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Caltagirone

(Encyclopedia)Caltagirone kälˌtäjērôˈnā [key], city, SE Sicily, Italy. An agricultural and sulfur-mining center, ...

(Encyclopedia)Islamic State (IS), Sunni Islamic militant group committed to the establishment of an Islamic caliphate that would unite Muslims in a transnational, strict-fundamentalist Islamic state. IS has been ma...

Sidra, Gulf of

(Encyclopedia)Sidra, Gulf of sĭdˈrə [key], Arab. Khalij Surt, arm of the Mediterranean Sea, lying between Misratah and Benghazi, Libya. Tuna fishing is an important economic activity. ...

Jabir

(Encyclopedia)Jabir jēˈbər [key], fl. 8th cent., Arab alchemist and physician, originally named Jabir ibn Hayyan. He is believed to have lived at Kufa and at Baghdad. A great number of works on alchemy, many of ...

United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East

(Encyclopedia)United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), agency of the United Nations, with headquarters in Amman, Jordan and Gaza City, Gaza Strip. Established in 1949,...

Palermo

(Encyclopedia)Palermo pälĕrˈmō [key], Lat. Panormus, city (1991 pop. 698,556), capital of Palermo prov. and of Sicily, NW Sicily, Italy, on the Tyrrhenian Sea. Situated on the edge of the Conca d'Oro (Golden Co...

Ibn Saud

(Encyclopedia)Ibn Saud (Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud) ĭˈbən säo͞odˈ [key], c.1880–1953, founder of Saudi Arabia and its first king. His family, with its regular seat at Riyadh in the Nejd, were the traditional lead...

Mashhad

(Encyclopedia)Mashhad mäsh-hädˈ [key], city (1991 pop. 1,759,155), capital of Razavi Khorasan prov., NE Iran. It is an industrial and trade center and a transportation hub. Manufactures include carpets, textiles...