Roister Doister (performed c. 1553), the first known English comedy. About a braggart soldier-hero who is finally shown to be an arrant cow¬ ard, it marks the emergence of comedy from the medieval morality plays, interludes, and farces.
Ufa \ii-'fa\ City (pop., 2001 est.: 1,088,800), western Russia. Lying at the confluence of the Belaya and Ufa rivers, it was founded as a fortress in 1574 to protect the trade route across the Ural Mountains from Kazan to Tyumen. It became a town in 1586. It developed as an industrial centre from the late 19th century and especially after World War II. Chief indus¬ tries include electrical equipment, lumber and veneer, and oil refining.
Uffizi \ii-'fet-se\ Gallery Art museum in Florence, housing the world’s
_ finest collection of Italian Renaissance painting.
The core collection derives from the Medici family of Tuscany. In 1559 Cosimo I hired Giorgio Vasari to design the Uffizi Palace (1560-80), originally for use as government offices (uffizi). In 1565 Vasari built the corridor over the Ponte Vecchio connecting the Uffizi with the Pitti Palace. In 1737 Maria Ludovica, last of the Medici, bequeathed the family collections to Tus¬ cany; the collection was given museum status and opened to the public in 1769. The building was restored and enlarged after bomb damage in World War II and flooding in 1966. In addition to Florentine paintings, the Uffizi houses outstanding works of other Italian and non-Italian schools, antique sculpture, a gallery of self- portraits, and 100,000 prints and drawings.
UFO See UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECT
Uganda Xyii-'gan-do, yii-'gan-doV officially Republic of Uganda Country, eastern Africa. Area: 93,065 sq mi (241,038 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 27,269,000. Capitaclass="underline" Kampala. Uganda is home to dozens of African ethnic groups, as well as a small Asian community. Languages: English (official), Swahili. Religions: Christianity (mostly Roman Catholic; also Protestant); also Islam, traditional beliefs. Currency: Uganda shilling. A landlocked country on the Equator, Uganda is largely situated on a plateau, with volcanic mountains edging its eastern and west¬
ern borders; Margherita Peak, at 16,795 ft (5,119 m), is the highest mountain. Part of Lake Victoria occupies virtually all of south¬ eastern Uganda; other major lakes are Lakes Albert, Kyoga, Edward, George, and Bisina.
The Nile River traverses the country. Huge tracts of land are devoted to national parks and game reserves. The economy is based largely on agri¬ culture and food processing. Livestock raising and fishing are also impor-
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Ugarit ► Ukrainian I 1959
tant, and there is some manufacturing and mining. Uganda is a republic with one legislative house; its head of state and government is the presi¬ dent. By the 19th century the region was divided into several separate local kingdoms inhabited by various Bantu- and Nilotic-speaking peoples. Arab traders reached the area in the 1840s. The kingdom of Buganda was visited by the first European explorers in 1862. Protestant and Catholic mission¬ aries arrived in the 1870s, and the development of religious factions led to persecution and civil strife. In 1894 Buganda was formally proclaimed a British protectorate. As Uganda, it gained independence in 1962, and in 1967 it adopted a republican constitution. The civilian government was overthrown in 1971 and replaced by a military regime under Idi Amin. His invasion of Tanzania in 1978 resulted in the collapse of his regime. The civilian government was again deposed by the military in 1985, but the military government was in turn overthrown in 1986. A constituent assem¬ bly enacted a new constitution in 1995.
Ugarit \yu-'gar-it, 'yu-g3-rit\ modern Ra’s Shamrah Ancient city. Middle East. It was located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea in modern Syria. The earliest settlement was a small fortified town in the 7th millennium bc. It flourished in the 15th-12th centuries bc, when great royal palaces, temples, shrines, and libraries were built there. It was destroyed c. 1200 bc. Remains at the site include ancient records in cunei¬ form WRITING.
Ui Neill \ii-'nel\ Major dynasty of medieval Ireland, which long domi¬ nated Ulster. It was founded by a shadowy figure known as Niall of the Nine Hostages (r. 379-405). Divided into northern and southern branches, the Ui Neill ruled as high kings, to whom all other Irish kings owed def¬ erence. In the early 11th century the king of Munster, Brian Boru, chal¬ lenged the high kings of the Ui Neill dynasty and ended their dominance.
Uighur or Uygur \'we-,gur\ A Turkic-speaking people of Central Asia who live largely in northwestern China. About 8,000,000 Uighurs live in China today, and some 300,000 in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyr¬ gyzstan. They are among the oldest Turkic-speaking peoples of Central Asia, first mentioned in Chinese records from the 3rd century ad. In the 8th century they established a kingdom, which was overrun in 840. A Uighur confederacy (745-1209), established around the Tien Shan, was overthrown by the Mongols. This confederacy came to the aid of China’s Tang dynasty during the An Lushan Rebellion. The Uighurs of that time pro¬ fessed a Manichaean faith.
