Kaya or Karak Yka-rak\ Japanese Mimana Tribal league formed sometime before the 3rd century ad in southern Korea and lasting until its subjugation to Silla in the 6th century. The people of Kaya are thought to have been closely related to the groups that crossed over from Korea to Japan a century or two earlier, and Kaya often enlisted Japan in its feuds with neighbouring Silla and Paekche. The Kaya people invented a unique 12-stringed zither, the kayagum.
kayak Vkl-.akV Type of canoe covered by a deck except for a cockpit in which the paddler sits. It has a pointed bow and stem and no keel; the paddler faces forward, grasping a double-bladed paddle and dipping the blades alternately on either side. Usually built for one occupant, it can be designed for two or three. Kayaks were traditionally used for fishing and hunting by Eskimos, who stretched seal or other animal skins over a drift¬ wood or whalebone frame and rubbed the skins with animal fat for water¬ proofing. The paddler wore an overlapping shield to allow the kayak to be righted without taking on water if it rolled over. Now often made of molded plastic or fiberglass, kayaks are widely used for recreation.
Kaye, Danny orig. David Daniel Kaminski (b. Jan. 18, 1913, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. March 3, 1987, Los Angeles, Calif.) U.S. actor
and comedian. He worked as a comic busboy in Catskills resorts from age 13 and later worked in vaudeville and nightclubs, developing his trademark pantomimes, rapid-fire nonsense songs, and physical antics. He was a suc¬ cess on Broadway in The Straw Hat Revue (1939) and Lady in the Dark (1940), in which he upstaged the legendary Gertrude Lawrence. His movie debut in Up in Arms (1944) was followed by starring roles in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947), The Inspector General (1949), Hans Christian Andersen (1952), and White Christmas (1954). He starred on television in The Danny Kaye Show (1963-67). Much of his comedy material was writ¬ ten by his wife, Sylvia Fine. Kaye was awarded an honorary Academy Award in 1955. He began his long association with UNICEF in 1953 and logged thousands of miles (frequently piloting his own plane) on behalf of the organization. He was awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1982 and the French Legion of Honour in 1986.
Kaysone Phomvihan \ka-'so-ne-'p6m-ve-han\ (b. Dec. 13, 1920, Na Seng, Laos—d. Nov. 21, 1992, Vientiane) Laotian revolutionary, prime minister (1975-91), and president (1991-92). Son of a Lao mother and a Vietnamese father, Kaysone met Ho Chi Minh while studying law in Hanoi and returned to Laos to become the leader of the Pathet Lao, an anti- French revolutionary movement. In 1975 the Pathet Lao overthrew Laos’s 600-year-old monarchy, and Kaysone became prime minister of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. He kept the country closely allied with Vietnam and isolated from Western influence until the end of the Cold War, when he first looked to France and Japan for financial aid. As presi¬ dent, he relaxed some government controls and released most political prisoners.
Kazakhstan or Kazakstan \k9-,zak-'stan\ officially Republic of Kazakhstan Country, Central Asia. Area: 1,052,090 sq mi (2,724,900 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 15,186,000. Capitaclass="underline" Astana. Kazakhs, a
Turkic-speaking people who are the region’s original inhabitants, make up more than half of the population; Russians con¬ stitute nearly one-third, as do small minori¬ ties of Ukrainians, Uzbeks, Germans, and others. Languages: Kazakh (official), Russian. Religions: Islam (mostly Sunni), Christianity. Currency: tenge. From the steppe and desert lands of western and central Kazakhstan, the terrain rises to high mountains in the southeast along the border with Kyrgyzstan and China. Its highest point is Mount Khan-Tengri, 22,949 ft (6,995 m) high. The country is inten¬ sively developed agriculturally, but much of the land area is used for pas¬ ture, with sheep and goats as the main livestock. Manufacturing includes cast iron and rolled steel; mining and oil drilling are also important. Kazakhstan is a republic with a parliament consisting of two chambers; its head of state and government is the president, assisted by the prime
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
1022 I Kazan ► Keats
minister. The area came under Mongol rule in the 13th century. The Ka¬ zakhs consolidated a nomadic empire in the 15th—16th century. Under Russian rule by the mid-19th century, it became part of the Kirgiz Autono¬ mous Republic formed by the Soviets in 1920, and in 1925 its name was changed to the Kazakh Autonomous S.S.R. Kazakhstan obtained its inde¬ pendence from the Soviet Union in 1991. After several years of economic troubles, it began a period of sustained growth.
Kazan \ko-'zan y \ City (pop., 2001 est.: 1,090,200), capital of the Tatar¬ stan republic, western Russia. Located at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka rivers, it was founded in the 13th century by Mongols of the Golden Horde; it became the capital of an independent khanate in the 15th century. In 1552 Ivan IV (the Terrible) captured Kazan and subjugated the khanate. The city was burned in a revolt (1773-74), but after its reconstruc¬ tion it grew in importance as a trading centre, and by the beginning of the 20th century it was one of the chief manufacturing cities of Russia.
Kazan \k9-'zan\, Elia orig. Elia Kazanjoglous (b. Sept. 7, 1909, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire—d. Sept. 28, 2003, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. stage and film director. At age four he immigrated to the U.S. with his family. An actor with the Group Theatre (1932-39), he became a noted Broadway director with plays such as The Skin of Our Teeth (1942), A Streetcar Named Desire (1947; film, 1951), Death of a Salesman (1949, Tony Award), J.B. (1958, Tony Award), and Sweet Bird of Youth (1959). In 1947 he cofounded the Actors Studio. He was praised for his natural¬ istic style in movies such as A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), Gentle¬ man’s Agreement (1947, Academy Award), On the Waterfront (1954, Academy Award), and East of Eden (1955). Though bitterly attacked for his cooperation with the House Un-American Activities Committee in the early 1950s, in which he turned over names of suspected communists, he received an honorary Academy Award for lifetime achievement in 1999.
Kazan River \ko-'zan\ River, central Canada. Rising in Nunavut, it flows through several lakes to empty into Baker Lake after a course of 455 mi (732 km). It is one of the main streams of the Barren Grounds, an area northwest of Hudson Bay that has treeless plains marked by many swamps and lakes.
Kazantzakis \ka-zant-'za-kes\, Nikos (b. Dec. 2, 1885, Iraklion, Crete, Ottoman Empire—d. Oct. 26, 1957, Freiburg im Breisgau, W.Ger.) Greek writer. Educated in law and philosophy, he traveled widely and finally settled on the island of Aegina before World War II. He is best known for his widely translated novels, including Zorba the Greek (1946; film, 1964), The Greek Passion (1954), and The Last Temptation of Christ (1955; film, 1988). His works also include essays, travel books, tragedies, and translations of classics such as Dante’s Divine Comedy and Goethe’s Faust.
Kazembe \ka-'zem-be\ Largest and most organized kingdom of the Lunda empire (see Luba-Lunda states) in central Africa. At the height of its power (c. 1800), Kazembe occupied the territory now included in the Shaba region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in northern Zambia. Created c. 1740 by explorers from western Lunda, it grew more powerful by annexing neighbouring states and became an important cen¬ tre of trade between the African interior and the Portuguese and Arabs on the eastern coast. Civil war erupted in 1850, and the kingdom was destroyed c. 1890.