Encyclopædia Britannica Australia -

Encyclopedias since 1768

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nail ... Namangan

nail: in the anatomy of humans and other primates, horny plate that grows on the back of each finger and toe at its outer end. It corresponds to the claw, hoof, or talon of other vertebrates. The nail is a platelike, ...
nail: in construction and carpentry, a slender metal shaft that is pointed at one end and flattened at the other end and is used for fastening one or more objects to each other. Nails are most commonly used to fasten pieces ...
Nainital: town, northern Uttaranchal state, northern India. The town lies in the Siwalik Range. Founded in 1841, it is a popular resort, lying at 6,346 feet (1,934 metres) above sea level. The town is built around a beautiful lake and is ...
Naipaul, Sir V.S.: Trinidadian writer of Indian descent known for his pessimistic novels set in Third World nations. For these revelations of what the Swedish Academy called "suppressed histories," Naipaul won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2001.
Nair, Mira: Indian director known for her documentaries and feature films dealing with controversial subject matter.
naira: monetary unit of Nigeria. The naira is divided into 100 kobo. The naira was introduced in 1973, when the country decimalized its monetary system and substituted the naira for the Nigerian pound (the country used the British pound sterling when ...
Nairne, Carolina Nairne, Baroness: Scottish songwriter and laureate of Jacobitism, who wrote "Charlie Is My Darling," "The Hundred Pipers," "The Land o' the Leal," and "Will Ye No' Come Back Again?"
Nairnshire: historic county, northeastern Scotland, on the southern shore of the Moray Firth. The town of Nairn is the historic county town (seat) and the principal town.
Nairobi: city and capital of Kenya. It is situated in the south-central part of the country, in the highlands at an elevation of about 5,500 feet (1,680 metres). The city lies 300 miles (480 km) northwest of Mombasa, Kenya's major port ...
Nairobi National Park: national park, in south-central Kenya, 5 miles (8 km) south of Nairobi. The park, established in 1946, has an area of 45 square miles (117 square km) and lies about 5,000-6,000 feet (1,500-1,800 m) above sea level. It consists partly ...
Naismith, James A.: Canadian-American physical-education director who, in December 1891, at the International Young Men's Christian Association Training School, afterward Springfield (Mass.) College, invented the game of basketball.
Naivasha, Lake: lake, in the eastern arm of the East African Rift System, 35 mi (56 km) southeast of Nakuru, Kenya. It is flanked by the Ilkinopop (Kinangop) Plateau (east) and the Mau Escarpment (west). The lake lies on an alluvium-covered flat ...
naive art: work of artists in sophisticated societies who lack or reject conventional expertise in the representation or depiction of real objects. Naive artists are not to be confused with hobbyists, or "Sunday painters," who paint for fun. The naive creates with ...
Naj' Hammadi: town in Qina muhafazah (governorate), on the west bank of the Nile, in Upper Egypt, on or near the site of the ancient town of Chenoboskion. It is a market town for the surrounding agricultural region, and it has a ...
Najadales: the pondweed order of monocotyledonous flowering plants, comprising 10 families, with 19 genera of aquatic and marsh-dwelling herbs. The plants are so diverse in appearance, structure, and technical character that they are unified as an order mostly by their aquatic ...
Najaf, Al-: city, capital of Al-Najaf muhafazah (governorate), central Iraq. Located about 100 miles (160 km) south of Baghdad, Al-Najaf lies on a ridge just west of the Euphrates River. It is one of Shi'ite Islam's two holy cities (the other being ...
Najahid Dynasty: Muslim dynasty of Ethiopian Mamluks (slaves) that ruled Yemen in the period 1022-1158 from its capital at Zabid. The Ziyadid kingdom at Zabid (819-1018) had in its final years been controlled by Mamluk viziers, the last of whom divided Yemen ...
Najd: region, central Saudi Arabia, comprising a mainly rocky plateau sloping eastward from the mountains of the Hejaz. On the northern, eastern, and southern sides, it is bounded by the sand deserts of an-Nafud, ad-Dahna', and the Rub' al-Khali. It is ...
Najibullah, Mohammad: Afghan military official who was president of Afghanistan from 1986 to 1992.
Najin: city, Hamgyong-pukto (North Hamgyong province), northeastern North Korea. It is located on Najin Bay, on the East Sea (Sea of Japan). Protected by Taech'o and Soch'o islands, it has a good natural harbour and is a port city. Formerly a ...
Najrn: town, oasis, and mintaqah (province), southern 'Asir region, southwestern Saudi Arabia, in the desert along the Yemen (San'a') frontier. It is bounded by the provinces of Al-Riyad (north), Al-Sharqiyah (east), and 'Asir (west). The province is composed ...
Nakae Chomin: noted writer who popularized the equalitarian doctrines of the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau in Japan. As a result, Nakae is often considered the spiritual founder of the Japanese democratic movement.
Nakae Toju: Neo-Confucian scholar who established in Japan the Idealist thought of the Chinese philosopher Wang Yang-ming.
Nakamura Nakazo I: Japanese kabuki actor who introduced male roles into the kabuki theatre's dance pieces (shosagoto), which had been traditionally reserved for female impersonators.
Nakamura Utaemon: notable line of actors in the kabuki theatre of Japan.
Nakasone Yasuhiro: Japanese politician, leader of the Liberal-Democratic Party (LDP; 1982-89), and prime minister of Japan (1982-87).
Nakatsu: city, Oita ken (prefecture), northern Kyushu, Japan. It lies along the mouth of the Yamakuni River facing the Inland Sea. The city developed around a castle built in 1587 by the Kuroda daimyo family. Industrial development began with the introduction ...
