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sturgeon

(Encyclopedia)sturgeon, primitive fish of the northern regions of Europe, Asia, and North America. Unlike evolutionarily advanced fishes, it has a fine-grained hide, with very reduced scalation, a mostly cartilagin...

Kura

(Encyclopedia)Kura ko͝oräˈ [key], ancient Cyrus, Georgian Mktvari, Azeri Kür, river, c.950 mi (1,530 km) long, the chief river of Georgia and Azerbaijan. It rises in NE Turkey, NW of Kars, and flows NE into Geo...

Atyrau

(Encyclopedia)Atyrau go͞orˈyĭf [key], city, W Kazakhstan, on the Ural River and near the Caspian Sea. A port, rail center, and an industrial base of the Emba basin oil fields, it has...

Gorgan

(Encyclopedia)Gorgan jo͝orjänˈ [key], town, N Iran, E of the Caspian Sea. The surrounding region yields ...

Grozny

(Encyclopedia)Grozny or Groznyy both: grôzˈnē [key], city (2006 est. pop. 230,000), capital of Chechnya, SE European Russia, in the northern foothills of the Greater Caucasus. It is the center of Chechnya's oil ...

Bonvalot, Pierre Gabriel Édouard

(Encyclopedia)Bonvalot, Pierre Gabriel Édouard pyĕr gäbrēĕlˈ ādwärˈ bôNvälōˈ [key], 1853–1933, French explorer and author. In 1880–82 he visited central Asia, explored Kohistan, and returned to Fra...

Sumqayit

(Encyclopedia)Sumqayit gīētˈ [key], city (1989 pop. 231,104), E central Azerbaijan, on the Caspian Sea at the mouth of the Sumqayit River. Once a major industrial center, it became heavily polluted and most of i...

Tiglathpileser III

(Encyclopedia)Tiglathpileser III, d. 728 b.c., king of ancient Assyria. He seems to have usurped the throne in 745 b.c. He bore the alternative name of Pul, by which he was known in biblical history (2 Kings 15.19)...

Lankaran

(Encyclopedia)Lankaran lyĕnˌkəränˈyə [key], city (1989 pop. 45,020), SE Azerbaijan, near the Iranian border, on the Caspian Sea. It is a port and an important food-processing center for fish and tea. Its inha...

Ural

(Encyclopedia)Ural yo͝orˈəl, Rus. o͞orälˈ [key], river, c.1,580 mi (2,540 km) long, rising in the S Urals, flowing through Russia and Kazakhstan. Part of the traditional boundary between Europe and Asia, the ...