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balance of trade

(Encyclopedia)balance of trade, relation between the merchandise exports and imports of a country. The concept first became important in the 16th and 17th cent. with the growth of mercantilism. Mercantilist theoris...

Pharisees

(Encyclopedia)Pharisees fârˈĭsēz [key], one of the two great Jewish religious and political parties of the second commonwealth. Their opponents were the Sadducees, and it appears that the Sadducees gave them th...

Trans-Dniester Region

(Encyclopedia)Trans-Dniester Region or Transnistria, region (2004 preliminary pop. 555,000), E Moldova, between the Dniester River and the Ukrainian border. A narrow territory some 120 mi (195 km) long but barely 2...

Okinawa

(Encyclopedia)Okinawa ōˌkĭnäˈwä [key], island (1990 pop. 1,222,458), 454 sq mi (1,176 sq km), W Pacific Ocean, SW of Kyushu; a part of Okinawa prefecture, Japan. It is the largest of the Okinawa Islands in th...

Zollverein

(Encyclopedia)Zollverein tsôlˈfərīnˈ [key] [Ger.,=customs union], in German history, a customs union established to eliminate tariff barriers. Friedrich List first popularized the idea of a combination to abol...

Berlin, Congress of

(Encyclopedia)Berlin, Congress of, 1878, called by the signers of the Treaty of Paris of 1856 (see Paris, Congress of) to reconsider the terms of the Treaty of San Stefano, which Russia had forced on the Ottoman Em...

Commonwealth of Independent States

(Encyclopedia)Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), community of independent nations established by a treaty signed at Minsk, Belarus, on Dec. 8, 1991, by the heads of state of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. Bet...

coffee

(Encyclopedia)coffee, a tree, its seeds, and the beverage made from them. The coffee tree, a small evergreen of the genus Coffea, has smooth, ovate leaves and clusters of fragrant white flowers that mature into dee...

Bhutan

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Bhutan bo͞otänˈ [key], officially Kingdom of Bhutan, kingdom (2020 est. pop. 771,612), ...

Uganda

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Uganda yo͞ogänˈdə, o͞ogänˈdä [key], officially Republic of Uganda, republic (2015 est. pop. 37,102,000), 91,133 sq mi (236,036 sq km), E central Africa. It borders on Tanzania and Rwand...