Cruz, Álvaro de Bazán, marqués de älˈvärō ᵺā bäthänˈ märkāsˈ dā sänˈtä kro͞oth [key], 1526–88, Spanish admiral. He fought in various actions against the Ottomans and disti...

Salazar, António de Oliveira

(Encyclopedia)Salazar, António de Oliveira əntôˈnyo͝o ᵺĭ o͝olēvāˈrə sələzärˈ [key], 1889–1970, Portuguese statesman and dictator. After studying at the Univ. of Coimbra, he became professor of po...

Guadiana

(Encyclopedia)Guadiana gwäᵺyäˈnä [key], river, 510 mi (821 km) long, rising in the La Mancha Plateau, E Spain. It flows west through central Spain, then south, forming part of the Spanish-Portuguese border (e...

Muscat

(Encyclopedia)Muscat, Maskat, or Masqat all: mŭsˈkăt, mŭsˈkət [key], city (1993 pop. 533,774), capital of Oman, SE Arabia, on the Gulf of Oman. It is flanked by rugged mountains. Muscat, which has a fine har...