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Kassala: traditional region, east-central Sudan. It is bordered on the east by Ethiopia. The Atbara River, an important tributary of the Nile, flows northwestward through Kassala and causes seasonal floods during ...
Kassala: town, northeastern Sudan, near the Ethiopian border. Founded in 1834 as an Egyptian garrison, it was occupied by the Mahdists (1885-94) and briefly by the Italians (1940-41). Kassala is built ...
Kassandra: promontory, westernmost of the three prongs of the Chalcidice Peninsula, Macedonia, Greece, projecting into the Aegean Sea. It is a part of the nomos (department) of Khalkidhiki. Upon the narrow ...
Kassebaum, Nancy Landon: U.S. senator, the first woman elected to the Senate who was not a widow taking her husband's seat.
Kassel: city, Hessen Land (state), central Germany. It lies along the Fulda River, which is a navigable tributary of the Weser River, 90 miles (145 km) northeast of ...
Kassite: member of an ancient people known primarily for establishing the second, or middle, Babylonian dynasty; they were believed (perhaps wrongly) to have originated in the Zagros Mountains of Iran. First ...
Kastamonu: city, north-central Turkey. It is situated near the Gok (ancient Amnias) River. It lies in a sparsely populated high basin south of the densely populated Black Sea coastal plain. As ...
Kastanozem: one of the 30 soil groups in the classification system of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Kastanozems are humus-rich soils that were originally covered with early-maturing native grassland vegetation, ...
Kastellorizon: easternmost of the Dodecanese (q.v.) group of islands in the Aegean Sea, Greece, just off the southwestern coast of Turkey. Kastellorizon has an area of 3 square miles (7.3 square ...
Kastler, Alfred: French physicist who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1966 for his discovery and development of methods for observing Hertzian resonances within atoms.
Kastner, Erich: German satirist, poet, and novelist who is especially known for his children's books. He was the most durable practitioner of the style of witty, laconic writing associated with the highbrow ...
Kastoria: town, capital of the nomos (department) of Kastoria, Macedonia, northern Greece. The town stands on a promontory reaching out from the western shore of Lake Kastorias. The lake is formed ...
Kasugai: city, Aichi ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan. It lies just northeast of Nagoya, the prefectural capital. Army arsenals were constructed nearby in 1939, and many of their workers were moved into ...
Kasungu: town, central Malawi. The economy of Kasungu depends mainly on tobacco production, and tourism in the city has developed with the opening of the nearly 914-square-mile (2,367-square-km) Kasungu National Park ...
Kasur: city, eastern Punjab province, Pakistan. It lies on the border of India about 30 miles (50 km) south of Lahore. Traditionally it is said to have been founded by Kusa, ...
Kat Sawao: Japanese gymnast, who won eight Olympic gold medals as a member of the Japanese team that dominated men's gymnastics during the 1960s and '70s.
katabatic wind: wind that blows down a slope because of gravity. It occurs at night, when the highlands radiate heat and are cooled. The air in contact with these highlands is thus ...
Katagum: town and traditional emirate, Bauchi State, northern Nigeria, on the north bank of the Jamaare River (a tributary of the Hadejia). It was the seat of an emirate founded c. ...
Katahdin, Mount: highest point (5,269 feet [1,606 metres]) in Maine, U.S. It lies in Baxter State Park, 20 miles (32 km) northwest of Millinocket, in Piscataquis county, in the east-central part of ...
Katanga: historical region in southeastern Congo (Kinshasa), bordering Lake Tanganyika to the east, Zambia to the south, and Angola to the west. It is coextensive with modern Katanga province. The name ...
Katangan Complex: major division of late Precambrian rocks (the Precambrian era began about 3.8 billion years ago and ended 540 million years ago) in central Africa, especially in Katanga province, Congo (Kinshasa). ...
Katanning: town, southwestern Western Australia. Laid out in 1898, it probably derives its name from the Aboriginal term kartannin ("meeting place"). A market and service centre for the grain and sheep ...
katauta: a Japanese poetic form that consists of 17 or 19 syllables arranged in three lines of either 5, 7, and 5 or 5, 7, and 7 syllables. The form was ...
Katay Don Sasorith: Lao nationalist and author of eloquent resistance pamphlets in his youth, who later held many government posts, among them that of premier in 1954-56.
Katayev, Valentin: Soviet novelist and playwright whose lighthearted, satirical treatment of postrevolutionary social conditions rose above the generally uninspired official Soviet style.
