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Negev

(Encyclopedia)Negev nĕgˈĕb [key] [Heb.,=dry], hilly desert region of S Israel, c.5,140 sq mi (13,310 sq km), bordered by the Judaean Hills, the Wadi Arabah, the Sinai peninsula, and the narrow Mediterranean coas...

Northern Cape

(Encyclopedia)Northern Cape, province (2011 pop. 1,145,861), 144,015 sq mi (372,889 sq km), NW South Africa. In 1994, under South Africa's post-apartheid constitution, Northern Cape was created from the northern po...

Masada

(Encyclopedia)Masada məsāˈdə [key], ancient mountaintop fortress in Israel, the final outpost of the Zealot Jews in their rebellion against Roman authority (a.d. 66–73). Located in the Judaean Desert, the for...

Antonioni, Michelangelo

(Encyclopedia)Antonioni, Michelangelo mëkālänˈjālō äntōnyôˈnē [key], 1912–2007, Italian film director and scriptwriter, b. Ferrara, Italy. In the 1940s he made documentaries that contributed to the dev...

Nazca

(Encyclopedia)Nazca or Nasca both: näsˈkä [key], ancient culture of the Nazca, Pisco, and Ica river valleys on the desert coast of S Peru. Flourishing during the first millennium a.d., the Nazca culture seems to...

thick-knee

(Encyclopedia)thick-knee, common name for terrestrial, Old World birds in the family Burhinidae. The name derives from the bird's thickened tarsal joints. Thick-knees are shy, solitary birds. They are rapid runners...

Reno

(Encyclopedia)Reno rēˈnō [key], city (1990 pop. 133,850), seat of Washoe co., W Nev., on the Truckee River; inc. 1903. Tourism has been the major industry since gambling was legalized in Nevada in 1931. With its...

Rommel, Erwin

(Encyclopedia)Rommel, Erwin ĕrˈvēn rômˈəl [key], 1891–1944, German field marshal. He entered the army in 1910 and rose slowly through the ranks. In 1939, Adolf Hitler made him a general. Rommel brilliantly ...

Amu Darya

(Encyclopedia)Amu Darya or Amudarya both: ämo͞oˈ däryäˈ, äˈmo͞o därˈyə [key], river, c.1,600 mi (2,580 km) long, formed by the junction of the Vakhsh and Pandj rivers, which rise in the Pamir Mts. of ce...

Faiyum, El

(Encyclopedia)Faiyum, El fīyo͞omˈ [key], region, coextensive with El Faiyum governorate, N Egypt, W of the Nile River, a depression (entirely below sea level) in the Libyan (or Western) Desert. It is an irrigat...