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Narva, river, Estonia and Russia

(Encyclopedia)Narva, river, c.50 mi (80 km) long, rising in Lake Peipus (Chudskoye), E Estonia, and flowing northeast past the city of Narva into the Gulf of Finland. It forms the border between Estonia and Russia....

Catherine I

(Encyclopedia)Catherine I, 1683?–1727, czarina of Russia (1725–27). Of Livonian peasant origin, Martha Skavronskaya was a domestic when she was captured (1702) by Russian soldiers. As mistress of Aleksandr D. M...

Romanov

(Encyclopedia)Romanov rōˈmənŏf, Rus. rəmäˈnəf [key], ruling dynasty of Russia from 1613 to 1917. The name Romanov was adopted in the 16th cent. by a family of boyars (great nobles) that traced its beginning...

Murray, Anna Pauline "Pauli"

(Encyclopedia)Murray, Pauli, 1910–1985, American lawyer, priest, and activist, b. Baltimore, S.J.D. Yale University, 1965, MDiv, General Theological Seminary, 1976....

Ishim, river, Russia and Kazakhstan

(Encyclopedia)Ishim, river, c.1,130 mi (1,819 km) long, W Siberian Russia and Kazakhstan. It rises N of Qaraghandy in Kazakhstan (where it is known as the Esil), flows W past Atbasar, N past Petropavl, and then joi...

Mari El, constituent republic, Russia

(Encyclopedia)Mari El mäˈrē ĕlˈ [key], constituent republic (1990 pop. 760,000), c.8,900 sq mi (23,100 sq km), E central European Russia, in the middle Volga valley. Yoshkar-Ola is the capital. The region is a...

Oka, river, central European Russia

(Encyclopedia)Oka əkäˈ [key], river, c.925 mi (1,490 km) long, rising S of Orel, central European Russia. It flows N past Orel and Kaluga, E past Serpukhov, Kolomna, and Ryazan, and then NE past Murom to join th...

Buena Vista, battle of

(Encyclopedia)Buena Vista, battle of, military engagement in the Mexican War, fought Feb. 22–23, 1847. The battle site was just S of Saltillo, Coahuila, in Mexico. Gen. Zachary Taylor, disobeying orders from the ...

Bestuzhev-Ryumin, Aleksey Petrovich, Count

(Encyclopedia)Bestuzhev-Ryumin, Aleksey Petrovich, Count əlyĭksyāˈ pētrôˈvĭch byĭsto͞oˈzhĕv-rēo͞oˈmyĭn [key], 1693–1766, Russian statesman. With the accession (1741) of Czarina Elizabeth, he was a...

Dvina, river, Russia, Belarus, and Latvia

(Encyclopedia)Dvina or Western Dvina, Ger. Düna, Latvian Daugava, Rus. Zapadnaya Dvina, river, c.635 mi (1,020 km) long, in Russia, Belarus, and Latvia. Rising in the Valdai Hills, it flows S and then generally W ...