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poison gas

(Encyclopedia)poison gas, any of various gases sometimes used in warfare or riot control because of their poisonous or corrosive nature. These gases may be roughly grouped according to the portal of entry into the ...

nationalization

(Encyclopedia)nationalization, acquisition and operation by a country of business enterprises formerly owned and operated by private individuals or corporations. State or local authorities have traditionally taken ...

migration

(Encyclopedia)migration, of people, geographical movements of individuals or groups for the purpose of permanently resettling. Normal internal migration has been characterized by a population shift from rural t...

refugee

(Encyclopedia)refugee, one who leaves one's native land either because of expulsion or to escape persecution. The legal problem of accepting refugees is discussed under asylum; this article considers only mass disl...

Zoroastrianism

(Encyclopedia)Zoroastrianism zôˌrōăsˈtrēənĭzəm [key], religion founded by Zoroaster, but with many later accretions. The religion's priests, successors to the pre-Zoroastrian Magi, acquired great power b...

Obama, Barack

(Encyclopedia)Obama, Barack (Barack Hussein Obama 2d), bəräkˈ ho͞osānˈ ōbäˈmə [key], 1961–, 44th president of the United States (2009–17), b. Honolulu, grad. Columbia (B.A. 1983), Harvard Law School ...

village

(Encyclopedia)village, small rural population unit, held together by common economic and political ties. Based on agricultural production, a village is smaller than a town and has been the normal unit of community ...

Arab League

(Encyclopedia)Arab League, popular name for the League of Arab States, formed in 1945 in an attempt to give political expression to the Arab nations. The original charter members were Egypt, Iraq, Jordan (then know...

espionage

(Encyclopedia)espionage ĕsˈpēənäzhˌ [key], the act of obtaining information clandestinely. The term applies particularly to the act of collecting military, industrial, and political data about one nation for ...

Turks

(Encyclopedia)Turks, term applied in its wider meaning to the Turkic-speaking peoples of Turkey, Russia, Central Asia, Xinjiang in China (Chinese Turkistan), Azerbaijan and the Caucasus, Iran, and Afghanistan. They...