X'yiin-yanX
i
tip, banish
y
indicates that during the articula-
l
site, buy
tion of the sound represented by
j
gem, judge
the preceding character the front
k
kin, cook, ache
of the tongue has substantially the position it has when pronouncing
k
German ich, Buch
y, as in French digne XdenA
1
lily, pool
z
zone, raise
m
murmur, dim
zh
vision, azure X'a-zhorX
n
no, own
1
precedes a syllable with primary
n
indicates that a preceding vowel or diphthong is pronounced with
(strongest) stress: X'pen-man- ,ship\
the nasal passages open, as in
l
precedes a syllable with secondary
French un bon vin blnnc
(medium) stress: X'pen-mon-
\oe n -bo n -va n -bla n \
.shipX
q
singX'siqX, singerX'siq-arX,
marks syllable division
fingerX'fiq-garX, inkX'iqkX
()
indicate that what is enclosed is
o
bone, know, beau
pronounced by some but not by others -.factory \'fak-t(a-)re\
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Guide to Plates
XI
Flags of the World
Plates
1-9
World Political Map
Plates
10-11
World Religions Map
Plate
12
World Population Density Map
Plate
13
World Indigenous Skin Color Map
Plate
13
World Heritage sites
Plates
14-15
International Time Zones
Plate
16
Map Legend
Map Legend
Cities and towns
Sao Paulo #
MeXiCoCit V® National capital
Albuquerque^
Lausanne B
Second level political capital
Other administrative centre
Boundaries
Other Features
— International
SERENGETI
■ ■ ■ Canal
Disputed
national park Natio nal park
Mount Everest
——— Aqueduct
Line of control
29,035 ft. A Mountain peak
Dam
Second level political
~ River
Falls
Third level political
Intermittent river
Rapids
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
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© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
A Coruna ► Abbado I 1
A Coruna \,a-k6-'ru-nya\ Spanish La Coruna City (pop., 2003 est.: 243,902), northwestern Spain. A seaport on the Atlantic Ocean, it is believed to antedate Roman times. A point of departure for the Spanish Armada in 1588, it was sacked by Sir Francis Drake in 1589. In the Pen¬ insular War, it was the site of a notable victory by the English over the French. It is now a large fishing centre and one of northern Spain’s most important shipping ports.
A&P See Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co.
a posteriori See a priori
a priori \,a-pre-'or-e, .a-pri-'or-lX In epistemology, knowledge that is inde¬ pendent of all particular experiences, as opposed to a posteriori (or empirical) knowledge, which derives from experience. The terms have their origins in the medieval Scholastic debate over Aristotelian con¬ cepts (see Scholasticism). Immanuel Kant initiated their current usage, pairing the analytic-synthetic distinction with the a priori-a posteriori distinction to define his theory of knowledge.
Aachen Va-kon\ French Aix-la-Chapelle \,eks-la-sha-'pel\
City (pop., 1995 est.: 247,000), western Germany, southwest of Cologne. It was inhabited by Romans in the 1st century ad. A center of Carolingian culture, and the second city of Charle¬ magne’s empire, it was the site of his great palace. The cathe¬ dral built by Charlemagne c. 800 saw the coronation of most German kings of the 10th-16th century; his chapel, with his tomb, remains as part of the larger Gothic cathedral today. Aachen was part of France 1801-15. It is famous for its many spas.
Aaiun, El See Laayoune
Aalto \'al-to\, (Hugo) Alvar (Henrik) (b. Feb.
3, 1898, Kuortane, Fin., Russian Empire—d. May 11, 1976, Helsinki) Finnish architect and designer. He graduated from the Technical Institute of Helsinki and in 1925 married Aino Marsio, who served as his collabo¬ rator. His reputation rests on a distinctive style that blends classic Mod¬ ernism, indigenous materials (especially timber), and personal expression. His unique blending of Modernism and informal regional character was perhaps best expressed in his civic centre in Saynatsalo (1950-52), with its simple forms in red brick, wood, and copper. He remains one of the Modern movement’s most popular architects; reproductions of his bent laminated wood furniture appear in households worldwide.
aardvark or African ant bear Heavily built mammal ( Orycteropus afer) of sub-Saharan forests and plains. Its stout, piglike body (“aard¬ vark” is Afrikaans for “earth pig”) may be as long as 6 ft (1.8 m), including a 2-ft (60-cm) tail. It has a long snout, rabbitlike ears, short legs, and long toes with large, flat¬ tened claws. It feeds at night by rip¬ ping open ant and termite nests and lapping up the insects with a long (1-ft, or 30-cm), sticky tongue.
Though not aggressive, it uses claws to fight off attackers. Its classifica¬ tion with regard to other mammals is uncertain.
Aare River \'ar-o\ or Aar River River, central and northern Switzer¬ land. The longest river entirely within Switzerland, it flows northwest from the Bernese Alps and passes through the Gorge of the Aare and by the city of Bern before flowing northeast to enter the Rhine at Koblenz, after a course of 183 mi (294 km).
Aarhus See Arhus
Aaron (fl. 14th century bc) Brother of Moses and traditional founder and head of the priesthood of ancient Israel. According to the Bible, he was the spokesman for Moses and played a central role in forcing the pharaoh to allow the Israelites to leave Egypt. God charged Aaron and Moses with commemorating the event at Passover, and Aaron and his sons were given priestly authority by Moses. Though Aaron is a pivotal figure in Exodus, he nearly fades from view thereafter. He is mentioned as the one respon¬ sible for the Israelites’ idolatrous worship of the golden calf while Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the Law from God. His death at age 123 is noted in Numbers.
Aaron, Hank byname of Henry Louis Aaron (b. Feb. 5, 1934, Mobile, Ala., U.S.) U.S. baseball player, one of the greatest in profes¬ sional baseball. After playing briefly in the Negro leagues and then in the minor leagues, Aaron was moved up to the majors as an outfielder with the Milwaukee Braves in 1954. By the time the Braves moved to Atlanta, Ga., in 1965, Aaron had hit 398 home runs; in 1974 he hit his 715th, breaking Babe Ruth’s record.
He played his final two seasons (1975-76) with the Milwaukee Brewers. Aaron’s records for career home runs (755), extra¬ base hits (1,477), and runs bat¬ ted in (2,297) remain unbroken, and only Ty Cobb and Pete Rose exceed him in career hits (3,771). Aaron is renowned as one of the greatest hitters of all time.
AARP formerly American Association of Retired Persons Nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that addresses the needs and interests of Americans aged 50 and older. It was founded in 1958 by a retired teacher, Ethel Andrus, and merged in 1982 with the National Retired Teachers Association, also founded by Andrus (1947). Its bimonthly maga¬ zine, Modern Maturity , has the largest circulation of any U.S. periodical. Its membership exceeds 35 million. Its members’ reliably high turnout at the polls has made it one of the most powerful lobbying groups in the country.
abacus Calculating instrument that uses beads that slide along a series of wires or rods set in a frame to represent the decimal places. Probably of Babylonian origin, it is the ancestor of the modern digital calculator. Used by merchants in the Middle Ages throughout Europe and the Ara¬ bic world, it was gradually replaced by arithmetic based on Hindu-Arabic numerals. Though rarely used in Europe past the 18th century, it is still used in the Middle East, China, and Japan.