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United Arab Republic

(Encyclopedia)United Arab Republic, political union (1958–61) of Egypt and Syria. The capital was Cairo. The two countries were merged (1958) into a single unit comprising the Southern (Egypt) and the Northern (S...

Alice Springs

(Encyclopedia)Alice Springs, town, Northern Territory, Australia. It lies in a pastoral area surrounded by desert near the center of the continent and is a stop on the Adelaide Darwin Railway. The town ...

Mojave

(Encyclopedia)Mojave mōhäˈvē [key], river, c.100 mi (160 km) long, rising in the San Bernardino Mts., S Calif., and flowing generally north to disappear in the Mojave Desert. Due to the porous soil and rapid ev...

Nevada, University of

(Encyclopedia)Nevada, University of, at Reno and Las Vegas; land-grant and state supported; coeducational; chartered 1864, opened 1874 at Elko, moved to Reno 1886. The Reno campus includes the Mackay School of Mine...

sirocco

(Encyclopedia)sirocco sərŏkˈō [key] [Ital., from Arab. sharq=east], hot, dust-laden, dry, southerly wind originating in the N African desert (most commonly in the spring) and reaching Italy and nearby Mediterra...

Kadesh, oasis, ancient Palestine

(Encyclopedia)Kadesh –bärnēˈə [key], oasis in the desert S of ancient Palestine, mentioned frequently in the Bible, notably as a limit of Edom. Another biblical name is En-mishpat. ...

Loa

(Encyclopedia)Loa lōˈä [key], longest river of Chile, 275 mi (443 km) long, flowing S from the Andes, N Chile, then W and N through the Atacama Desert, before turning W to the Pacific Ocean. It is not navigable ...

Carey Land Act

(Encyclopedia)Carey Land Act, sponsored by Sen. Joseph M. Carey and passed by the U.S. Congress in 1894. The act provided for the transfer to Western states of U.S.-owned desert lands on the condition that they be ...

Ganganagar

(Encyclopedia)Ganganagar gŭngˈgänəgər [key], city, Rajasthan state, NW India, on the Bikaner canal system, a ...

Nazas

(Encyclopedia)Nazas näˈsäs [key], river, c.180 mi (290 km) long, rising in the Sierra Madre Occidental, Durango state, N Mexico, and flowing generally east to disappear into the ground near Torreón. During the ...