Kateb Yacine: Algerian poet, novelist, and playwright, one of North Africa's most respected literary figures.
Katerini: town and capital of the nomos (department) of Pieria, Macedonia, northern Greece. It is an agricultural and tobacco centre on the plain of Pieria. Its port on the Gulf of ...
kathak: one of the main forms of classical dance-drama of India, other major ones being bharata-natya, kathakali, manipuri, kuchipudi, and orissi. Kathak is indigenous to northern India and developed under the ...
kathakali: one of the main forms of classical dance-drama of India, other major ones being bharata-natya, kathak, manipuri, kuchipudi, and orissi. It is indigenous to southwestern India (Kerala) and is a ...
Katharevusa Greek language: a "purist" variety of modern Greek, which until 1976 was the official written language of Greece. Katharevusa was used in government and judiciary documents as well as in most newspapers ...
Katherine: town, north-central Northern Territory, Australia. It lies along the Katherine River and on the Stuart Highway, 165 miles (266 km) southeast of Darwin. The river was explored in 1862 by ...
Kathiawar Peninsula: peninsula in southwestern Gujarat state, west-central India. It is bounded by the Little Rann (marsh) of Kachchh (Kutch; north), the Gulf of Cambay (east), the Arabian Sea (southwest), and the ...
Kathiri sultanate: former semi-independent state in the southern Arabian Peninsula, in the inland Hadhramaut region now included in Yemen. The sultanate, with its capital at Saywun (Say'un), once extended from the Wadi ...
Kathmandu: capital of Nepal. It lies near the confluence of the Baghmati and Vishnumati rivers, at an elevation of 4,344 feet (1,324 metres) above sea level. It was founded in 723 ...
Katihar: town, northeastern Bihar state, northeastern India. Katihar is situated east of the Saura River, a tributary of the Ganges. It is a major road and rail junction with railway workshops ...
Katiola: town, central Cote D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast). Katiola is situated along the road and railroad running from Abidjan, the national capital, to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta). A traditional trade ...
Katip Celebi: Turkish historian, geographer, and bibliographer.
Katipunan: ("Supreme Worshipful Association of the Sons of the People"), Filipino nationalist organization founded in 1892 to oppose Spanish rule. The organization numbered anywhere from 100,000 to 400,000 members. The Filipino ...
Katkov, Mikhail Nikiforovich: Russian journalist who exercised a high degree of influence in government circles during the reigns of Alexander II (reigned 1855-81) and Alexander III (reigned 1881-94).
Katmai National Park and Preserve: large area of wilderness and unique geologic features in southwestern Alaska, U.S., at the head of the Alaska Peninsula on Shelikof Strait. Katmai was designated a national monument in 1918 ...
Katna: ancient Syrian city, Syria. It prospered especially during the 2nd millennium BC and was frequently named as Qatanum in the royal archives of Mari on the Euphrates. Excavations there in ...
Kato Hiroyuki, Danshaku: (Baron) Japanese writer, educator, and political theorist who was influential in introducing Western ideas into 19th-century Japan. After the fall of the shogunate in 1868, he served as one of ...
Kato Kiyomasa: Japanese military leader who helped both Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu in their attempts to unify Japan. As an ardent Buddhist, he also led the struggle to ban Christianity from ...
Kato Takaaki: Japanese prime minister in the mid-1920s whose government and policies were considered the most democratic in Japan before World War II.
Katona, Jozsef: Hungarian lawyer and playwright whose historical tragedy Bank ban achieved its great reputation only after his death.
Katoomba: town, east-central New South Wales, Australia. It lies in the Blue Mountains at an elevation of 3,337 feet (1,017 metres).
Katowice: city and capital, Slaskie wojewodztwo (province), south-central Poland. It lies in the heart of the Upper Silesia coalfields.
Katsina: historic kingdom and emirate in northern Nigeria. According to tradition, the kingdom, one of the Hausa Bakwai ("Seven True Hausa States"), was founded in the 10th or 11th century. Islam ...
Katsina: state, north-central Nigeria. It was formed from the northern half of Kaduna state in 1987. Katsina is bordered by the Republic of Niger to the north and by the Nigerian ...
Katsina: town, capital of Katsina state, northern Nigeria, near the Niger border. Probably founded about 1100 near Ambuttai, which was the residence of Katsina's Hausa kings and the annual meeting place ...