Uinta \yu-'in-ta\ Mountains Mountain range, south-central Rocky Mountains, U.S. They extend east more than 100 mi (160 km) from the Wasatch Mountains across northeastern Utah and slightly into southwest¬ ern Wyoming. Many of the range’s summits exceed 13,000 ft (4,000 m), including Kings Peak (13,528 ft [4,123 m]), the highest point in Utah.
Ujung Pan dang Vu-juq-'pan-.daqV/orraer/y Macassar \m3-'ka-s3r\ City (pop., 1995 est.: 1,060,257), Celebes (Sulawesi), Indonesia. Already a thriving port when the Portuguese arrived in the 16th century, it came under control of the Dutch, who built a trading station there in 1607 and finally deposed the sultan in 1667. It was made a free port in 1848 and the capital of the Dutch-sponsored state of Indonesia Timur (East Indo¬ nesia) in 1946. In 1949 it became part of the Republic of Indonesia. It is the home of Hasanuddin University (founded 1956).
ukiyo-e \u-,ke-6-'a\ Japanese "pictures of the floating world"
Dominant art movement of the Edo culture in Japan. Screen paintings were the first works to be done in the style, which depicted aspects of the enter¬ tainment quarters (“floating world”) of Edo (modem Tokyo) and other cities. Ukiyo-e artists switched their focus to wood-block prints, which were mass-produced for an eager public. Favourite ukiyo-e subjects included famous courtesans and prostitutes, kabuki actors in famous roles, and erotica; they were executed in flat, decorative colours and expressive patterns. Hishikawa Moronobu is generally accredited as the first master of ukiyo-e. The transition from single- to two-colour prints was made by Okumura Masanobu; in 1765 polychrome prints using numerous blocks were introduced by Suzuki Harunobu. The essence of the ukiyo-e style was embodied in the works of Utamaro, Hokusai, and Hiroshige. The prints attracted much attention in Europe in the 19th century and had a great influence on avant-garde French artists such as the Impressionists and Post- Impressionists.
Ukraine \yu-'kran\ Country, eastern Europe. Area: 233,062 sq mi (603,628 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 47,075,000. Capitaclass="underline" Kiev. Ukrai¬ nians make up more than three-fourths of the population; there is a sig¬
nificant minority of Russians. Languages: Ukrainian (official), Russian, Romanian, Polish, Hungarian. Religions: Christianity (mostly Eastern Orthodox; also other Christians, Roman Catholic, Protestant), Islam. Currency: hryvnya. Ukraine consists of level plains and the Car¬ pathian Mountains, which extend through the western region for more than 150 mi (240 km). The Bug (Western Bug), Dnieper (Dnipro), Donets, and Dniester (Dnistro) are the major rivers. The Donets Basin in the east-central region is one of the major heavy-industrial and mining-metallurgical com¬ plexes of Europe. There iron ore and coal are mined, and natural gas, petroleum, iron, and steel are produced. Ukraine is a major producer of winter wheat and sugar beets. It is a republic with one legislative body; its head of state is the president, and the head of government is the prime minister. Different parts of the area were invaded and occupied in the 1st millennium bc by the Cimmerians, Scythians, and Sarmatians and in the 1st millennium ad by the Goths, Huns, Bulgars, Avars, Khazars, and Magyars. Slavic tribes settled there after the 4th century. Kiev was the chief town. The Mongol conquest in the mid-13th century decisively ended Kievan power. Ruled by Lithuania in the 14th century and Poland in the 16th, the area fell to Russian rule in the 18th century. After the Russian Revolution of February 1917, Ukrainian and Bolshevik forces struggled for control of Ukraine until 1921, when the Bolsheviks pre¬ vailed. In 1924 the Ukrainian S.S.R. became a republic of the Soviet Union. The northwestern region of present-day Ukraine, however, was held by Poland (1919-39). Ukraine suffered a severe famine in 1932-33 under Soviet leader Joseph Stalin; more than five million Ukrainians died of starvation in an unprecedented peacetime catastrophe. Overrun by Axis armies in 1941 during World War II, it was further devastated before being retaken by the Soviets in 1944. In 1986 it was the site of the Chernobyl accident at a Soviet-built nuclear power plant. Ukraine declared indepen¬ dence in 1991. The turmoil it experienced in the 1990s as it attempted to implement economic and political reforms culminated in the disputed presidential election of 2004; invalidated by the Supreme Court after mass protests, it ultimately led to a new runoff election that brought opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko into office.