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Pärnu

(Encyclopedia)Pärnu pärˈno͞o [key], Ger. Pernau, Rus. Pyarnu, city (1994 pop. 51,963), SW Estonia, on the Gulf of Riga. A seaport, it exports timber and flax and is also a beach and health resort. It was founde...

Syktyvkar

(Encyclopedia)Syktyvkar sĭktĭfkärˈ [key], city (1989 pop. 232,000), capital of Komi Republic, NW European Russia, a port on the Sysola River near its entry into the Vychegda. Lumbering and the manufacture of wo...

Dagestan Republic

(Encyclopedia)Dagestan Republic or Daghestan Republic dägəstänˈ [key], constituent republic, c.19,4...

Northern War

(Encyclopedia)Northern War, 1700–1721, general European conflict, fought in N and E Europe at the same time that the War of the Spanish Succession was fought in the west and the south. It arose chiefly from the d...

Volgograd

(Encyclopedia)Volgograd vôlgəgrätˈ [key], formerly Stalingrad, city (1989 pop. 999,000), capital of Volgograd region, SE European Russia, a port on the Volga River and the eastern terminus of the Volga-Don Cana...

navy

(Encyclopedia)navy, originally, all ships of a nation, whether for war or commerce; the term navy now designates only such vessels as are built and maintained specifically for war. There have been three major devel...

Kerch Strait

(Encyclopedia)Kerch Strait, shallow channel, c.25 mi (40 km) long, connecting the Sea of Azov with the Black Sea and separating Crimea in the west from Russia's Taman Peninsula in the east. Its northern end, openin...

Troppau, Congress of

(Encyclopedia)Troppau, Congress of trôpˈou [key], 1820, international conference convened at the behest of Czar Alexander I of Russia under the provisions of the Quadruple Alliance. The congress, which met at Tro...

Catherine II

(Encyclopedia)Catherine II or Catherine the Great, 1729–96, czarina of Russia (1762–96). Catherine increased the power and prestige of Russia by skillful diplomacy and by extending Russia's western boundary i...

Malmberg, Aino

(Encyclopedia)Malmberg, Aino īˈnō mälmˈbĕrˌyə [key], 1866–1933, Finnish patriot and feminist, grad. Univ. of Helsinki, 1887, in the first class to include women students. She was active in the nationalist...