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 Talk Talk - Communication terms
Category: General technical and industrial
Date & country: 28/05/2010, UK
Words: 18630


Judas Iscariot
In the New Testament, the disciple who betrayed Jesus Christ. Judas was the treasurer of the group. At the last Pesach (Passover) supper, he arranged, for 30 pieces of silver, to point out Jesus to the chief priests so that they could arrest him. Afterward, Judas was overcome with remorse and committed suicide

Judah
Name used in Graeco-Roman times for the southernmost district of Palestine, now divided between Israel and Jordan. After the death of King Solomon in 922 BC, Judah adhered to his son Rehoboam and the Davidic line, whereas the rest of Israel elected Jeroboam as ruler of the northern kingdom. In New Testament times, Judah was the Roman province o...

Juan Carlos
King of Spain. The son of Don Juan, pretender to the Spanish throne, he married Princess Sofia, eldest daughter of King Paul of Greece, in 1962. In 1969 he was nominated by Franco to succeed on the restoration of the monarchy intended to follow Franco's death; his father was excluded because of his known liberal views. Juan Carlos became ki...

Juvenal
Roman satirical poet. His 16 surviving Satires give an explicit and sometimes brutal picture of the corrupt Roman society of his time. Very little is known of his life, but his native place, if not his birthplace, was Aquinum (now Aquino, southern Italy). Juvenal is twice mentioned by Martial, and he may be the author of a well&#...

jury
Body of lay people (usually 12) sworn to decide the facts of a case and reach a verdict in a court of law. Juries, used mainly in English-speaking countries, are implemented primarily in criminal cases, but also sometimes in civil cases; for example, inquests and libel trials. The British jury derived from Germanic custom. It was introduced...

Jura
Island of the Inner Hebrides, Argyll and Bute; area 380 sq km/147 sq mi; population (2001) 188. It is separated from the Scottish mainland by the Sound of Jura. The whirlpool Corryvreckan (Gaelic `Brecan's cauldron`) is off the north coast. It has a range of mountains known as the `Paps of Jura`, the highest of w...

Jupiter
(mythology) In Roman mythology, the supreme god reigning on Mount Olympus, identified with the Greek Zeus; son of Saturn and Ops; and husband of Juno, his sister. His titles included Fulgur (thrower of lightning), Tonans (maker of thunder), Invictus (protector in battle), and Triumphat...

Junkers, Hugo
German aeroplane designer. In 1919 he founded in Dessau the aircraft works named after him. Junkers planes, including dive bombers, night fighters, and troop carriers, were used by the Germans in World War II

Julius II
Pope (1503–13). A politician who wanted to make the Papal States the leading power in Italy, he formed international alliances first against Venice and then against France. He began the building of St Peter's Church in Rome in 1506 and was a patron of the artists Michelangelo and Raphael

Juggernaut
A name for Vishnu, the Hindu god, meaning `Lord of the World`. His temple is in Puri, Orissa, India. A statue of the god, dating from about 318, is annually carried in procession on a large vehicle (hence the word `juggernaut`). Devotees formerly threw themselves beneath its wheels

jugular vein
One of two veins in the necks of vertebrates; they return blood from the head to the superior (or anterior) vena cava and thence to the heart

Jurassic period
Period of geological time 208–146 million years ago; the middle period of the Mesozoic era. Climates worldwide were equable, creating forests of conifers and ferns; dinosaurs were abundant, birds evolved, and limestones and iron ores were deposited. The name comes from the Jura Mountains in France and Switzerland, where the rocks forme...

Judaism
Click images to enlargeThe religion of the ancient Hebrews and their descendants the Jews, based, according to the Old Testament, on a covenant between God and Abraham about 2000 BC, and the renewal of the covenant with Moses about 1200 BC. Judaism is the oldest monotheistic faith, the forebear of Christianity and Islam. ...

judo
Form of wrestling of Japanese origin. The two combatants wear loose-fitting, belted jackets and trousers to facilitate holds, and falls are broken by a square mat; when one has established a painful hold that the other cannot break, the latter signifies surrender by slapping the ground with a free hand. Degrees of proficiency are indicated ...

