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https://www.britannica.com/place/Aksai-Chin
Aksai Chin
Aksai Chin Aksai Chin, Chinese (Pinyin) Aksayqin, portion of the Kashmir region, at the northernmost extent of the Indian subcontinent in south-central Asia. It constitutes nearly all the territory of the Chinese-administered sector of Kashmir that is claimed by India to be part of the Ladakh area of Jammu and Kashmir...
9a25997113248d532299bb3d1d56b313
https://www.britannica.com/place/Akureyri
Akureyri
Akureyri Akureyri, town, northern Iceland. It lies at the southern end of Eyja Fjord. Akureyri is the chief centre of the north and is one of the island’s most populous urban centres outside the Reykjavík metropolitan area. While primarily a commercial and distributing centre, Akureyri is also a fishing port, agricult...
c111648689475c096976ccab08b701a1
https://www.britannica.com/place/Akwa-Ibom
Akwa Ibom
Akwa Ibom Akwa Ibom, state, southeastern Nigeria. Its area formed part of Cross River state until 1987, when Akwa Ibom state was created. Akwa Ibom is bounded by Cross River state on the east, by the Bight of Biafra of the Atlantic Ocean on the south, by Rivers state on the west, by Abia state on the west and north, a...
d04a5e90ea281c770b4341e5458faed9
https://www.britannica.com/place/Al-Amiriyyah-district-Egypt
Al-ʿĀmiriyyah
Al-ʿĀmiriyyah Al-ʿĀmiriyyah, formerly Maryūṭ, industrial district of Al-Iskandariyyah (Alexandria) muḥāfaẓah (governorate), northern Egypt. The centre of the 913-square-mile (2,365-square-km) district, which adjoins Lake Maryūṭ (Mareotis) on the southwest, is Al-ʿĀmiriyyah town. This town was originally a small gypsum...
e1b8e0d31e70dfd143bb9b7ff52c00dd
https://www.britannica.com/place/Al-Aqmar-Mosque
Al-Aqmar Mosque
Al-Aqmar Mosque The mosques of Al-Aqmar (1125) and of Al-Ṣāliḥ (c. 1160) are among the first examples of monumental small mosques constructed to serve local needs. Even though their internal arrangement is quite traditional, their plans were adapted to the space available in the urban centre. These mosques were elabora...
73565acf29232dea07e94a3f5a1820ef
https://www.britannica.com/place/Al-Arish
Al-ʿArīsh
Al-ʿArīsh Al-ʿArīsh, also spelled El-Arish, town and largest settlement of the Sinai Peninsula in the northeastern section, on the Mediterranean coast, the capital of Egypt’s Shamāl Sīnāʾ (Northern Sinai) muḥāfaẓah (governorate). It was under Israeli military administration from 1967 until 1979, when it returned to Eg...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Al-Bahr-al-Ahmar
Al-Baḥr al-Aḥmar
Al-Baḥr al-Aḥmar Al-Baḥr al-Aḥmar, muḥāfaẓah (governorate) of Egypt, comprising much of the Eastern Desert (also called Arabian Desert) east of the Nile River valley to the Red Sea; its name means “red sea.” It extends from approximately 29° N latitude southward to the frontier of Sudan. On the west it is bounded from...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Al-Biqa
Al-Biqāʿ
Al-Biqāʿ Al-Biqāʿ, also spelled Bekaa or Beqaa, classical Coele Syria, broad valley of central Lebanon, extending in a northeast-southwest direction for 75 miles (120 km) along the Līṭānī and Orontes rivers, between the Lebanon Mountains to the west and Anti-Lebanon Mountains to the east. The valley contains nearly ha...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Al-Fayyum-governorate-Egypt
Al-Fayyūm
Al-Fayyūm Al-Fayyūm, Fayyūm also spelled Faiyum or Fayum, muḥāfaẓah (governorate) of Upper Egypt, located in a great depression of the Western Desert southwest of Cairo. Extending about 50 miles (80 km) east–west and about 35 miles (56 km) north–south, the whole Fayyūm—including Wadi Al-Ruwayān, a smaller, arid depres...
