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Sofia

(Encyclopedia)Sofia sōfēˈə, sōˈfēə [key], Bulg. Sofiya, city (1993 pop. 1,114,476), capital of Bulgaria, W central Bulgaria, on a high plain surrounded by the Balkan Mts. It is Bulgaria's chief industrial, ...

Timbuktu

(Encyclopedia)Timbuktu tĭmˌbŭkto͞oˈ, tĭmbŭkˈto͞o [key], city (1987 pop. 31,925), central Mali, near the Niger River. Connected with the Niger by a series of canals, Timbuktu is served by the small river po...

Islamic art and architecture

(Encyclopedia)Islamic art and architecture, works of art and architecture created in countries where Islam has been dominant and embodying Muslim precepts in its themes. Among the ceramic types are unglazed wares...

Hagia Sophia

(Encyclopedia)Hagia Sophia häˈjə sōfēˈə, hāˈjēə, [key] [Gr.,=Holy Wisdom] or Santa Sophia, Turkish Ayasofya, originally a Christian church at Constantinople (now İstanbul, Turkey) and then a mosque unde...

Machpelah

(Encyclopedia)Machpelah măkpēˈlə [key], cave, near Hebron; also called the Cave of the Patriarchs. The Book of Genesis relates that it was bought by Abraham from Ephron, son of Zohar the Hittite, for a family b...

Advani, Lal Krishna

(Encyclopedia)Advani, Lal Krishna, 1927–, Indian political leader, b. Karachi, British India (now in Pakistan). A lawyer and a member of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), he was the party's pres...

Gaur, ruined city, India

(Encyclopedia)Gaur gour [key], ruined city, West Bengal state, India. Known also as Lakhnauti, the city was an ancient Hindu capital of Bengal. It was captured (c.1200) by the Islamic rulers of Delhi and remained a...

Lahore

(Encyclopedia)Lahore ləhôrˈ [key], city (1998 pop. 5,063,499), capital of Punjab prov., E central Pakistan, on the Ravi River. It is the second largest city of Pakistan. A railway and air transport center near t...

Ayodhya

(Encyclopedia)Ayodhya –jōdˈ– [key], town, Uttar Pradesh state, N India, on the Ghaghara River. Formerly called Oudh, the town forms a municipal corporation with Faizabad. Ayodhya was the capital of the kingdo...

Cairo, city, Egypt

(Encyclopedia)Cairo kīˈrō [key], Arab. Al Qahirah, city (2021 est. metro. area pop. 21,323,000), capital...