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Mostar

(Encyclopedia)Mostar môˈstär [key], city (2013 pop. 65,286), in Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the Neretva River. Its name means “Old Bridge,” referring to the 16th-century stone bridge built by Ottoman sultan S...

Ar Raqqah

(Encyclopedia)Ar Raqqah ĕl räshēdˈ [key], city, capital of Ar Raqqah governorate, N Syria, on the Euphrates River. Carpets are manufactured, and the city has an agricultural experim...

Djenné

(Encyclopedia)Djenné or Jenné both: jĕnāˈ [key], town, S central Mali, on the Bani River. It is an agricultural market center. The nearby, pre-Islamic ruins of Jenné-Jeno, which at its height may have been a ...

Ajmer

(Encyclopedia)Ajmer ăjmērˈ, əj– [key], former state, NW India. Now part of Rajasthan state, it formerly consisted of two detached areas surrounded by Rajasthan and was identical w...

Medan, city, Indonesia

(Encyclopedia)Medan mādänˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 1,730,052), capital of North Sumatra prov., NE Sumatra, Indonesia, on the Deli River, c.15 mi (25 km) from its mouth, where the city's port (Belawan) is situated...

Nazareth

(Encyclopedia)Nazareth năzˈərĭth [key], town (1993 pop. 53,500), N Israel, in Galilee. As the home of Jesus, it is a great pilgrimage and tourist center. Nazareth is also the trade center for an agricultural re...

Korçë

(Encyclopedia)Korçë, Korça kōrētˈsə [key], city (1989 pop. 63,623), capital of Korçë dist., SE Albania, near the Greek border. Located in an agricultural region, it is a commercial and industrial center p...

Mahmud of Ghazna

(Encyclopedia)Mahmud of Ghazna mämo͞odˈ, gŭzˈna [key], 971?–1030, Afghan emperor and conqueror. He defeated (c.999) his elder brother to gain control of Khorasan (in Iran) and of Afghanistan. In his raids ag...

Khaniá

(Encyclopedia)Khaniá sīdōˈnēə [key], city (1991 pop. 50,077), capital of Khaniá prefecture, NW Crete, Greece, a port on the Gulf of Khaniá, an arm of the Sea of Crete. Olives, citrus fruits, and wine are sh...

Mecca

(Encyclopedia)Mecca măkˈə [key], city (1993 pop. 966,381), capital of the Hejaz, W Saudi Arabia. The birthplace c.a.d. 570 of Muhammad the Prophet, it is the holiest city of Islam, and the goal of the annual Mus...