9d2b244c362e9d35c76c40a43bc2c2f6
https://www.britannica.com/place/Al-Gharbiyyah
Al-Gharbiyyah
Al-Gharbiyyah Al-Gharbiyyah, muḥāfaẓah (governorate) in the middle Nile River delta, Lower Egypt. It is bounded to the east and west by the Damietta and the Rosetta branches of the Nile, to the north by Kafr al-Shaykh governorate, and by Al-Minūfiyyah governorate to the south. The governorate’s capital has been at the...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Al-Ghardaqah
Al-Ghardaqah
Al-Ghardaqah Al-Ghardaqah, capital of Al-Baḥr al-Aḥmar muḥāfaẓah (governorate), Egypt. The town is a small Red Sea port, but its main industry is oil exploration and production. It is the site of a large oil field and serves as the administrative and support centre for the Red Sea and Gulf of Suez oil fields. A marine...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/al-Ghutah
Al-Ghūṭah
Al-Ghūṭah This tract, al-Ghūṭah, has supported a substantial population for thousands of years. Damascus itself grew on a terrace 2,250 feet (690 metres) above sea level, south of Mount Qāsiyūn and overlooking the Baradā River. The original settlement appears to have been situated in the eastern part of… …over time, ha...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Al-Hajar
Al-Ḥajar
Al-Ḥajar Al-Ḥajar, mountain chain in northern Oman. With its steeper slopes to seaward, it parallels the coast of the Gulf of Oman and stretches in an arc southeastward from the Musandam Peninsula almost to Raʾs (cape) Al-Ḥadd on the extreme northeastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. From northwest to southeast the Al...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Al-Hakim-Mosque
Al-Ḥākim Mosque
Al-Ḥākim Mosque Al-Ḥākim (c. 1002–03)—were designed in the traditional hypostyle plan with axial cupolas. It is only in such architectural details as the elaborately composed facade of Al-Ḥākim, with its corner towers and vaulted portal, that innovations appear, for most earlier mosques did not have large formal…
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Al-Hallaniyah
Al-Ḥallānīyah
Al-Ḥallānīyah …they are Al-Ḥāsikīyah, Al-Sawdāʾ, Al-Ḥallānīyah, Qarzawīt, and Al-Qiblīyah. Al-Ḥallānīyah, the largest of the islands, is the only one inhabited. All of the islands’ inhabitants left in 1818 because of pirate raids; later the islands fell under the control of Arabs on the mainland and then of the sultan ...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Al-Hammamat
Al-Hammāmāt
Al-Hammāmāt Al-Hammāmāt, also spelled Hammamet, fishing port and beach resort in northeastern Tunisia, situated on the Gulf of Hammamet. Al-Hammāmāt (Arabic: “bathing places”) is located on the southeast coast of the Sharīk (Cape Bon) Peninsula, on the border of Al-Sāḥil (Sahel) region, and between the Roman sites of ...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Al-Iskandariyyah
Al-Iskandariyyah
Al-Iskandariyyah Al-Iskandariyyah, muḥāfaẓah (governorate), Lower Egypt. The muḥāfaẓah is densely settled in the north in and around its capital, Alexandria (Al-Iskandariyyah); it includes a desert hinterland extending south more than 50 miles (80 km) into the Western Desert. Alexandria, in the northeastern panhandle ...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Al-Minufiyyah
Al-Minūfiyyah
Al-Minūfiyyah Al-Minūfiyyah, also spelled Munufia, muḥāfaẓah (governorate) of Lower Egypt in the western part of the apex of the Nile River delta, between the Damietta (east) and Rosetta (west) branches of the Nile. It includes some of the most productive land of the delta, supporting a dense rural population. Agricul...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Al-Minya-governorate-Egypt
Al-Minyā
Al-Minyā Al-Minyā, muḥāfaẓah (governorate) in Upper Egypt, between Banī Suwayf governorate to the north and Asyūṭ governorate to the south. It occupies the floodplain of the Nile River and extends for about 75 miles (120 km) along the river but also includes a section of the Western Desert, extending out toward the oa...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Al-Sharqiyyah-governorate-Egypt
Al-Sharqiyyah
Al-Sharqiyyah Al-Sharqiyyah, also spelled Sharkia, muḥāfaẓah (governorate) of the eastern Nile River delta, Lower Egypt, touching the Mediterranean Sea just west of Suez. In the northeast it includes a part of the large Lake Manzala, a brackish coastal lagoon. Its chief port is Al-Manzilah, at the head of a branch rai...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Alameda-California
Alameda
Alameda Alameda, city, Alameda county, California, U.S. It lies on a 6.5-mile- (11-km-) long by 1-mile- (1.6-km-) wide island in San Francisco Bay, across the Oakland Harbor Channel from Oakland, with which it is connected by bridges and underground tunnels. The site was originally a peninsula that was part of Rancho ...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Alamogordo
Alamogordo
Alamogordo Alamogordo, city, seat (1899) of Otero county, southern New Mexico, U.S. It lies at the western base of the Sacramento Mountains and east of the Tularosa Basin. Founded by John A. and Charles B. Eddy in 1898 and named for its large cottonwood trees (Spanish: alamo “cottonwood,” gordo “fat”), it became a div...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Alamosa
Alamosa
Alamosa Alamosa, city, seat (1913) of Alamosa county, southern Colorado, U.S. It lies along the Rio Grande in the San Luis Valley, on the western flank of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Founded as Garland City near the site of a small encampment outside the gates of Fort Garland (1858), a cavalry post once commanded ...