Nakbe: archaeological site in the dense tropical forest of northern Guatemala, thought to be one of the earliest ceremonial centres of Mayan culture.
naker: small kettledrum that reached Europe from the Middle East in the 13th century, during the Crusades. Nakers were made of wood, metal, or clay and were sometimes equipped with snares. They were almost always played in pairs and were struck ...
Nakh languages: languages spoken in the Caucasus in southwestern Russia and in the Akhmeta district of Georgia. The Nakh language group includes Chechen, Ingush, and Bats (Tsova-Tushian). Because Bats has no written form, its speakers use Georgian as their literary language. The ...
Nakhichevan: exclave and autonomous republic of Azerbaijan, in the southern part of the Transcaucasian plateau. It is bounded by Armenia to the north and east, Iran to the south and west, and Turkey to the west. The republic, which is mostly ...
Nakhichevan: capital of the Nakhichevan autonomous republic, in Azerbaijan. It lies along the Nakhichevan River about 170 miles (270 km) south-southeast of Tbilisi. Nakhichevan is extremely old, dated by some archaeologists to about 1500 BC. Armenian tradition ascribes the founding of ...
Nakho-Dagestanian languages: group of languages spoken in the northeastern Caucasus Mountains. The Nakh division consists of the languages of the Chechen, Ingush, and Bats. The Dagestanian division is more multifarious and includes such groups as the Avar-Andi-Dido languages, the Lak-Dargin (Lak-Dargwa) languages, ...
Nakhodka: town, Primorsky kray (region), extreme eastern Russia. It lies at the head of Nakhodka Bay on the Sea of Japan. Nakhodka (its name means "find," or "godsend") is an important centre for exports. It is also the terminus of a ...
Nakhon Pathom: town, western Thailand. It lies on the deltaic plain of the Chao Phraya River. A prosperous commercial centre, Nakhon Pathom is located 29 miles (47 km) west of Bangkok and has major road and rail connections. It has access to ...
Nakhon Phanom: town, northeastern Thailand. Nakhon Phanom is a commercial centre lying along the Mekong River opposite Thakhek, Laos; it is linked by road to Udon Thani (west), Ubon Ratchathani (south), and Laos and has an airport with scheduled domestic flights. An ...
Nakhon Ratchasima: city, northeastern Thailand, in the southwestern portion of the Khorat Plateau. Nakhon Ratchasima is the largest city and is the transportation, commercial, financial, and governmental centre of northeastern Thailand. A major railway connects the city to Bangkok, and the city ...
Nakhon Sawan: town, north-central Thailand. Nakhon Sawan ("Heavenly City") is located where the Ping and Nan rivers converge to form the Chao Phraya River. The town is the leading up-country river port for rice and teak logs. It lies at a major ...
Nakhon Si Thammarat: town, southern Thailand, on the eastern side of the Malay Peninsula. The walled town of Nakhon Si Thammarat, one of Thailand's oldest cities, lies near the coast of the Gulf of Thailand. Founded more than 1,000 years ago, it was ...
Naktong River: river, in the Yongnam area of the provinces (do) of North Kyongsang and South Kyongsang, southeastern South Korea. Korea's second longest river (325 miles [523 km]), it flows generally southward from the T'aebaek Mountains and enters the Korean Strait at ...
Nakuru: town, west-central Kenya. It lies near the Mau Escarpment, 95 miles (153 km) northwest of Nairobi, near the heart of the Kikuyu people's homeland. One of the largest towns in Kenya, Nakuru is an important agricultural centre and the site ...
Nakuru, Lake: lake in west-central Kenya. It is one of the saline lakes of the lake system lying in the Great Rift Valley of eastern Africa. Primarily known for its many species of birds (including vast numbers of pink flamingos), Lake Nakuru ...
Nalanda: celebrated Buddhist monastic centre, often spoken of as a university, southwest of Bihar city in northern Bihar state, India. Nalanda's traditional history dates to the time of the Buddha (6th-5th centuries BC) and Mahavira, the founder of the Jaina religion. ...
Nalchik: city and capital of Kabardino-Balkariya, southwestern Russia. The city lies along the Nalchik River where the latter leaves the Caucasian foothills. Founded as a Russian fortress in 1818, the town remained unimportant until after the October Revolution (1917). Now it ...
Nallamala Range: range of parallel hills and valleys of the Eastern Ghats in eastern Andhra Pradesh state, southern India. Located south of the Krishna River, the hills run north to south, parallel to the Coromandel Coast on the Bay of Bengal. Their ...
Nam Dinh: municipality, northern Vietnam. It lies on a canal linking the Day and the Red rivers and has road and railway links with Hanoi, 50 miles (80 km) northwest. Manufactures include textiles and distillery and salt products. The city is also ...
Nam Viet: ancient kingdom occupying much of what is now northern Vietnam and the southern Chinese provinces of Kwangtung and Kwangsi.
Nama: any member of a people of southern Namibia who constitute by far the largest Khoekhoe ethnic group, perhaps larger than all the others combined. They represent about one-eighth of the population of Namibia, and there are smaller groups in South ...
naman: in Vedism and Hinduism, the characteristic sign or mark, most frequently used in the sense of the "name," of an individual, or the word that stands for an object. The term has been appropriated by Indian linguistics to denote the ...
Namangan: city and administrative centre of Namangan oblasti (province), Uzbekistan, in the northern Fergana Valley. The first mention of the settlement dates from the end of the 15th century. By the mid-18th century, its many craftsmen made it one of the ...
Namangan: oblasti (province), eastern Uzbekistan, with an area of 3,100 square miles (7,900 square km), in the northern part of the Fergana Valley. It is traversed by the Syr Darya, the Severny (Northern) Fergana irrigation canal, and the Great Namangan Canal. ...