Katsu Kaishu, Count: Japanese naval officer who reformed his country's navy and played a mediatory role in the Meiji Restoration-the overthrow in 1868 of the shogun (hereditary military dictator of Japan) and restoration ...
Katsu Shintaro: Japanese actor whose portrayal of Zatoichi, a blind master swordsman, in a series of motion pictures and on television brought him fame and influenced similar films in Hong Kong and ...
Katsura Imperial Villa: group of buildings located in the southwest suburbs of Kyoto, Japan. The complex was originally built as a princely estate in the early 17th century and lies on the bank ...
Katsura Taro, Duke: (Koshaku) Japanese army officer and statesman who served three times as prime minister of Japan.
katsura tree: (species Cercidiphyllum japonicum), upright, gracefully branching tree native to China and Japan, and the only remaining member of the family Cercidiphyllaceae. It is a handsome ornamental tree planted widely for ...
Katsuta: city, Ibaraki ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan. It lies along the Naka River, northeast of Mito, the prefectural capital. The city developed rapidly as an industrial site for the Hitachi Company, ...
Kattakurgan: city, east-central Uzbekistan, in a thickly populated oasis in the Zeravshan River valley. It began in the 18th century as a centre of trade and handicrafts and now has various ...
Kattegat: ("Cat's Throat"), strait forming part of the connection between the Baltic and North Seas. The strait trends north-south between the Jutland (Jylland) peninsula and Sjaelland (Zealand) island of Denmark (west ...
Katwijk: gemeente (commune), comprising Katwijk aan Zee and Katwijk aan den Rijn, Zuid-Holland provincie, western Netherlands. The gemeente lies along the North Sea at the mouth of the Old Rhine River. ...
katydid: any of numerous, predominantly nocturnal insects related to crickets and grasshoppers, noted for their loud mating calls. Katydids have large hind legs and are distinguished by their extremely long, threadlike ...
Katyn Massacre: mass execution of Polish military officers by the Soviet Union during World War II. The discovery of the massacre precipitated the severance of diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and ...
Katz, Sir Bernard: German-born British physiologist who investigated the functioning of nerves and muscles. His studies on the release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which carries impulses from nerve fibre to muscle fibre, won ...
Katzir, Ephraim: Russian-born scientist and politician who was the fourth president of Israel (1973-78).
Kauai: volcanic island, Kauai county, Hawaii, U.S. It lies 72 miles (116 km) northwest of Oahu island across the Kauai Channel. The northernmost and geologically the oldest of the major Hawaiian ...
Kaufbeuren: city, Bavaria Land (state), southern Germany. It lies along the Wertach River, in the eastern Allgau region of Schwaben (Swabia). Founded about 800 and chartered about 1220, it was a ...
Kauffmann, Angelica: painter in the early Neoclassical style who is best known for her decorative wall paintings for residences designed by Robert Adam.
Kaufman, Bob: innovative African-American poet who became an important figure of the Beat movement.
Kaufman, George S: American playwright and journalist, who became the stage director of most of his plays and musical comedies after the mid-1920s. He was the most successful craftsman of the American theatre ...
Kaufman, Irving Robert: U.S. judge who presided over the celebrated Julius and Ethel Rosenberg case in 1951 and sentenced them to death in the electric chair after finding them guilty of having conspired ...
Kaufmann, Konstantin Petrovich: general who conquered vast territories in Central Asia for the Russian Empire and ruled Russian Turkistan for two decades.
Kaukauveld: westward extension of the Kalahari (desert) in Namibia and extreme northwestern Botswana, locally called the omaheke (sandveld). It has an area of about 32,000 square miles (83,000 square km), lies ...
Kaulbach, Wilhelm von: painter, illustrator, and muralist associated with the German Romantic movement.
Kaunas: town, southern Lithuania. It lies at the head of navigation on the Neman (Lithuanian Nemunas) River, there joined by the tributary Viliya (Lithuanian Neris) River.
Kaunda, Kenneth: politician who led Zambia to independence in 1964 and served as that nation's president until 1991.
Kaunitz, Wenzel Anton von: Austrian state chancellor during the eventful decades from the Seven Years' War (1756-63) to the beginning of the coalition wars against revolutionary France (1792). Kaunitz was responsible for the foreign ...
Kaura Namoda: town, northeastern Sokoto State, northern Nigeria, on the Gagere River (a tributary of the Rima). Originally a small settlement of Maguzawas (an animistic Hausa people), it was ruled by the ...