5151c5f95ce60d3229edfb1928b23052
https://www.britannica.com/place/Alapayevsk
Alapayevsk
Alapayevsk Alapayevsk, also spelled Alapaevsk, city, Sverdlovsk oblast (province), west-central Russia, on the Neyva River. It is one of the oldest centres of the iron and steel industry in the Urals (an ironworks was established there in 1704). It also has machine-tool, timbering, and metalworking industries. Pop. (2...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Alasehir
Alaşehir
Alaşehir Alaşehir, town, western Turkey. It lies in the Kuzu River valley, at the foot of the Boz Mountain. Founded about 150 bce by a king of Pergamum, it became an important town of the Byzantine Empire. It was not taken by the Ottomans until after all other cities of Asia Minor had surrendered to Ottoman rule. Conq...
68a07343b5728ee6dd088e7436171e90
https://www.britannica.com/place/Alaska-Current
Alaska Current
Alaska Current Alaska Current, surface oceanic current, a branch of the West Wind Drift that forms a counterclockwise gyre in the Gulf of Alaska. In contrast to typical sub-Arctic Pacific water, Alaska Current water is characterized by temperatures above 39° F (4° C) and surface salinities below 32.6 parts per thousa...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Alaska/History
History
History People have inhabited Alaska since 10,000 bce. At that time a land bridge extended from Siberia to eastern Alaska, and migrants followed herds of animals across it. Of these migrant groups, the Athabaskans, Aleuts, Inuit, Yupik, Tlingit, and Haida remain in Alaska. As early as 1700, native peoples of Siberia re...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Alaskan-Mountains/Climate
Climate
Climate A host of factors—some peculiar to mountains in general and some specific to Alaska’s high latitude—make it difficult to classify Alaska’s mountains into definite climatic types. On a regional scale the Alaskan mountains span all the climatic zones found in the state. The northern slopes of the Brooks Range fal...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Alava
Álava
Álava Álava, provincia, northern Spain. Álava is the southernmost of the three Basque Country provincias of northern Spain and is located mainly on the southern slope of the Pyrenees Range. It is bounded by the Ebro River (southwest) and surrounds the enclaves of Treviño and Orduña belonging to Burgos and Vizcaya prov...
f1a5f5c0d2f5c4b9996972e2cff8267a
https://www.britannica.com/place/Alba-historical-kingdom-Scotland
Alba
Alba Alba, the kingdom formed by the union of the Picts and Scots under Kenneth I MacAlpin in 843. Their territory, ranging from modern Argyll and Bute to Caithness, across much of southern and central Scotland, was one of the few areas in the British Isles to withstand the invasions of the Vikings. The ancient link ...
ebec1656ca0c2912a93cbf5d0683ce05
https://www.britannica.com/place/Albania
Albania
Albania Albania, country in southern Europe, located in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula on the Strait of Otranto, the southern entrance to the Adriatic Sea. The capital city is Tirana (Tiranë). Albanians refer to themselves as shqiptarë—often taken to mean “sons of eagles,” though it may well refer to “those ...
6fb454fd12cd2bd0d1b87028a0a77c86
https://www.britannica.com/place/Albania/Land
Land
Land Albania is bounded by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, North Macedonia to the east, Greece to the southeast and south, and the Adriatic and Ionian seas to the west and southwest, respectively. Albania’s immediate western neighbour, Italy, lies some 50 miles (80 km) across the Adriatic Sea. Alb...
dadbb88a15aacff9850b51c0cbba8a6a
https://www.britannica.com/place/Albany-Georgia
Albany
Albany Albany, city, seat (1853) of Dougherty county, southwestern Georgia, U.S. It lies along the Flint River at the head of navigation, about 90 miles (145 km) southeast of Columbus. Founded in 1836 by Colonel Nelson Tift, it was named for Albany, New York, and was early established as a leading cotton market. In 18...
57fd162734cfad40e4bac787c1e4bbac
https://www.britannica.com/place/Alberta-province
Alberta
Alberta Alberta, most westerly of Canada’s three Prairie Provinces, occupying the continental interior of the western part of the country. To the north the 60th parallel (latitude 60° N) forms its boundary with the Northwest Territories, to the east the 110th meridian (longitude 110° W) forms the boundary with its pra...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Alborg
Ålborg
Ålborg Ålborg, also spelled Aalborg, city and port, northern Jutland, Denmark, on the south side of Limfjorden. Ålborg has existed since about ad 1000 and is one of the oldest towns in Denmark. Chartered in 1342, it became a bishop’s see in 1554. The town recovered slowly from the Count’s War (a religious civil war, 1...
