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Head, Bessie

(Encyclopedia)Head, Bessie, 1937–86, South African writer. Born in South Africa to a white mother and black father, she was placed in foster homes and orphanages as a child. After 1964, she lived in exile in Bots...

Kasserine Pass

(Encyclopedia)Kasserine Pass kăsˈərīnˌ [key], gap, 2 mi (3.2 km) wide, central Tunisia, in the Grand Dorsal chain (an extension of the Atlas Mts.). A key point in the Allied offensive in Tunisia in World War I...

Pinto, Fernão Mendes

(Encyclopedia)Pinto, Fernão Mendes fĕrnouNˈ mĕnˈdĕsh pēnˈto͝o [key], c.1509–1583, Portuguese traveler. For some 20 years he traveled in Africa and Asia, journeying to far places and experiencing great ha...

Zama

(Encyclopedia)Zama zāˈmə [key], ancient town near the northern coast of Africa, in present Tunisia. Although there was more than one town named Zama, tradition says that in 202 b.c. Scipio Africanus Major defeat...

Cameroon, Mount

(Encyclopedia)Cameroon, Mount kămˈəro͞on [key], active volcano, 13,354 ft (4,070 m) high, in the Cameroon Highlands, W Cameroon; highest point in W Africa. The mountain and surrounding area are in Mt. Cameroon ...

weaverbird

(Encyclopedia)weaverbird, name for the Ploceidae, a family of Old World seed-eating birds closely resembling finches (hence the alternate name weaver finch). It includes a number of so-called goldfinches and waxbil...

Nelson Mandela Bay

(Encyclopedia)Nelson Mandela Bay, metropolitan municipality (2011 pop. 1,152,115), Eastern Cape prov., S South Africa, on Algoa Bay, an inlet of the Indian Ocean. Port Elizabeth is the municipal seat; other communi...

Nivelle, Robert Georges

(Encyclopedia)Nivelle, Robert Georges rôbĕrˈ zhôrzh nēvĕlˈ [key], 1856–1924, French general. His services in World War I gained him the post of chief assistant to General Pétain at Verdun, and he was late...

Luangwa

(Encyclopedia)Luangwa lwängˈwä [key], river, c.500 mi (800 km) long, S Africa. It rises in NE Zambia, near the Malawi border, and joins the Zambezi River. In the river valley lies Luangwa National Park, a former...

macadamia

(Encyclopedia)macadamia măkˌədāˈmēə [key], name for the nut of the Macadamia ternifolia, an evergreen tree native to Australia, but cultivated elsewhere, including Hawaii and South Africa. The small, edible ...