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Tularosa Basin

(Encyclopedia)Tularosa Basin, desert basin, c.6,500 sq mi (16,800 sq km), S N.Mex. and W Tex. From Texas east of El Paso the basin, an area of interior drainage, extends c.170 mi (275 km) to the north, and ranges c...

hermit

(Encyclopedia)hermit [Gr.,=desert], one who lives in solitude, especially from ascetic motives. Hermits are known in many cultures. Permanent solitude was common in ancient Christian asceticism; St. Anthony of Egyp...

truffle

(Encyclopedia)truffle trŭfˈəl [key] [Fr.], subterranean edible fungus that forms a mutually beneficial (symbiotic) relationship with the roots of certain trees and plants. The part of the fungus used as food is ...

Arabah

(Encyclopedia)Arabah or Araba both: äˈräbä, ărˈəbə [key], depression, on the Israel-Jordan border, extending c.100 mi (160 km) from the Dead Sea S to the Gulf of Aqaba; part of the Great Rift Valley complex...

Karkheh

(Encyclopedia)Karkheh kärˈkĕ [key], ancient Choaspes, river, c.350 mi (560 km) long, rising in the Zagros Mts., W Iran, and flowing S into the Khuzestan lowland, where it forms a swamp bordering the Tigris River...

Bikaner

(Encyclopedia)Bikaner bĭkənērˈ [key], former native state, NW India. The state is now part of Rajasthan ...

Muawiya

(Encyclopedia)Muawiya mo͞oäˈwēä [key], d. 680, 1st Umayyad caliph (661–80), one of the greatest Muslim statesmen; son of Abu Sufyan, a Koreish tribesman of Mecca. He submitted to Islam the year of the surren...

elephant bird

(Encyclopedia)elephant bird, extinct, flightless bird of the family Aepyornithidae. Once native to the island of Madagascar, these gigantic birds may have survived until as late as 1649. Today, they are known only ...

Karnataka

(Encyclopedia)Karnataka mīsôrˈ [key], state (2001 provisional pop. 52,733,958), 74,122 sq mi (191,976 sq km), SW India, bordering on the Arabian Sea. It is bordered on the north by the states of Goa and Maharash...

Maan

(Encyclopedia)Maan məänˈ [key], town (1996 est. pop. 18,000), S Jordan. It is the terminus of the country's main rail line (which extends to Damascus, Syria) and carries on trade in agricultural produce. Importa...