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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...

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...

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 (...

Trans-Alai

(Encyclopedia)Trans-Alai trăns-älīˈ, trănz– [key], mountain range, central Asia, a part of the Pamir-Alai mountain system. The Trans-Alai extends 155 mi (249 km) W from China to form the border between Kyrgy...

bandicoot rat

(Encyclopedia)bandicoot rat, giant rat of southern Asia, unrelated to true bandicoots. It is an agricultural pest in the grain crops and gardens of India and Sri Lanka and is known for the piglike grunts it emits w...

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...

Amida

(Encyclopedia)Amida ămˈĭdə, əmīˈdə [key], ancient city, E Asia Minor, on the Tigris River. It became (a.d. 230) a Roman colony and was later (4th cent.) captured by Shapur II of Persia. It is the modern Diy...

Bent, James Theodore

(Encyclopedia)Bent, James Theodore, 1853–97, English explorer and archaeologist. He engaged in archaeological research on the coast of Asia Minor (1888–89) and in Bahrain (1889), Cilicia Trachia (1890), Mashona...

Celaenae

(Encyclopedia)Celaenae sĭlēˈnē [key], ancient city of Asia Minor, in Phrygia, near the source of the Maeander River, in present-day W central Turkey. In the days of the Persian Empire, Cyrus the Great had a pal...

Sardis

(Encyclopedia)Sardis –dēz [key], ancient city of Lydia, W Asia Minor, at the foot of Mt. Tmolus, 35 mi (56 km) NE of the modern Izmir, Turkey. As capital of Lydia, it was the political and cultural center of Asi...