a973f433a1de27fda96b2a87b4da891f
https://www.britannica.com/place/Albuquerque
Albuquerque
Albuquerque Albuquerque, city, seat (1883) of Bernalillo county, west-central New Mexico, U.S., located on the Rio Grande opposite a pass between the Sandia and Manzano mountains to the east. The area was the site of Native American pueblos (villages) when Europeans first arrived in 1540. Founded in 1706 by Don Franci...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Alcoa
Alcoa
Alcoa Alcoa, city, Blount county, eastern Tennessee, U.S., about 15 miles (25 km) south of Knoxville and adjacent to Maryville. The city is a gateway to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which lies to the southeast. It was founded in 1913 by the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) on a tract of land known as North ...
b6cd0043aa147145dca4f8ae4e499cb0
https://www.britannica.com/place/Aldabra-Islands
Aldabra Islands
Aldabra Islands Aldabra Islands, atoll, one of the world’s largest, in the Indian Ocean about 600 miles (1,000 km) southwest of the Seychelles group, and part of the Republic of the Seychelles. The Aldabras, together with Farquhar and Desroches islands and the Chagos Archipelago, formed part of the British Indian Oce...
51a61a8f0b6525b3f90b460f2d31f42e
https://www.britannica.com/place/Alexandria-Egypt
Alexandria
Alexandria Alexandria, Arabic Al-Iskandariyyah, major city and urban muḥāfaẓah (governorate) in Egypt. Once among the greatest cities of the Mediterranean world and a centre of Hellenic scholarship and science, Alexandria was the capital of Egypt from its founding by Alexander the Great in 332 bce until its surrender ...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Alexandroupoli
Alexandroúpoli
Alexandroúpoli Alexandroúpoli, also spelled Alexandroúpolis, seaport and dímos (municipality), East Macedonia and Thrace (Modern Greek: Anatolikí Makedonía kai Thráki) periféreia (region), northeastern Greece. It is situated in the Greek portion of the ancient and modern region of Thrace northwest of the Maritsa (Évro...
db2f07fbb38f5593474810c1a2cd9c43
https://www.britannica.com/place/Algarve
Algarve
Algarve Algarve, historical province of southern Portugal, bounded by the Atlantic Ocean (south and west) and the lower Guadiana River (east). Much of the interior upland region is of low productivity and is sparsely populated; the fertile coastal lowland is more densely inhabited. The Phoenicians established bases in...
27916a233a3483f8c797fa13a3d19a90
https://www.britannica.com/place/Algeria/Civil-war-the-Islamists-versus-the-army
Civil war: the Islamists versus the army
Civil war: the Islamists versus the army Relations between the Islamists and the army remained strained. The first round of balloting for the National People’s Assembly, held in December 1991, produced a striking victory for the FIS, which won 188 seats, just 28 short of a simple majority and 99 short of the two-thirds...
d6db42e79da70cb5d35070001188d667
https://www.britannica.com/place/Algeria/Colonial-rule
Colonial rule
Colonial rule The manner in which French rule was established in Algeria during the years 1830–47 laid the groundwork for a pattern of rule that French Algeria would maintain until independence. It was characterized by a tradition of violence and mutual incomprehension between the rulers and the ruled; the French polit...
21e078c030aece622bef5ec50c22a9e4
https://www.britannica.com/place/Algeria/Mining
Mining
Mining The main mining centres are at Ouenza and Djebel Onk near the eastern border with Tunisia and at El-Abed in the west. Extensive deposits of high-grade iron ore are worked at Ouenza, and major deposits of medium-grade ore exist at Gara Djebilet near Tindouf. Nearly all the high-grade iron ore from the open-cut wo...
519bd0231774ac3a1388855e866acc46
https://www.britannica.com/place/Algeria/Relations-with-Europe
Relations with Europe
Relations with Europe Relations with France have frequently been contentious. Disputes developed soon after independence over the Algerian expropriation of abandoned French property (1963) and its nationalization of French petroleum interests (1971). There were also problems with the Algerian migrants living and workin...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Algeria/Transportation-and-telecommunications
Transportation and telecommunications
Transportation and telecommunications At independence Algeria inherited a transportation network geared toward serving French colonial interests. The network did not integrate the country nationally or regionally, and few north-south routes existed. However, a good road network was in place in the densely populated Tel...
5b834843f248b46615b5b06119b319f5
https://www.britannica.com/place/Alghero
Alghero
Alghero Alghero, town and episcopal see, northwestern Sardinia, Italy, southwest of Sassari city. It was founded in 1102 by the Doria family of Genoa and became a Catalan colony under Peter IV of Aragon in 1354. Emperor Charles V took up residence there in 1541. It is the only Italian town where the Catalan language i...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Algiers
Algiers
Algiers Algiers, French Alger, Arabic Al-Jazāʾir, capital and chief seaport of Algeria. It is the political, economic, and cultural centre of the country. Algiers is built on the slopes of the Sahel Hills, which parallel the Mediterranean Sea coast, and it extends for some 10 miles (16 km) along the Bay of Algiers. Th...
d8e8afe3ad95b5969acce7d80897b990
https://www.britannica.com/place/Algol-star
Algol
Algol Algol, also called Beta Persei, prototype of a class of variable stars called eclipsing binaries, the second brightest star in the northern constellation Perseus. Its apparent visual magnitude changes over the range of 2.1 to 3.4 with a period of 2.87 days. Even at its dimmest it remains readily visible to the u...
