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Mantel, Dame Hilary

(Encyclopedia)Mantel, Dame Hilary, 1952–, English novelist, b. Hilary Mary Thompson. After working as a social worker, she moved to Botswana with her geologist husband and later to Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, where she...

Livingstone, David

(Encyclopedia)Livingstone, David lĭvˈĭngstən, –stōnˌ [key], 1813–73, Scottish missionary and explorer in Africa, the first European to cross the African continent. From 1841 to 1852, while a medical missi...

Bantu languages

(Encyclopedia)Bantu languages, group of African languages forming a subdivision of the Benue-Niger division of the Niger-Congo branch of the Niger-Kordofanian language family (see African languages). Bantu contains...

Commonwealth of Nations

(Encyclopedia)Commonwealth of Nations, voluntary association of Great Britain and its dependencies, certain former British dependencies that are now sovereign states and their dependencies, and the associated state...

Transvaal

(Encyclopedia)Transvaal trănzvälˈ [key], former province, NE South Africa. With the new constitution of 1994, it was divided into Eastern Transvaal (now Mpumalanga), Northern Transvaal (now Limpopo), Pretoria-Wi...

diamond

(Encyclopedia)diamond, mineral, one of two crystalline forms of the element carbon (see allotropy), the hardest natural substance known, used as a gem and in industry. The discoveries of 1870–71 in South Africa...

Lesotho

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Lesotho ləsōˈtō [key], officially Kingdom of Lesotho, kingdom (2015 est. pop. 2,175,000), 11,720 sq mi (30,355 sq km), S Africa. It is an enclave within the Republic of South Africa. Maseru...

South Africa

(Encyclopedia)CE5 South Africa, Afrikaans Suid-Afrika, officially Republic of South Africa, republic (2015 est. pop. 55,291,000), 471,359 sq mi (1,220,813 sq km), S Africa. It borders on the Atlantic Ocean in th...

Namibia

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Namibia nämĭbˈēə [key], officially Republic of Namibia, republic (2015 est. pop. 2,426,000), c.318,000 sq mi (823,620 sq km), SW Africa. It is bordered by Angola in the north, by Zambia in...

Zambia

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Zambia zămˈbēə [key], officially Republic of Zambia, republic (2015 est. pop. 15,066,000), 290,584 sq mi (752,614 sq km), central Africa. It borders on Congo (Kinshasa) in the north, on Tan...

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