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Kelantan

(Encyclopedia)Kelantan kəlănˈtən, kəlänˌtänˈ [key], state (1991 pop. 1,207,684), 5,780 sq mi (14,970 sq km), central Malay Peninsula, Malaysia, on the South China Sea. It is bordered on the N by Thailand. ...

Straits Settlements

(Encyclopedia)Straits Settlements, collective name for certain former British colonies in Southeast Asia. The three British East India Company territories of Pinang, Singapore, and Malacca (see Melaka) were given a...

Albuquerque, Afonso de

(Encyclopedia)Albuquerque, Afonso de əfôNˈzō dĭ əlbo͞okĕrˈkə, –də älˌbəkĕrˈkə [key], 1453–1515, Portuguese admiral, the effective founder of the Portuguese Empire in the East. He first went to ...

Francis Xavier, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Francis Xavier, Saint, 1506–52, Basque Jesuit missionary, called the Apostle to the Indies, b. Spanish Navarre, of noble parents. He studied in Paris (1525–34), where he became an associate of St....

McClure, Sir Robert John Le Mesurier

(Encyclopedia)McClure, Sir Robert John Le Mesurier, 1807–73, British arctic explorer. He entered the navy and in 1848 accompanied Sir James Clark Ross to the arctic. As a naval captain he was given command (1850)...

Diemen, Anton van

(Encyclopedia)Diemen, Anton van änˈtōn vän dēˈmən [key], 1593–1645, Dutch colonial official. As governor-general for the Dutch East India Company in the East Indies after 1636, he captured Ceylon (Sri Lank...

Malaysia

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Malaysia məlāˈzhə [key], independent federation (2015 est. pop. 30,723,000), 128,430 sq mi (332,633 sq km), Southeast Asia. The official capital and by far the largest city is Kuala Lumpur;...

Bab el Mandeb

(Encyclopedia)Bab el Mandeb băb ĕl mănˈdĕb [key] [Arab.,= gate of tears], strait, 17 mi (27 km) wide, linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and separating the Arabian peninsula from E Africa. It is an impo...

San Juan Boundary Dispute

(Encyclopedia)San Juan Boundary Dispute, controversy between the United States and Great Britain over the U.S.–British Columbia boundary. It is sometimes called the Northwest Boundary Dispute. The difficulty aros...

Thursday Island

(Encyclopedia)Thursday Island (2016 pop. 2,938), Queensland, NE Australia, N of Cape York Peninsula, in Torres Strait. It is the administrative and commercial center of the Torres Strait Islands. ...