undermined

  • 61Poland — /poh leuhnd/, n. a republic in E central Europe, on the Baltic Sea. 38,700,291; ab. 121,000 sq. mi. (313,400 sq. km). Cap.: Warsaw. Polish, Polska. * * * Poland Introduction Poland Background: Poland is an ancient nation that was conceived around …

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  • 62Roman Catholicism — the faith, practice, and system of government of the Roman Catholic Church. [1815 25] * * * Largest single Christian denomination in the world, with some one billion members, or about 18% of the world s population. The Roman Catholic church has… …

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  • 63Spain — /spayn/, n. a kingdom in SW Europe. Including the Balearic and Canary islands, 39,244,195; 194,988 sq. mi. (505,019 sq. km). Cap.: Madrid. Spanish, España. * * * Spain Introduction Spain Background: Spain s powerful world empire of the 16th and… …

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  • 64Tajikistan — /teuh jik euh stan , stahn , jee keuh /, n. Tadzhikistan. * * * Tajikistan Introduction Tajikistan Background: Tajikistan has experienced three changes in government and a five year civil war since it gained independence in 1991 from the USSR. A… …

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  • 65Thailand — /tuy land , leuhnd/, n. 1. Formerly, Siam. a kingdom in SE Asia: official name of Siam 1939 45 and since 1949. 59,450,818; 198,242 sq. mi. (513,445 sq. km). Cap.: Bangkok. 2. Gulf of. Also called Gulf of Siam. an arm of the South China Sea, S of… …

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  • 66Ukraine — /yooh krayn , kruyn , yooh krayn/, n. a republic in SE Europe: rich agricultural and industrial region. 50,684,635; 223,090 sq. mi. (603,700 sq. km). Cap.: Kiev. Russian, Ukraina. Formerly, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. * * * Ukraine… …

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  • 67United States — a republic in the N Western Hemisphere comprising 48 conterminous states, the District of Columbia, and Alaska in North America, and Hawaii in the N Pacific. 267,954,767; conterminous United States, 3,022,387 sq. mi. (7,827,982 sq. km); with… …

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  • 68World War I — the war fought mainly in Europe and the Middle East, between the Central Powers and the Allies, beginning on July 28, 1914, and ending on November 11, 1918, with the collapse of the Central Powers. Abbr.: WWI Also called Great War, War of the… …

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  • 69Abbas, Mahmoud — also called Abu Mazen born 1935, Zefat, Palestine [now in Israel] Palestinian leader. Abbas earned a law degree from the University of Damascus and a doctorate in history from Moscow State University. In the late 1950s he was one of the founders… …

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  • 70French literature — Introduction       the body of written works in the French language produced within the geographic and political boundaries of France. The French language was one of the five major Romance languages to develop from Vulgar Latin as a result of the …

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