Kolyma V.ka-li-'maV River River, northeastern Siberia, eastern Russia. Rising in the Kolyma Mountains and emptying in the East Siberian Sea, it is 1,323 mi (2,129 km) long. It is navigable upstream to Verkhne- Kolymsk but is ice-free only from June to September. Under Joseph Sta¬ lin the goldfields of the upper Kolyma River valley held labour camps where more than one million prisoners died (1932-54).
Komarov \k9-m3-'r6f\, Vladimir (Mikhaylovich) (b. March 16, 1927, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R.—d. April 24, 1967, Kazakstan) Soviet cosmonaut. He joined the Soviet air force at age 15, became a pilot in 1949, and piloted Voskhod 1, the first craft to carry more than one human into space, in 1964. On his 1967 flight in Soyuz 1 he became the first Russian to have made two spaceflights. During the 18th orbit he attempted a landing; he died when the spacecraft reportedly became entangled in its main parachute at an altitude of several miles and fell back to Earth.
Komodo \k3-'mo-do\ dragon Largest living lizard ( Varanus komo- doensis ), a member of the monitor lizard family Varanidae. They live on Komodo Island and a few neighbouring islands in Indonesia. Driven almost to extinction, they are now protected. Komodos grow to 10 ft (3 m) long, weigh up to 300 lb (135 kg), and may live up to 100 years. They
Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis).
JAMES A. KERN
Self-Portrait with Hand on Forehead, etching by Kathe Kollwitz, 1910; in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
B-7792 "SELF-PORTRAIT WITH HAND ON FOREHEAD," KATHE KOLLWITZ, NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON, D.C., ROSENWALD COLLECTION
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
1048 I Komsomol ► KoraVs
dig a burrow as deep as 30 ft (9 m). Carrion is their main diet, but adults may eat smaller Komodos. They can run swiftly and occasionally attack and kill humans.
Komsomol Vkam-so-.maL Organization in the former Soviet Union for young people aged 14-28 years. Primarily a political organ for spreading Communist teachings and preparing future members of the Communist Party, it was organized in 1918. Members participated in health, sports, education, and publishing activities and various industrial projects. They were frequently favoured over nonmembers for employment, scholar¬ ships, and the like. Its membership reached its height, about 40 million, in the 1970s and early 1980s. It disbanded with the collapse of Soviet communism in the early 1990s.
Konbaung dynasty See Alaungpaya dynasty
Kondratev Vkon-'drat-yoA, Nikolay (Dmitriyevich) also spelled Kondratieff (b. March 4, 1892—d. 1938?) Russian economist and stat¬ istician. In the 1920s he helped develop the first Soviet Five-Year Plan, for which he analyzed factors that would stimulate Soviet economic growth. After criticizing Joseph Stalin’s plan for the total collectivization of agri¬ culture, he was dismissed from his post as director of the Institute for the Study of Business Activity in 1928. He was arrested in 1930 and sen¬ tenced to prison; his sentence was reviewed in 1938, and he received the death penalty, which was likely carried out the same year. He is noted for his theory of 50-year business cycles known as Kondratev’s waves. See also Gosplan.
Konev Vko-nyoA, Ivan (Stepanovich) (b. Dec. 28, 1897, Lodeino, near Veliky Ustyug, Russia—d. May 21, 1973, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R.) Soviet general in World War II. When the Germans invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, Konev led the first counterattack of the war. He defeated Heinz Guderian’s advance on Moscow and halted large German forces in 1942 and 1943. In 1944 his army was the first to march onto German soil; with the forces of Georgy K. Zhukov, it captured Berlin. After the war he served as commander in chief of Soviet ground forces (1946-50) and later of Warsaw Pact forces (1955-60).
Kong River River, Laos and Cambodia. Rising in central Vietnam southwest of Hue, it flows southwest for 300 mi (480 km), passing through southern Laos. It enters Cambodia east of the Mekong River and contin¬ ues southwest across the northern Cambodian plateau to later join the Mekong.
Kongo or Bakongo Bantu-speaking peoples living along the Atlan¬ tic coast in Congo (Kinshasa), Congo (Brazzaville), and Angola. They engage in subsistence agriculture and raise cash crops (including coffee, cacao, and bananas); many live and work in towns. Descent is matrilin- eal, and most villages are independent of their neighbours. A Kongo king¬ dom existed from the 14th century; its wealth came from trade in ivory, hides, slaves, and a shell currency. It broke up into warring chiefdoms in
Koniggratz Vkce-nik-.gretsV Battle of or Battle of Sadowa
Ysa-do-,va\ (July 3, 1866) Decisive battle in the Seven Weeks' War between Prussia and Austria, fought at Sadowa, near Koniggratz, Bohe¬ mia (now Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic). The Austrians, equipped with muzzle-loading rifles and relying heavily on the bayonet charge, were led by Ludwig von Benedek (1804-1881). The Prussians, led by Helmuth von Moltke, were armed with breech-loading needle guns; they used railroad transport to move their troops, a first in European warfare. The Prussian victory led to Austria’s exclusion from a Prussian-dominated Germany.
Konigsberg See Kaliningrad
Konkoure V.koq-kii-'raX River River, west-central Guinea, West Africa. Flowing west for 188 mi (303 km) to empty into the Atlantic Ocean, it is a source of hydroelectric power. Once a major hindrance to transporta¬ tion between Conakry and the towns of Boffa and Boke, it is now bridged at Ouassou.
Konoe Fumimaro Xko-'no-a-.fu-me-'ma-roV (b. Oct. 12, 1891, Tokyo, Japan—d. Dec. 16, 1945, Tokyo) Political leader and prime minister of Japan (1937-39, 1940^-1), who tried unsuccessfully to restrict the power of the military and to keep Japan’s war with China from widening into a world conflict. In 1941 he signed a nonaggression pact with the Soviet Union and participated in U.S.-mediated negotiations to try to resolve the conflict with China. Later that year he resigned over differences with Tojo Hideki. During the war he was forced to leave the centre of politics; after¬
ward he was a deputy minister in the Higashikuni cabinet. He committed suicide after being served an arrest warrant on suspicion of being a war criminal.
Konya \'kon-ya\ ancient Iconium City (pop., 1997: 623,333), central Turkey. First settled in the 3rd millennium bc, it is one of the oldest urban centres in the world. Influenced by Greek culture from the 3rd century bc, Iconium came under Roman rule by 25 bc. It was taken by the Seljuq dynasty c. 1072. Renamed Konya, it was a major cultural centre in the 13th century and was home to the Sufi brotherhood known as “whirling DERViSHes.” Later ruled by the Mongols, it was annexed to the Ottoman Empire c. 1467. It declined during Ottoman rule but revived after the Istanbul-Baghdad railway opened in 1896. An important industrial cen¬ tre, it is also a trade centre for the agricultural area surrounding it.
kookaburra or laughing jackass Eastern Australian species (Dacelo gigas) of forest kingfisher (subfamily Daceloninae). Its call, which sounds like fiendish laughter, can be heard very early in the morn¬ ing and just after sunset. A gray- brown, woodland-dwelling bird, it reaches a length of 17 in. (43 cm), with a 3.2-4-in. (8-10-cm) beak. In its native habitat it eats invertebrates and small vertebrates, including ven¬ omous snakes. In western Australia and New Zealand, where it has been introduced, it has been known to attack chickens and ducklings.
Koolhaas \'k6l-,has\, Rem (b.