Encyclopædia Britannica Australia -

Encyclopedias since 1768

0-9

Kananga ... Kankakee

Kananga: city, south-central Congo (Kinshasa), situated just east of the Lulua River, a tributary of the Kasai. It is on road and rail routes to Lubumbashi (southeast) and the Kasai River port of Ilebo (northwest) and has air links to those ...
Kanapoi: site of paleoanthropological excavations in northern Kenya southwest of Lake Turkana (Lake Rudolf), best known for its fossils of Australopithecus anamensis, an early hominin (member of the human lineage) dating to between 3.9 and 4.2 million years ago. Among these ...
Kanara: region along the Malabar Coast of the Arabian Sea, western Karnataka (formerly Mysore) state, India. It is bounded on the east by the Western Ghats. Formerly divided between Bombay to the north and Madras (now Tamil Nadu) to the southeast, ...
Kanaris, Konstantinos: Greek naval officer and statesman who achieved fame for his exploits against the Turks during the War of Greek Independence (1821-32).
Kanawha River: river formed at Gauley Bridge, West Virginia, U.S., by the confluence of the New and Gauley rivers. It flows 97 miles (156 km) in a northwesterly direction to enter the Ohio River at Point Pleasant. It is navigable via dams ...
Kanazawa: capital, Ishikawa ken (prefecture), Japan, on the Sai River. In the 16th century the city and the province of Kaga were given to the Maeda family, the richest daimyo family in Tokugawa times; Kanazawa remained under their jurisdiction for approximately ...
Kanchanaburi: town, western Thailand, 70 miles (110 km) northwest of Bangkok. The Khwae Noi River joins the Klong River near Kanchanaburi. Built in the 18th century as a defense against Burmese invaders, the walled town is the site of two paper ...
Kanchenjunga: world's third highest mountain (28,169 feet [8,586 m]), in the Himalayas on the Nepalese border with Sikkim, India, 46 miles (74 km) north-northwest of Darjeeling. The Kanchenjunga massif is in the form of a gigantic cross, the arms of which ...
kanchil: any of several small chevrotains, or mouse deer, native to Southeast Asia. Formerly believed to be separate species, they are now generally thought to be varieties of the species Tragulus kanchil. See chevrotain.
Kanchipuram: town, northern Tamil Nadu state, southeastern India, on the Palar River and the Madras-Bangalore road and rail systems. One of the most ancient towns of southern India, it traces its history to the 2nd century BC as an early Cola ...
Kanchrapara: town, southeastern West Bengal state, northeastern India, just east of the Hooghly River, part of the Calcutta urban agglomeration. The town, within Halisahar municipality, has one of the largest railway workshops in India; jute milling is the major industry. A ...
Kandahar: city in south-central Afghanistan. It lies on a plain next to the Tarnak River, at an elevation of about 3,300 feet (1,000 metres). It is southern Afghanistan's chief commercial centre and is situated at the junction of highways from Kabul, ...
Kandel, Eric: Austrian-born American neurobiologist who, with Arvid Carlsson and Paul Greengard, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2000 for discovering the central role synapses play in memory and learning.
Kander, Lizzie Black: American welfare worker who created a popular cookbook that became a highly profitable fund-raising tool for the institution she served.
Kandersteg: village, Bern canton, southwest-central Switzerland. It lies in the upper valley of the Kander River, in the Bernese Oberland, southwest of Interlaken. It is a mountaineering and winter-sports resort; the Blumlisalphorn (12,018 feet [3,663 m]), Balmhorn (12,168 feet [3,709 m]), ...
Kandi: town, northeastern Benin, 325 miles (523 km) north of the capital Porto-Novo. Iron deposits of high quality are in the vicinity, but the town is mainly an agricultural centre, with the major products being cotton, kapok, shea nuts, groundnuts (peanuts), ...
Kandinsky, Wassily: Russian-born artist, one of the first creators of pure abstraction in modern painting. After successful avant-garde exhibitions, he founded the influential Munich group Der Blaue Reiter ("The Blue Rider"; 1911-14) and began completely abstract painting. His forms evolved from fluid ...
Kandla: town, northwestern Gujarat state, west-central India, a port on the Gulf of Kutch of the Arabian Sea. The port was opened on Kandla's natural deepwater harbour in the 1930s. Designed to serve a hinterland that is considerably larger than Gujarat ...
Kandler, Johann Joachim: late Baroque sculptor who was a major innovator in European porcelain sculpture.
Kandy: important independent monarchy in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) at the end of the 15th century and the last Sinhalese kingdom to be subjugated by a colonial power. Kandy survived the attacks of Ceylon's first two colonial rulers-the Portuguese and the Dutch-and ...
Kandy: city in the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka, at an elevation of 1,640 feet (500 metres). It lies on the Mahaweli River on the shore of an artificial lake that was constructed (1807) by the last Kandyan king, Sri Wickrama ...
Kane, Elisha Kent: American physician and Arctic explorer who in 1850 led an unsuccessful expedition to northwestern Greenland to search for the British explorer Sir John Franklin, missing since 1845.
Kane, John: Scottish-born American artist who painted primitivist scenes of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Scotland.
Kane, Sheikh Hamidou: Senegalese writer best known for his autobiographical novel L'Aventure ambigue (1961; Ambiguous Adventure), which won the Grand Prix Litteraire d'Afrique Noire in 1962.
Kanem-Bornu: African trading empire ruled by the Sef (Sayf) dynasty that controlled the area around Lake Chad from the 9th to the 19th century. Its territory at various times included what is now southern Chad, northern Cameroon, northeastern Nigeria, eastern Niger, ...
Kaneohe: town, Honolulu county, northeastern Oahu island, Hawaii, U.S. Situated 12 miles (19 km) northeast of Honolulu, it spreads from the foothills of the Koolau Range to Kaneohe Bay. Like neighbouring Kailua to the east, the Kaneohe (meaning "Bamboo Husband") area ...
