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Islam

(Encyclopedia)Islam ĭslämˈ, ĭsˈläm [key], [Arab.,=submission to God], world religion founded by the Prophet Muhammad. Founded in the 7th cent., Islam is the youngest of the three monotheistic world religions ...

Guyana

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Guyana gīănˈə, –änˈ– [key], officially Co-operative Republic of Guyana, republic (2015 est. pop. 769,000), 83,000 sq mi (214,969 sq km), NE South America. It is bordered on the N by t...

Madagascar

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Madagascar mădˌəgăsˈcär [key], officially Republic of Madagascar, republic (2015 est. pop. 24,234,000), 226,658 sq mi (587,045 sq km), in the Indian Ocean, separated from E Africa by the ...

Bulgaria

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Bulgaria bŭlgârˈēə [key], Bulgarian Balgarija, officially Republic of Bulgaria, r...

Greek literature, ancient

(Encyclopedia)Greek literature, ancient, the writings of the ancient Greeks. The Greek Isles are recognized as the birthplace of Western intellectual life. The next period of Greek literature reached its zenith i...

Voltaire, François Marie Arouet de

(Encyclopedia)Voltaire, François Marie Arouet de fräNswäˈ märēˈ ärwāˈ də vôltĕrˈ [key], 1694–1778, French philosopher and author, whose original name was Arouet. One of the towering geniuses in lite...

biography

(Encyclopedia)biography, reconstruction in print or on film, of the lives of real men and women. Together with autobiography—an individual's interpretation of his own life—it shares a venerable tradition, meeti...

scholasticism

(Encyclopedia)scholasticism skōlăsˈtĭsĭzəm [key], philosophy and theology of Western Christendom in the Middle Ages. Virtually all medieval philosophers of any significance were theologians, and their philoso...

papacy

(Encyclopedia)CE5 papacy pāˈpəsē [key], office of the pope, head of the Roman Catholic Church. He is pope by reason of being bishop of Rome and thus, according to Roman Catholic belief, successor in the see ...

Estonia

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Estonia ĕstōˈnēə [key], Estonian Eesti, officially Republic of Estonia, republic ...