animism Belief in the existence of spirits separable from bodies. Such beliefs are traditionally identified with small-scale (“primitive”) societies, though they also occur in major world religions. They were first compe¬ tently surveyed by Edward Burnett Tylor in Primitive Culture (1871). Clas¬ sic animism, according to Tylor, consists of attributing conscious life to natural objects or phenomena, a practice that eventually gave rise to the notion of a soul. See also shaman.
anion \ , a-,nl-9n\ Atom or group of atoms carrying a negative electric charge, indicated by a superscript minus sign after the chemical symbol. Anions in a liquid subjected to an electric field migrate toward the posi¬ tive electrode (anode). Examples include hydroxyl (—OH - ; see hydrox¬ ide), carbonate (—C0 3 2- ), and phosphate (—P0 4 3- ). See also ion; compare
CATION.
anise Annual herb ( Pimpinella anisum) of the parsley family, cultivated chiefly for its fruit, called aniseed, which tastes like licorice. Native to Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean region, anise is cultivated through¬ out the world. Aniseed is used as a flavouring and as a soothing herbal tea. Star anise is the dried fruit of the evergreen tree Illicium verum (mag¬ nolia family), native to southeastern China and Vietnam. Its flavour and uses are similar to those of anise.
Anjou \'an-jii\ Historical region, lower Loire valley, northwestern France. Organized in the Gallo-Roman period as the Civitas Andegavensis, it later became the countship, and from 1360 the duchy, of Anjou. Its capital was Angers. Under the Carolingian dynasty, it was nominally administered by a count representing the French king. The area came under the English king Henry II when he married Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1152, thus found¬ ing the Anglo-Angevin empire of the Plantagenet dynasty. The French recovered Anjou in 1259, and it was united with France in 1487. It ceased to exist as a department in 1790.
Anjou, House of See House of Plantagenet
Ankara Vaq-ko-roV formerly Angora City (pop., 1997: 2,984,099), capital of Turkey. Located about 125 mi (200 km) south of the Black Sea, it has been inhabited at least since the Stone Age. Conquered by Alex¬ ander the Great in 334 bc, it was incorporated into the Roman Empire by Augustus. As a city of the Byzantine Empire, Ankara fell to the Turks in 1073, but the Crusader Raymond IV of Toulouse drove them out in 1101. In 1403 it came under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. After World War I (1914-18) Mustafa Kemal AtatOrk made Ankara the centre of resistance to both the Ottomans and the invading Greeks, and it became the capital of the Republic of Turkey in 1923. The modern city is the country’s chief
industrial centre after Istanbul. Its history is displayed in its Roman,
Byzantine, and Ottoman architecture and ruins and in its important histori¬ cal museums.
ankh \'aqk\ Ancient Egyptian hieroglyph signifying life, consisting of a cross surmounted by a loop. In tomb inscriptions, gods and pha¬ raohs are often pictured holding the ankh, which forms part of the hiero¬ glyph for concepts such as health and happiness. It is used as a cross in the Coptic Orthodox Church.
Ankobra River River, southern Ghana. It rises northeast of Wiawso and flows about 130 mi (209 km) south to the Gulf of Guinea, just west of Axim. Its chief tributaries are the Mansi and Bonsa rivers; much of its basin is shared with the Tano River to the west.
Ann, Cape Cape northeast of Boston, Mass., U.S. Sheltering Ipswich Bay, it includes Annisquam Harbor on the north and Gloucester Harbor on the south. The rocky, picturesque promontory, named for Queen Anne (wife of James I), is noted for its old fishing villages and artists’ colonies. Gloucester and Rockport are its main towns.
Ann Arbor City (pop., 2000: 114,024), southeastern Michigan, U.S. Founded in 1824, it became an agricultural centre with the coming of the railroad in 1839. The University of Michigan, which moved there from Detroit in 1837, has played a major role in Ann Arbor’s growth. Private industrial research and the university’s institutes of science and technol¬ ogy make the city a major Midwest centre for space and nuclear research.
Anna (Ivanovna) (b. Jan. 28, 1693, Moscow, Russia—d. Oct. 17, 1740, St. Petersburg) Empress of Russia (1730^40). After the death of Peter II, the Supreme Privy Council, Russia’s actual ruling body, offered Anna the throne (as the daughter of Ivan V) if she agreed to conditions placing the real power in the council’s hands. She initially agreed but later tore up the conditions, abolished the council, and reestablished the autoc¬ racy, countenancing a severely repressive regime. She occupied herself primarily with extravagant amusements and relied on her lover, Ernst Johann Biron (1690-1772), and a group of German advisers to manage the state. Shortly before her death, Anna named as her successor her grand-nephew Ivan (later Ivan VI).
Anna Comnena \kam-'ne-n9\ (b. Dec. 2, 1083—d. c. 1153) Byzan¬ tine historian. Daughter of the emperor Alexius I Comnenus, she conspired with her mother against her brother John II Comnenus; when the plot was discovered, she was forced to enter a convent. There she wrote the Alex- iad, a biography of her father and a pro-Byzantine account of the early Crusades.
Annaba \a-'na-bs\ formerly Bone \'bon\ Seaport (pop., 2004 est.: 410,700), northeastern Algeria. Identified with the port of ancient Hippo (or Hippo Regius), it was a rich city of Roman Africa. It was home to St. Augustine 396-430. Severely damaged by the Vandals in 431, it passed to the Byzantine Empire in 533 before being overrun by the Arabs in the 7th century and named Bona. It was occupied by the French in 1832 when they conquered Algeria. Modern Annaba is Algeria’s chief exporter of minerals; it also serves as a trading port and port of call.
Annales \a-'nal\ school School of history. Established by Lucien Feb- vre (1878-1956) and Marc Bloch (1886-1944), its roots were in the jour¬ nal Annales: economies, societes, civilisations, Febvre’s reconstituted version of a journal he had earlier formed with Marc Bloch. Under Fernand Braudel’s direction the Annales school promoted a new form of history, replacing the study of leaders with the lives of ordinary people and replacing examination of politics, diplomacy, and wars with inquir¬ ies into climate, demography, agriculture, commerce, technology, trans¬ portation, and communication, as well as social groups and mentalities. While aiming at a “total history,” it also yielded dazzling microstudies of villages and regions. Its international influence on historiography has been enormous.
Annam \a-'nam\ Historic kingdom, central Vietnam. The area was con¬ quered c. 200 bc by the Chinese, who gave it its name (which has never
The Ataturk Mausoleum, Ankara, Tur¬ key.
ROBERT HARDING PICTURE LIBRARY
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Annan ► annuity I 77
been used by the indigenous inhabitants). It became independent in the 15th century ad, opening the way for steady Vietnamese movement toward the Mekong River delta. When Vietnam was united in 1802, the city of Hue became the capital, and the area was ruled by the emperor of Annam. Central Vietnam gradually came under French control in the 19th century; it became a protectorate in 1883-85, leaving the court at Hue with only nominal power. The area was partitioned between North and South Vietnam in 1954; Annam’s last emperor had abdicated in 1945 but served as Vietnam’s chief of state from 1949 until shortly after partition.