7dbeccc9d7747fc311b5396b914c0bde
https://www.britannica.com/place/Aliakmon-River
Aliákmon River
Aliákmon River Aliákmon River, river, the longest in Greek Macedonia (Modern Greek: Makedonía). The river’s total length is 185 miles (297 km). Rising in the Grámmos Mountains of the eastern Pindus (Píndos) Range on the Albanian frontier, the Aliákmon River flows southeast through gentle valleys and basins and is join...
e653fb5b2737bb3ced23bbcb27e849fe
https://www.britannica.com/place/Aligarh
Aligarh
Aligarh Aligarh, also called Koil or Kol, city, western Uttar Pradesh state, northern India. It lies at the southern edge of the Upper Ganges-Yamuna Doab, about 65 miles (100 km) southeast of Delhi and some 25 miles (40 km) southwest of the Ganges (Ganga) River. The city itself is usually called Koil or Kol; Aligarh i...
28d5099d0a28c3aaad57af6897e837a2
https://www.britannica.com/place/Aliquippa
Aliquippa
Aliquippa Aliquippa, city, Beaver county, western Pennsylvania, U.S. It lies along the Ohio River just northwest of Pittsburgh. Settled about 1750 as a post for trade with Delaware, Iroquois, and Shawnee Indians, it was first known as Logstown and was later renamed for “Queen” Aliquippa, probably a Seneca. After the F...
b01397f0eb1790c8544e0f4e03937ca3
https://www.britannica.com/place/Alkali-Flat-geological-feature-New-Mexico
Alkali Flat
Alkali Flat The extensive Alkali Flat area, to the north of the lake, is similarly created by underground water drawn to the surface. There is little plant life; the animals, mainly mice and lizards, are light-hued, blending with the sand. To the west is San Andres National Wildlife Refuge.…
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Allegheny-Mountains
Allegheny Mountains
Allegheny Mountains Allegheny Mountains, also called Alleghenies, mountainous eastern part of the Allegheny Plateau in the Appalachian Mountains, U.S. The Allegheny range extends south-southwestward for more than 500 miles (800 km) from north-central Pennsylvania to southwestern Virginia. Rising to Mount Davis (3,213 ...
20c8934c350936e449c9bea84f90367e
https://www.britannica.com/place/Alliance-Ohio
Alliance
Alliance Alliance, city, Stark county, northeastern Ohio, U.S., situated on the Mahoning River about 20 miles (32 km) northeast of Canton. In 1854 the villages of Williamsport, Freedom, and Liberty were incorporated as the village of Alliance, so named for the junction and crossing there of the former New York Central...
38fb2e62cd542cea30b1b413b46c841f
https://www.britannica.com/place/Alma-Michigan
Alma
Alma Alma, city, Gratiot county, central Michigan, U.S., located on the Pine River about 50 miles (80 km) north of Lansing. Founded as Elyton by Gen. Ralph Ely in 1853, it is in the heart of an agricultural area that produces beans, corn (maize), and sugar beets. The manufacture of automobile parts, watercraft, and me...
a6edb857f4dda836129c68d1a772f1e4
https://www.britannica.com/place/Almaden
Almadén
Almadén Almadén, town, Ciudad Real provincia (province), in the comunidad autónoma (autonomous community) of Castile-La Mancha, west-central Spain. Almadén is located in one of the world’s richest mercury-producing regions. The town, originally Roman, then a Moorish settlement (Arabic: al-Maʿdin, “mine”), was captured...
e5830686ade408613bf6ba59c4f13937
https://www.britannica.com/place/Almaty-Kazakhstan
Almaty
Almaty Almaty, Russian Alma-Ata, formerly (1855–1921) Verny, city, southeastern Kazakhstan. It was formerly the capital of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic (1929–91) and of independent Kazakhstan (1991–97). Almaty lies in the northern foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau at an elevation of 2,300–3,000 feet (700–900 m...
b6e53c687cf216090db37c296b3e61f7
https://www.britannica.com/place/Almendares-River
Almendares River
Almendares River Almendares River, Spanish Río Almendares, river of western Cuba, rising at about 740 ft (225 m) in the Alturas (heights) de Bejucal and flowing in a semicircle north and west, then northward across the Cuban coastal plain through the city of Havana, forming the boundary between the neighbourhoods of V...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Alpes-Cottiae
Alpes Cottiae
Alpes Cottiae Adjoining it was Alpes Cottiae (Cottian Alps), where Augustus installed Cottius, a native chieftain with Roman citizenship, as prefect. Claudius bestowed the title of king on Cottius’s son. After the king’s death, Nero organized the area as a province under a procurator. Its capital was Eburodunum (presen...
