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Cochin China

(Encyclopedia)Cochin China kōˈchĭn, kŏˈ– [key], Fr. Cochinchine, historic region (c.26,500 sq mi/68,600 sq km) of Vietnam, SE Asia. The capital and chief city was Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City). Cochin China ...

fair trade

(Encyclopedia)fair trade, a trading arrangement intended to provide more equitable international trade by creating better conditions for disadvantaged or marginalized producers of goods. Fair trade practices includ...

Honshu

(Encyclopedia)Honshu hōnˈsho͞o [key], island , c.89,000 sq mi (230,510 sq km), central Japan. It is c.800 ...

Opium Wars

(Encyclopedia)Opium Wars, 1839–42 and 1856–60, two wars between China and Western countries that marked the shift of wealth and power from East to West. The first was between Great Britain and China. Early in t...

birch

(Encyclopedia)CE5 White birch, Betula papyrifera birch, common name for some members of the Betulaceae, a family of deciduous trees or shrubs bearing male and female flowers on separate plants, widely distribut...

Kazan, Elia

(Encyclopedia)Kazan, Elia ĭlīˈə, ēlˈyə kəzănˈ, –zänˈ [key], 1909–2003, American stage and film director, producer, writer, actor, b. Turkey, as Elia Kazanjoglous. Immigrating with his Greek family t...

Transcaucasia

(Encyclopedia)Transcaucasia trănzˌkôkāˈzhə, –shə, trănsˌ– [key], transitional region between Europe and Asia, extending from the Greater Caucasus to the Turkish and Iranian borders, between the Black a...

Shaanxi

(Encyclopedia)Shaanxi shĕnˈsēˈ [key] [west of the mountain passes], province (2010 pop. 37,327,378), c.76,000 sq mi (196,840 sq km), N central China. Xi'an is the capital. From north to south Shaanxi has four m...

Silk Road

(Encyclopedia)Silk Road, ancient overland trade route linking Asia and Europe, consisting of a network of caravan routes running from China across central Asia to the shores of the Mediterranean. Its starting point...

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...