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Yarkant

(Encyclopedia)Yarkant shäˈcho͝oˈ [key] or Yarkant, forms an oasis at the western end of the Taklimakan desert; it is a trade center. The city, mainly inhabited by Turkic-speaking Muslims, has more than 120 mosq...

Saint Gotthard, mountain group, Switzerland

(Encyclopedia)Saint Gotthard sānt gŏtˈhərd, gŏtˈərd [key], mountain group of the Lepontine Alps, S central Switzerland, rising to Pizzo Rotondo (10,472 ft/3,192 m high). The Reuss, Rhine, Ticino, and Rhône ...

Himalayas

(Encyclopedia)Himalayas hĭmälˈəyəz, hĭməlāˈəz [key] [Sanskrit,=abode of snow], great Asian mountain system, extending c.1,500 mi (2,410 km) E from the Indus River in Pakistan through India, the Tibet regi...

Kuznetsk Alatau

(Encyclopedia)Kuznetsk Alatau ko͞oznyĕtskˈ əläˈtou [key], mountain range, S Siberian Russia, E of Novokuznetsk, rising to about 6,900 ft (2,100 m). Part of the great mountain system of central Asia, the range...

Orkhon

(Encyclopedia)Orkhon ôrˈkŏn, ôr-khŏnˈ [key], river, c.300 mi (480 km) long, rising in the Khangai Mts., N central Republic of Mongolia, and flowing east, then north, past the site of ancient Karakorum, and th...

Younghusband, Sir Francis Edward

(Encyclopedia)Younghusband, Sir Francis Edward, 1863–1942, British explorer, b. India. He explored Manchuria in 1886. The following year he journeyed from China to India, crossing the Gobi desert and the Mustagh ...

Jammu

(Encyclopedia)Jammu jŭˈmo͞o [key], city (1991 pop. 206,135), Jammu and Kashmir union territory, N India, on the Tawi River and in the Himalayan foothills. The winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir, it is strategic...

Abdullah, Sheikh Muhammad

(Encyclopedia)Abdullah, Sheikh Muhammad shākh mo͞ohämˈmäd äbdo͝ol-läˈ [key], 1905–82, nationalist leader in Kashmir, known as the Lion of Kashmir. He became active in polit...

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