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Christofias, Demetris

(Encyclopedia)Christofias, Demetris dĕmēˈtrēs krĭstôfˈēäs [key], 1946–2019, Cypriot political leader, president of Cyprus (2008–13). A member of the AKEL (Communist) party, he served as chairman of its...

Denham, Sir John

(Encyclopedia)Denham, Sir John dĕnˈəm [key], 1615–69, English poet and dramatist. His fame rests largely on two works: Cooper's Hill (1642), a topographical poem, combining descriptions of scenery with moral r...

Valle, Pietro della

(Encyclopedia)Valle, Pietro della pyĕˈtrō dĕlˈlä välˈlā [key], 1586–1652, Italian traveler in Asia. He sailed (1614) from Venice; spent a year in Constantinople, where he studied Turkish and Arabic; then...

Suli

(Encyclopedia)Suli or Souli both: so͞oˈlyē [key], small mountainous district, N Greece, in Epirus. Its inhabitants, the Suliotes, who lived in fortlike villages in the mountains, remained independent during most...

Skobelev, Mikhail Dmitreyevich

(Encyclopedia)Skobelev, Mikhail Dmitreyevich mēkhəyĕlˈ dəmēˈtrēəvĭch skôˈbĭlyĭf [key], 1843–82, Russian general, one of the military commanders responsible for the Russian conquests in Turkistan. He...

Balkan Wars

(Encyclopedia)Balkan Wars, 1912–13, two short wars, fought for the possession of the European territories of the Ottoman Empire. The outbreak of the Italo-Turkish War for the possession of Tripoli (1911) encourag...

Sofia

(Encyclopedia)Sofia sōfēˈə, sōˈfēə [key], Bulg. Sofiya, city (1993 pop. 1,114,476), capital of Bulgaria, W central Bulgaria, on a high plain surrounded by the Balkan Mts. It is Bulgaria's chief industrial, ...

Ido

(Encyclopedia)Ido ēˈdō [key], short name of Esperandido, an artificial language that is a simplified version of Esperanto. See international language. ...

Yugoslav literature

(Encyclopedia)Yugoslav or South Slav literature, literature written in Serbo-Croatian, Slovenian, and, especially after World War II, Macedonian languages. The Serbian and Croatian literary languages are similar an...

Japanese

(Encyclopedia)Japanese jăpˌənēzˈ [key], language of uncertain origin that is spoken by more than 125 million people, most of whom live in Japan. There are also many speakers of Japanese in the Ryukyu Islands, ...