51a2d845b6ca4ee036239cb34ce3fe02
https://www.britannica.com/place/Alpha-Centauri
Alpha Centauri
Alpha Centauri Alpha Centauri, also called Rigil Kentaurus, triple star, the faintest component of which, Proxima Centauri, is the closest star to the Sun, about 4.2 light-years distant. The two brighter components, called A and B, about 0.2 light-year farther from the Sun, revolve around each other with a period of a...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Alpine-Foreland
Alpine Foreland
Alpine Foreland The Alpine Foreland is a deep trough at the edge of the Alps stretching from the formerly volcanic area of the Hegau Mountains in the west to the meadows of the Allgäu in the east. Within its area lies the famous Lake Constance and numerous rolling… Very small portions of the outer limestone (or calcare...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Alpine-lakes
Alpine lakes
Alpine lakes Alpine lakes, the 11 significant European lakes fringing the great mountainous mass of the Alps. Set in magnificent scenery, they are the focus of considerable settlement and a thriving tourist traffic, as well as of great scientific interest. Most of the Alpine lakes lie in valleys that were formed durin...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Altamura
Altamura
Altamura Altamura, town, Puglia (Apulia) regione, southeastern Italy. Altamura lies on the Murge plateau at 1,552 feet (473 m) above sea level, southwest of Bari. It was founded about 1200 by the Holy Roman emperor Frederick II, who created several new towns in Apulia, to which he attracted Italians, Greeks, and Jews ...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Altay-kray-Russia
Altay
Altay Altay, also spelled Altai, kray (region), southwestern Siberia, Russia. Altay kray lies in the basin of the upper Ob River and its headstreams, the Biya and Katun. The kray borders Kazakhstan in the southwest. Once part of the khanate of Dzungaria, the kray was colonized by the Russians from the 18th century. It...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Altay-republic-Russia
Altay
Altay Altay, also spelledAltai, formerly (1948–91) Gorno-Altay or (1922-48)Oirot, republic, southern Russia, in the Altai Mountains. It s bounded on the south by Mongolia and China. It embraces a complex series of ranges and high plateaus, divided by deep valleys and broad basins, that attain a maximum height of 14,78...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Altenburg-Germany
Altenburg
Altenburg Altenburg, city, Thuringia Land (state), central Germany. It lies along the Pleisse River, at the southern edge of the central German brown-coal deposits, south of Leipzig. First mentioned in 976 as the site of a watchtower near an old Slav fortress, it was a trading centre and royal residence in the 12th ce...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Altiplano
Altiplano
Altiplano Altiplano, English High Plateau, also called Puna, region of southeastern Peru and western Bolivia. The Altiplano originates northwest of Lake Titicaca in southern Peru and extends about 600 miles (965 km) southeast to the southwestern corner of Bolivia. It is a series of intermontane basins lying at about 1...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Alton-Illinois
Alton
Alton Alton, city, Madison county, southwestern Illinois, U.S. Part of the St. Louis, Missouri, metropolitan area, Alton lies on the Mississippi River (bridged) near its confluence with the Missouri River. The city was named for a son of Colonel Rufus Easton, a St. Louis land speculator who laid out the community in 1...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Altus
Altus
Altus Altus, city, seat (1907) of Jackson county, southwestern Oklahoma, U.S. The original settlement of Frazier (1886), near Bitter Creek (Salt Fork of the Red River) on the Great Western cattle trail, was subject to flooding; it was renamed Altus (Latin: “high”) in 1891, after it was moved to the present site on hig...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Alva-Oklahoma
Alva
Alva Alva, city, seat (1907) of Woods county, northwestern Oklahoma, U.S., on Salt Fork of the Arkansas River near the Kansas border. Established as a land office in 1893 at a Santa Fe Railway stop, it was named for Alva Adams, a railroad attorney and governor of Colorado (1887–89). It is a marketing and processing ce...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Alwah
ʿAlwah
ʿAlwah …Dongola); and the kingdom of ʿAlwah in the south, with its capital at Sūbah (Soba) near what is now Khartoum. Between 543 and 575 these three kingdoms were converted to Christianity by the work of Julian, a missionary who proselytized in Nobatia (543–545), and his successor Longinus, who between 569…
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Alzira
Alzira
Alzira Alzira, also spelled Alcira, city, Valencia provincia (province), in the comunidad autónoma (autonomous community) of Valencia, eastern Spain. It lies in the Ribera district, south of the city of Valencia. It originated as the Iberian settlement of Algezira Sucro (“Island of Sucro”), so named because of its in...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Amana-Colonies
Amana Colonies
