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Jaja

(Encyclopedia)Jaja jäˈjə [key], fl. 1869–87, Nigerian merchant prince. A former slave, he became an important trader in Bonny in the 1860s as a middleman between the coastal markets and the Nigerian interior. ...

Abeokuta

(Encyclopedia)Abeokuta äˌbēōko͞oˈtə, ăbˌ– [key], city (1991 est. pop. 377,000), SW Nigeria. It is the trade center for an agricultural region producing rice, yams, cassava, cotton, fruit, vegetables, and...

Catherine, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Catherine, Saint kăthˈrən, kăthˈərĭn [key], 4th cent.?, Alexandrian virgin martyr. Nothing certain is known of her life, and in 1969 her name was dropped from the liturgical calendar. According...

swift

(Encyclopedia)swift, common name for small, swallowlike birds related to the hummingbird and found all over the world, chiefly in the tropics. They range in size from 6 to 12 in. (15–30 cm) in length. Swifts have...

Elche

(Encyclopedia)Elche ĕlˈchā [key], Valencian Elx, city, Alicante prov., SE Spain, in Valencia. It is surr...

Mzab

(Encyclopedia)Mzab əmzäbˈ [key], stony, barren valley, Algeria, in the N Sahara. It was settled c.1000 by members of an austere Muslim sect, the Kharijites. The inhabitants, called Mozabites, dug wells, created ...

Pointe-Noire

(Encyclopedia)Pointe-Noire pwăNt-nwär [key], city (1984 pop. 294,203), SW Republic of the Congo, Africa, a port on the Atlantic Ocean. Offshore oil drilling and oil refining are the city's most important economic...

Quelimane

(Encyclopedia)Quelimane kĕlĭmäˈnē [key], town (1989 est. pop. 78,500), capital of Zambézia province, E central Mozambique, a seaport on the Rio dos Bons Sinais near its mouth in the Indian Ocean. It is a trad...

Ouargla

(Encyclopedia)Ouargla wärˈglä [key], town and oasis, E Algeria. It is the administrative center of a well-watered oasis at the junction of several Saharan desert caravan routes. Ouargla lies in the heart of a pa...

hand sanitizer

(Encyclopedia)hand sanitizer or hand rub, substance used to clean and sanitize the hands, especially when soap is not available. Hand sanitizers, introduced commercially in the late 1980s, are available as liquids,...