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zither

(Encyclopedia)zither zĭthˈər [key], stringed musical instrument, derived from the psaltery and the dulcimer. It has a flat sound box over which are stretched from 30 to 45 strings; these are plucked with the fin...

rhinoceros

(Encyclopedia)rhinoceros, massive hoofed mammal of Africa, India, and SE Asia, characterized by a snout with one or two horns. The rhinoceros family, along with the horse and tapir families, forms the order of odd-...

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...

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...

Indian Territory

(Encyclopedia)Indian Territory, in U.S. history, name applied to the country set aside for Native Americans by the Indian Intercourse Act (1834). In the 1820s, the federal government began moving the Five Civilized...

Abruzzi, Luigi Amedeo, duca degli

(Encyclopedia)Abruzzi, Luigi Amedeo, duca degli lwēˈjē ämādĕˈō do͞oˈkä dāˈlyē abro͞otˈtsē [key], 1873–1933, Italian explorer and mountain climber; cousin of Victor Emmanuel III. He led (1897) the...

Kós

(Encyclopedia)Kós kŏs, kôs [key], Lat. Cos, island (1991 pop. 26,379), 111 sq mi (287 sq km), SE Greece, in the Aegean Sea; 2d largest of the Dodecanese, near the Bodrum peninsula of Turkey. Although it rises to...

Vientiane

(Encyclopedia)Vientiane vēˌəntyĕnˈ, vyăNtyänˈ [key], city (1990 est. pop. 140,000), administrative capital and largest city of Laos, N central Laos, on the Mekong River, c.130 mi (210 km) southeast of the f...

Capua

(Encyclopedia)Capua käˈpwä [key], town, Campania, S Italy, on the Volturno River. It is an agricultural ...

Pripyat

(Encyclopedia)Pripyat prĭˈpĕt [key], Pol. Prypeć, river, c.440 mi (710 km) long, rising NW of Kovel, NW Ukraine, near the Polish border, and flowing generally E through the Pripyat Marshes, S Belarus, into the ...