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Persian language

(Encyclopedia)Persian language, member of the Iranian group of the Indo-Iranian subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Indo-Iranian languages). The official language of Iran, it has about 38 millio...

Ahmadinejad, Mahmoud

(Encyclopedia)Ahmadinejad, Mahmoud mämo͞odˈ ämädēnĕzhädˈ [key], 1956–, Iranian politician. From a humble background, he supported the Islamic revolution (1979) while working toward his civil engineering ...

Kurds

(Encyclopedia)Kurds kûrds, ko͝ords [key], a non-Arab Middle Eastern minority population that inhabits the region known as Kurdistan, an extensive plateau and mountain area, c.74,000 sq mi (191,660 sq km), in SW A...

European Monetary System

(Encyclopedia)European Monetary System, arrangement by which most nations of the European Union (EU) linked their currencies to prevent large fluctuations relative to one another. It was organized in 1979 to stabil...

Matteotti, Giacomo

(Encyclopedia)Matteotti, Giacomo jäˈkōmō mät-tāôtˈtē [key], 1885–1924, Italian Socialist leader; the outstanding opponent of the Fascist regime during its early days. He was a member of parliament, and h...

Bülow, Bernhard Heinrich Martin, Fürst von

(Encyclopedia)Bülow, Bernhard Heinrich Martin, Fürst von bĕrnˈhärt hīnˈrĭkh märˈtĭn fŭrst fən büˈlō [key], 1849–1929, German chancellor. He held many diplomatic posts before he became, through the...

International Monetary Fund

(Encyclopedia)International Monetary Fund (IMF), specialized agency of the United Nations, established in 1945. It was planned at the Bretton Woods Conference (1944), and its headquarters are in Washington, D.C. Th...

Shushtar

(Encyclopedia)Shushtar sho͞oshtärˈ [key], town (1991 pop. 70,294), Khuzestan prov., SW Iran, on the Karun River. It has irrigated agriculture and has long been known for its brocaded textiles, metalwork, and eng...

Hoveida, Amir Abbas

(Encyclopedia)Hoveida, Amir Abbas ämērˈ äb-bäsˈ hōvāˈdä [key], 1919–79, Iranian political leader, prime minister of Iran (1965–77). After serving (1958–64) with the National Iranian Oil Company, he ...

Gwadar

(Encyclopedia)Gwadar, port city (1998 est. pop. 43,850), Baluchistan prov., SW Pakistan, at the N end of the Arabian Sea. Traditional industries include fishing and fish processing; there also are facilities for th...