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Burma Road

(Encyclopedia)Burma Road, in China and Myanmar, extending from the railhead of Lashio, Myanmar, to Kunming, Yunnan prov., China. About 700 mi (1,130 km) long and constructed through rough mountain country, it was a...

atlas, in geography

(Encyclopedia)atlas, in geography, collection of maps or charts. It usually includes data on various features of a country, e.g., its topography, natural resources, climate, and population, as well as its agricultu...

Polo, Marco

(Encyclopedia)Polo, Marco märˈkō pōˈlō [key], 1254?–1324?, Venetian traveler in China. His father, Niccolò Polo, and his uncle, Maffeo Polo, had made (1253–60) a trading expedition to Constantinople. A w...

Ionic order

(Encyclopedia)Ionic order īŏnˈĭk [key], one of the early orders of architecture. The spreading scroll-shaped capital is the distinctive feature of the Ionic order; it was primarily a product of Asia Minor, wher...

Indian Ocean

(Encyclopedia)Indian Ocean, third largest ocean, c.28,350,000 sq mi (73,427,000 sq km), extending from S Asia to Antarctica and from E Africa to SE Australia; it is c.4,000 mi (6,400 km) wide at the equator. It con...

Gorky, Arshile

(Encyclopedia)Gorky, Arshile ärˈshīl gôrˈkē [key], c.1900–48, American painter, b. Armenia as Vosdanig Adoian. He escaped the Turkish slaughter of Armenians, emigrated to the United States in 1920, studied ...

Yazidi

(Encyclopedia)Yazidi or Yezidi Middle Eastern religious community whose beliefs incorporate elements of Zoroastrianism, Sufism, Christianity, Manichaeism, and Judaism. Its members, numbering between 200,000 and one...

bluegrass music

(Encyclopedia)bluegrass music: see country and western music. ...

cucumber

(Encyclopedia)cucumber, fruit of Cucumis sativus, a species of gourd whose many varieties are descended from a plant native to Asia and Africa. Cucumber is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliops...

Nicholson, James William Augustus

(Encyclopedia)Nicholson, James William Augustus, 1821–87, American naval officer, b. Dedham, Mass.; grandson of Samuel Nicholson. He was appointed a midshipman in 1838, served under Commodore Perry in East Asia (...