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Wright, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Wright, Richard, 1908–60, American author. An African American born on a Mississippi plantation, Wright struggled through a difficult childhood and worked to educate himself. He moved to Chicago in ...

Tsiranana, Philibert

(Encyclopedia)Tsiranana, Philibert fēlēbârˈ tsēränäˈnä [key], 1910–78, president of the Malagasy Republic (now Madagascar; 1960–72). He served in the legislature of Madagascar and represented the islan...

Mongolian languages

(Encyclopedia)Mongolian languages, group of languages forming a subdivision of the Altaic subfamily of the Ural-Altaic family of languages (see Uralic and Altaic languages). The Mongolian languages are spoken by ab...

Czechoslovakia

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Czechoslovakia chĕsˈkōslōvĕnˌskō [key], former federal republic, 49,370 sq mi (127,869 sq km), in central Europe. On Jan. 1, 1993, the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic (see Slovaki...

Côte d'Ivoire

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Côte d'Ivoire kōt dēvwärˈ [key] or Ivory Coast, officially Republic of Côte d'Iv...

Achebe, Chinua

(Encyclopedia)Achebe, Chinua chĭnˈwä ächāˈbā [key], 1930–2013, Nigerian writer, b. Albert Chinualumogu Achebe. A graduate of University College, Ibadan (1953), Achebe, an Igbo who wrote in English, is one ...

Khoisan

(Encyclopedia)Khoisan: see African languages. ...

Tatarstan

(Encyclopedia)Tatarstan tətärˈēə [key], republic (1990 est. pop. 3,660,000), 26,255 sq mi (68,000 sq km), E European Russia, in the middle Volga and lower Kama river valleys. Kazan is the capital; other import...