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Murgab

(Encyclopedia)Murgab mo͝orgäbˈ [key], river, 530 mi (853 km) long, rising in the Paropamisus range, NE Afghanistan, flowing NW into Turkmenistan, to the Merv oasis, and disappearing into the Kara Kum desert, SE ...

Livonia, region and former Russian province

(Encyclopedia)Livonia lĭvōˈnēə [key], region and former Russian province, comprising present Estonia and parts of Latvia (Vidzeme and Latgale). It borders on the Baltic Sea and its arms, the Gulf of Riga and t...

Amanullah

(Encyclopedia)Amanullah ăməno͝olˈə [key], 1892–1960, emir (1919–26) and king (1926–29) of Afghanistan. To win popular support for his rule he invaded India in an attempt to free Afghanistan from British-...

Ghazni

(Encyclopedia)Ghazni gŭzˈnē [key], city, capital of Ghazni prov., E central Afghanistan, on the Ghazni R...

bin Laden, Osama

(Encyclopedia)bin Laden, Osama or Usama ōsäˈmə bĭn lädˈən, ŭsäˈmə [key], 1957?–2011, Saudi-born leader of Al Qaeda, a terrorist organization devoted to uniting all Muslims and establishing a transnati...

Karzai, Hamid

(Encyclopedia)Karzai, Hamid hämēdˈ kärzīˈ [key], 1957–, Afghan political leader, b. Kandahar. Karzai's father and grandfather, who both served in the government of King Muhammad Zahir Shah, were heads of th...

Dost Muhammad

(Encyclopedia)Dost Muhammad dōst mo͞ohämˈmäd [key], 1793–1863, emir of Afghanistan. He and his family struggled to get the emirate for years before he finally succeeded in establishing himself in 1826. He wa...

Quetta

(Encyclopedia)Quetta kwĕˈtə [key], city (1998 pop. 560,307), capital of Baluchistan prov., W central Pakistan, at an altitude of c.5,500 ft (1,675 m), ringed by mountains. Deriving its name from the Pashto word ...