Amana Colonies Amana Colonies, settlement in Iowa county, east-central Iowa, U.S. It lies near the Iowa River, 20 miles (32 km) west-northwest of Iowa City, and comprises a group of seven small villages: Amana, East Amana, Middle Amana, High Amana, West Amana, South Amana, and Homestead. Amana developed from the Commu...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Amarapura-Myanmar
Amarapura
Amarapura Amarapura, town, central Myanmar (Burma). It lies on the left bank of the Irrawaddy River. A suburb of Mandalay, it is also known as Taung myo (Southern Town) or Myohaung (Old City). Founded by King Bodawpaya in 1783 as his new capital, it supplanted Ava, 6 miles (10 km) southwest. Its population in 1810 was...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Amazon-River/Hydrology
Hydrology
Hydrology Most of the estimated 1.3 million tons of sediment that the Amazon pours daily into the sea is transported northward by coastal currents to be deposited along the coasts of northern Brazil and French Guiana. As a consequence, the river is not building a delta. Normally, the effect of the tide is felt as far u...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Amazon-River/Physiography-of-the-river-course
Physiography of the river course
Physiography of the river course The Amazon River’s main outlets are the two channels north of Marajó Island, a lowland somewhat larger in size than Denmark, through a cluster of half-submerged islets and shallow sandbanks. There the mouth of the river is 40 miles (64 km) wide. The port city of Belém, Brazil, is on the...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Amber-Valley
Amber Valley
Amber Valley Amber Valley, district, administrative and historic county of Derbyshire, England, to the north of Derby. It takes its name from the River Amber, which joins the Derwent at Ambergate. The industrial eastern half of the district contrasts with the still rural western portion. Traditionally, coal mining and...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Amerasia-Basin
Amerasia Basin
Amerasia Basin The origin of the Amerasia Basin is far less clear. Most researchers favour a hypothesis of opening by rotation of the Arctic-Alaska lithospheric plate away from the North American Plate during the Cretaceous Period (about 145 to 65 million years ago). Better understanding of the origin of the Arctic…
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https://www.britannica.com/place/American-Falls
American Falls
American Falls The American Falls, adjoining the right bank, are 190 feet (58 metres) high and 1,060 feet (320 metres) across. …average recession rate for the American Falls, which occur downstream and to one side of Horseshoe Falls because of branching by the Niagara River, is only 0.08 metre per year. And, in a compa...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Americus
Americus
Americus Americus, city, seat (1831) of Sumter county, southwest-central Georgia, U.S., on Muckalee Creek, 35 miles (55 km) north of Albany. Founded in 1830, it was named for the Italian explorer and navigator Amerigo Vespucci or, legend says, for the “merry cusses” who were its first settlers. To the northeast is And...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Ames-Iowa
Ames
Ames Ames, city, Story county, central Iowa, U.S., on the South Skunk River, about 30 miles (50 km) north of Des Moines. It was laid out in 1865 and was originally called College Farm but was renamed the following year for Oakes Ames, a railroad financier and Massachusetts congressman. The railroad, which had arrived ...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Amesbury-England
Amesbury
Amesbury Amesbury, town (parish), administrative and historic county of Wiltshire, southern England. It is situated in the southern part of the Salisbury Plain, in the valley of the River Avon (East, or Hampshire, Avon). The region is rich in prehistoric remains, including Stonehenge, 1.5 miles (2.5 km) west of Amesbu...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Amesbury-Massachusetts
Amesbury
Amesbury Amesbury, town (township), Essex county, northeastern corner of Massachusetts, U.S. It lies on the Merrimack River at the New Hampshire border. Settled in 1642 as part of Salisbury, it was named for Amesbury, England, became a separate precinct in 1654, and was incorporated as a township in 1668. In 1693 the ...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Amherst-Massachusetts
Amherst
Amherst Amherst, town (township), Hampshire county, west-central Massachusetts, U.S. It lies in the Connecticut River valley just northeast of Northampton. It includes the communities of North Amherst, Amherst, and South Amherst. The town of Hadley adjoins it on the west. Settled as part of Hadley in the 1730s, Amhers...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Amiens
Amiens
Amiens Amiens, city, capital of Somme département, Hauts-de-France région, principal city and ancient capital of Picardy, northern France, in the Somme River valley, north of Paris. Famed since the Middle Ages are its textile industry and its great Gothic cathedral of Notre-Dame, one of the finest in France. Known as ...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Amstelveen
Amstelveen
