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saiga

(Encyclopedia)saiga, sīˈgə [key], Eurasian antelope, Saiga tatarica, found in steppes, grasslands, and semidesert regions in Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Kalmykia, Russia. Noted for its large, flexible, and inflata...

Thomsen, Vilhelm

(Encyclopedia)Thomsen, Vilhelm vĭlˈhĕlm tŏmˈsĕn [key], 1842–1927, Danish philologist. For many years Thomsen was professor of comparative philology at the Univ. of Copenhagen, where he did important work in...

Mongkut

(Encyclopedia)Mongkut rämˈə [key], 1804–68, king of Siam, now Thailand (1851–68). A devout Buddhist monk, he was displaced in succession to the throne by his brother, who ascended as Rama III. Mongkut became...

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...

Biysk

(Encyclopedia)Biysk bēsk [key], city, S central Siberian Russia, on the Biya River. A port and the terminu...

Kerulen

(Encyclopedia)Kerulen hĕrˈəlĕn [key], river, 785 mi (1,263 km) long, E Republic of Mongolia, rising in the Kentei Mts., NE of Ulaanbaatar, and flowing S, then E to Kulun Lake, Heilongjiang prov., NE China. A ro...

Kyakhta

(Encyclopedia)Kyakhta or Kiakhta both: kyäkhˈtə [key], city, Buryat Republic, S Siberian Russia, near the Russian-Mongolian border. Kyakhta is on the highway from Ulan-Ude to Ulaanbaatar and is a major transit p...

El Dorado, legendary country of South America

(Encyclopedia)El Dorado ĕlˈdəräˈdō, –rāˈ– [key] [Span.,=the gilded man], legendary country of the Golden Man sought by adventurers in South America. The legend supposedly originated in a custom of the C...

Altai

(Encyclopedia)Altai or Altay both: ăltīˈ, äl–, ălˈtī, Rus. əltīˈ [key], geologically complex mountain system of central Asia; largely in the Altai Republic, Russia, and in Kazakhstan, but extending into...

Jining

(Encyclopedia)Jining chēˈnĭngˈ [key], city (1994 est. pop. 180,500), Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region, China. It is an important railroad center at the junction of the system connecting Beijing and Lanzhou, wi...

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