Kaneohe Bay: bay on the northeastern shore of Oahu island, Hawaii, U.S. A major tourist destination, it contains clear, shallow waters and vivid underwater coral formations that can be viewed from glass-bottom boats. Extending between Kaneohe Beach Park (south) and Kualoa Point ...
Kang Sheng: Chinese Communist official who is considered to have been one of the three or four most powerful individuals in the government during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76).
Kangar: town, extreme northwest Peninsular (West) Malaysia. It lies 5 miles (8 km) east of the Thailand border, on the Perlis River. Kangar is the largest town in the Perlis region and is the head of navigation for small craft on ...
kangaroo: any of six large species of Australian marsupials noted for hopping and bouncing on their hind legs. The term kangaroo, most specifically used, refers to the eastern gray kangaroo, the western gray kangaroo, and the red kangaroo, as well as ...
Kangaroo Island: third largest Australian offshore island, located at the entrance to the Gulf St. Vincent, South Australia, 80 miles (130 km) southwest of Adelaide. The island measures 1,680 square miles (4,350 square km) in area. Its formation is that of a ...
kangaroo mouse: either of two species of leaping bipedal rodents found only in certain deserts of the western United States. They have large ears and a large head with fur-lined external cheek pouches. The forelimbs are short, but the hind limbs and ...
kangaroo rat: any of 22 species of bipedal North American desert rodents with a tufted tail. Kangaroo rats have large heads and eyes, short forelimbs, and very long hind legs and feet. Fur-lined external cheek pouches open alongside the mouth and can ...
Kangean Islands: island group in the Java Sea, Jawa Timur provinsi ("province"), Indonesia. The Kangeans lie northwest of the Lesser Sunda Islands (Nusa Tenggara), some 75 miles (121 km) north of Bali, and consist of three main islands surrounded by about 60 ...
Kanggye: city, northern North Korea. As a transportation junction of the inland plateau near the frontier with China, it has been a fortress and military base since the Choson (Yi) dynasty (1392-1910). It is connected with P'yongyang by rail line and ...
Kanghwa Island: island, Kyonggi do (province), northwestern South Korea. Kanghwa Island lies in the Yellow Sea just off the northwestern coast, northwest of Inch'on. Roughly rectangular in shape, it lies at the mouth of the Han River and has an area of ...
Kangnung: city, Kangwon do (province), northeastern South Korea. A coastal city on the Sea of Japan (East Sea), it has been the administrative and economic centre for the eastern areas of the T'aebaek Mountains from ancient times. The city's many historical ...
Kango: town, northwestern Gabon. The town is situated about 50 miles (80 km) east of Libreville and lies on the Como River at the head of the Gabon Estuary. Kango is the site of one of Africa's largest cellulose and paper-pulp ...
Kangra: city, western Himachal Pradesh state, northwestern India. The city lies on a rail line just south-southwest of Dharmsala, at an elevation of 2,409 feet (734 m). Kangra was known as Nagarkot in ancient and medieval times, when it was a ...
KaNgwane: former nonindependent black state that was created under the apartheid system in 1977 in eastern Transvaal, South Africa. The state was created as a homeland for those Swazi people not residing in Swaziland.
Kangwon: do (province), southeastern North Korea, facing the Sea of Japan (East Sea). The province consists of the small northern part of the former Kangwon Province, which was divided by the 38th parallel in 1945 and, after the armistice following the ...
Kangwon: do (province), northeastern South Korea, bounded (east) by the Sea of Japan (East Sea) and by the provinces of North Kyongsang and North Ch'ung-ch'ong (south) and Kyonggi (west). In the north it was divided between North and South Korea by ...
Kanha National Park: national park in Mandla district, Madhya Pradesh state, central India, extending over 122 sq mi (316 sq km) of the central highlands, at an elevation of from 2,000 ft (600 m) to 3,000 ft. Originally established as the Banjar Valley ...
Kanibadam: city, Khodzhent oblast (province), Tajikistan, in the western Fergana Valley. The Kanibadam oasis was best known for almonds, from which its name, Place of Almonds, is derived. The city dates back at least to the 15th century. Its economy is ...
Kanik, Orhan Veli: poet who was one of the most innovative poets in 20th-century Turkish literature.
Kanimblan orogeny: a mountain-building event in eastern Australia toward the end of Early Carboniferous time (about 325,000,000 years ago). Uplift and deformation occurred in a wide belt extending from Tasmania to Cape York. The Kanimblan was the most severe orogenic episode to ...
Kanin Peninsula: peninsula in Arkhangelsk oblast (province), northwestern Russia. It separates the White Sea to the west from the Cheshskaya Guba (Bay), a gulf of the Barents Sea, to the east. It has an area of about 4,000 sq mi (10,500 sq ...
Kanin, Garson: American writer and director of plays and films, best known for collaborations with his wife, the actress-writer Ruth Gordon.
Kaniska: greatest king of the Kushan dynasty that ruled over the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, Afghanistan, and possibly regions north of Kashmir in Central Asia. He is, however, chiefly remembered as a great patron of Buddhism.
kanji: in Japanese writing, characters adapted from Chinese characters and usually employed for writing nouns, verb roots, adjectives, and other important words. The Japanese affixes for verb tenses, prepositions, and other grammatical markers, which do not exist in Chinese, are indicated ...
Kankakee: city, seat (1853) of Kankakee county, northeastern Illinois, U.S. It lies on the Kankakee River, about 60 miles (100 km) south of Chicago. Potawatomi Indians were early inhabitants of the area, and the city's name comes from a variant pronunciation ...