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Sino-Japanese War, Second

(Encyclopedia)Sino-Japanese War, Second, 1937–45, conflict between Japanese and Chinese forces for control of the Chinese mainland. The war sapped the Nationalist government's strength while allowing the Communis...

fakir

(Encyclopedia)fakir fäkērˈ, fāˈkər [key], [Arab.,=poverty], in Islam, usually an initiate in a Sufi order. The title fakir is borne with the understanding that poverty is the need to be in relation to God. Th...

Kearney

(Encyclopedia)Kearney, city (1990 pop. 24,396), seat of Buffalo co., S central Nebr., on the Platte River; inc. 1873. It is a commercial, industrial, and transportation center in an agricultural area. Plastic and m...

Manych

(Encyclopedia)Manych mäˈnĭch [key], two rivers, SE European Russia. The Western Manych, c.200 mi (320 km) long, rises near Stavropol in the N Caucasus and flows NW through Lake Manych-Gudilo into the lower Don R...

Frobisher Bay

(Encyclopedia)Frobisher Bay, arm of the Atlantic Ocean, 150 mi (240 km) long and from 20 to 40 mi (32–64 km) wide, Nunavut Territory, Canada. Cutting deeply into SE Baffin Island, it has steep, deeply indented sh...

Sibir

(Encyclopedia)Sibir sĭbērˈ [key], former city, southeast of present-day Tobolsk, W Siberian Russia. Founded in the 11th or 12th cent., it became (early 16th cent.) the capital of the Tatar khanate of Sibir, whic...

Phoenixville

(Encyclopedia)Phoenixville fēˈnĭksvĭl [key], borough (1990 pop. 15,066), Chester co., SE Pa., on the Schuylkill River; settled 1720, inc. 1849. Iron deposits in the region led to the early development of an iro...

Nyos, Lake

(Encyclopedia)Nyos, Lake nēōsˈ [key], freshwater lake in a volcanic crater in North-West prov., Cameroon, 15 mi (24 km) ENE of Wum. On Aug. 21, 1986, carbon dioxide gas was released from the mineral-saturated wa...

Brandywine, battle of

(Encyclopedia)Brandywine, battle of, in the American Revolution, fought Sept. 11, 1777, along Brandywine Creek. The creek, formed by two small branches in SE Pennsylvania, flows southeast to join, near Wilmington, ...

Zayandeh Rud

(Encyclopedia)Zayandeh Rud zīndĕˈ [key], river, c.250 mi (400 km) long, rising in the Zagros Mts., W central Iran, and flowing southeast through an agricultural district to a swamp W of Yazd; used for irrigation...