Amstelveen Amstelveen, gemeente (municipality), western Netherlands, near the Amstel River. Amstelveen (meaning “peat bog on the Amstel”) was formerly a village in the municipality of Nieuwer-Amstel. A residential suburb of Amsterdam, it is a water-sports centre with some agriculture and light industry. Schiphol inter...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam Amsterdam, city and port, western Netherlands, located on the IJsselmeer and connected to the North Sea. It is the capital and the principal commercial and financial centre of the Netherlands. To the scores of tourists who visit each year, Amsterdam is known for its historical attractions, for its collection...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Amsterdam-New-York
Amsterdam
Amsterdam Amsterdam, city, Montgomery county, eastern New York, U.S. It lies along the Mohawk River, 16 miles (26 km) northwest of Schenectady. Settled by Albert Veeder in 1783, it was known as Veedersburg until it was renamed for Amsterdam, Netherlands, in 1804. Its location on the Mohawk Trail, the completion of the...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Amur-River
Amur River
Amur River Amur River, Chinese (Pinyin) Heilong Jiang or (Wade-Giles) Hei-lung Chiang, Mongol Kharamuren, river of East Asia. It is the longest river of the Russian Far East, and it ranks behind only the Yangtze and Huang Ho (Yellow River) among China’s longest rivers. Its headwaters rise in Russia (Siberia), Mongolia...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/An-ping
An-p'ing
An-p'ing An-p’ing, Pinyin Anping, seaport and former town, now a city district (ch’ü, or qu) of T’ai-nan special municipality, southwestern Taiwan. Situated on the Taiwan Strait, it is the traditional port for T’ai-nan. An-p’ing is the oldest Chinese settlement in southern Taiwan, dating from the late 16th century. It...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Anacortes
Anacortes
Anacortes Anacortes, city, Skagit county, northwestern Washington, U.S., on the northern tip of Fidalgo Island. Connected by ferry to the San Juan Islands and Victoria, British Columbia, the city originated in the 1860s as a port called Ship Harbor. Local real estate developer Amos Bowman fancifully renamed it in 1877...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Anadarko
Anadarko
Anadarko Anadarko, city, seat (1907) of Caddo county, southwest-central Oklahoma, U.S. It lies along the Washita River. Founded in 1901 when the site was opened to white settlement, the city was named for the Nadako Indians, a Caddo subgroup. Anadarko is the site of the Southern Plains Indian Museum and Crafts Center;...
e947d3aa609847fb40e3a146b2d85344
https://www.britannica.com/place/Anadoluhisari
Anadoluhisarı
Anadoluhisarı …examples are the castles of Anadoluhisarı, which was constructed on the Asian shore by Bayezid I in 1390–91, and Rumelihisarı, built directly across the strait by Mehmed II in 1452. With the growing influence of the European powers in the 19th century, rules were codified (in treaties of 1841 and…
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Anaheim
Anaheim
Anaheim Anaheim, city, Orange county, California, U.S. It lies on the plain of the Santa Ana River, 25 miles (40 km) southeast of Los Angeles. Anaheim was founded by German immigrants in 1857—the land purchased was part of the Mexican land grant Rancho San Juan Cajón de Santa Ana—as a cooperative agricultural communit...
2bafb2e289ec2d87226301ce6b9a3ada
https://www.britannica.com/place/Anambra
Anambra
Anambra Anambra, state, east-central Nigeria. Anambra state was first formed in 1976 from the northern half of East-Central state, and in 1991 it was considerably reduced in area by an administrative reorganization that created the new state of Enugu. Anambra is bounded by the states of Kogi on the north, Enugu on the...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Ananda-Temple
Ananda Temple
Ananda Temple …Gaya, in India, and the Ananda Temple just beyond the east gate, founded in 1091 under King Kyanzittha. By the time the Thatpyinnyu Temple was built (1144), Mon influence was waning, and a Burman architecture had evolved. Its four stories, resembling a two-staged pyramid, and its orientation are new. Its...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Anatolia/Greek-colonies-on-the-Anatolian-coasts-c-1180-547-bce
Greek colonies on the Anatolian coasts, c. 1180–547 bce
Greek colonies on the Anatolian coasts, c. 1180–547 bce Before the Greek migrations that followed the end of the Bronze Age (c. 1200 bce), probably the only Greek-speaking communities on the west coast of Anatolia were Mycenaean settlements at Iasus and Müskebi on the Halicarnassus peninsula and walled Mycenaean coloni...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Anatolia/Roman-Byzantine-and-Seljuq-rule
Roman, Byzantine, and Seljuq rule
Roman, Byzantine, and Seljuq rule During the later Roman period (4th to early 7th century ce), Anatolia was divided into 24 provinces. These provinces were in turn grouped into dioceses under vicarii (deputies), those of Asia Minor belonging chiefly to the dioceses of Pontica and Asiana and partly to that of Oriens. Th...
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https://www.britannica.com/place/Anatolia/Seljuq-expansion
Seljuq expansion
Seljuq expansion After a six-year interregnum Sulaymān’s second son Qïlïch Arslān, released from captivity after the death of Malik-Shāh, finally was able to repossess İznik in 1092 and then gradually to regain control of his father’s dominions. Four years later western European crusaders, responding to the call of Pop...