Jupiter
(astronomy) Click images to enlargeFifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System, with a mass equal to 70% of all the other planets combined and 318 times as large as that of the Earth. A prominent feature is the Great Red Spot, a...

jute
Fibre obtained from two plants of the linden family: C. capsularis and C. olitorius. Jute is used for sacks and sacking, upholstery, webbing (woven strips used to support upholstery), string, and stage canvas. (Genus Corchorus, family Tiliaceae.) In the production of bulk packaging and tu...

jumbo jet
Popular name for a generation of huge, wide-bodied airliners including the Boeing 747, which is 71 m/232 ft long, has a wingspan of 60 m/196 ft, a maximum takeoff weight of nearly 400 tonnes, and can carry more than 400 passengers

Juárez, Benito Pablo
Mexican politician, president 1861–65 and 1867–72. In 1861 he suspended repayments of Mexico's foreign debts, which prompted a joint French, British, and Spanish expedition to exert pressure. French forces invaded and created an empire for Maximilian, brother of the Austrian emperor. After their withdrawal in 1867, Maximilian was exec...

jujube
Any of a group of trees belonging to the buckthorn family, with berrylike fruits. The common jujube (Z. jujuba) of Asia, Africa, and Australia, cultivated in southern Europe and California, has fruit the size of small plums, known as Chinese dates when preserved in syrup. See also lotus. (Genus Zizyphus, family...

juniper
Any of a group of aromatic evergreen trees or shrubs of the cypress family, found throughout temperate regions. Junipers produce a valuable wood and their berries are used to flavour gin and in cooking. Some junipers are mistakenly called cedars. (Genus Juniperus, family Cupressaceae.)

Jung, Carl Gustav
Swiss psychiatrist. He collaborated with Sigmund Freud from 1907 until their disagreement in 1914 over the importance of sexuality in causing psychological problems. Jung studied myth, religion, and dream symbolism, saw the unconscious as a source of spiritual insight, and distinguished between intro...

junk bond
Fixed-interest loan paying an above average level of interest but with a corresponding above-average level of risk. Junk bonds became popular in the USA during the 1980s economic boom. Pioneered by US-born bond trader Michael Milken, they were commonly used to raise capital quickly, typically to finance takeovers to be paid for by the s...

justiciar
The chief justice minister of Norman and early Angevin kings, second in power only to the king. By 1265, the government had been divided into various departments, such as the Exchequer and Chancery, which meant that it was no longer desirable to have one official in charge of all

Jude, St
Supposed half-brother of Jesus and writer of the Epistle of Jude in the New Testament; patron saint of lost causes. Feast day 28 October

judicial review
In English law, action in the High Court to review the decisions of lower courts, tribunals, and administrative bodies. Various court orders can be made: certiorari (which quashes the decision); mandamus (which commands a duty to be performed); prohibition (which commands that an action should not be performed because it is unauthorized...

jungle
(rainforest) Popular name for rainforest

Judith
In the Old Testament, a Jewish widow who saved her community from a Babylonian siege by pretending to seduce, and then beheading, the enemy general Holofernes. Her story is much represented in Western art

judiciary
In constitutional terms, the system of courts and body of judges in a country. The independence of the judiciary from other branches of the central authority is generally considered to be an essential feature of a democratic political system. This independence is often written into a nation's constitution and protected from abuse by politicians

justification
In printing and word processing, the arrangement of text so that it is aligned with either the left or right margin, or both

juvenile offender
Young person who commits a criminal offence. In UK law, young people under the age of 17 are commonly referred to as juveniles, although for some purposes a distinction is made between `children` (under the age of 14) and `young persons` (14–16). A juvenile under the age of ten may not be found guilty of an offence. Most le...

jungle
(music) Dance music that combines techno with African and Caribbean elements, also called drum 'n' bass after the main instruments. Jungle originated in the UK in 1992 and quickly split into subgenres. Artists include L T J Bukem and Dillinja

Juppé, Alain Marie
French neo-Gaullist politician, foreign minister 1993–95 and prime minister 1995–97. In 1976, as a close lieutenant of Jacques Chirac, he helped to found the right-of-centre Rally for the Republic (RPR) party, of which he later became secretary general, then president. He was appointed premier by newly-elected president Ch...

Justinian
East Roman emperor 527–565, renowned for overseeing the reconquest of Africa, Italy, and parts of Spain. He ordered the codification of Roman law, which has influenced European jurisprudence; he built the church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, and closed the university in Athens in 529. His achievements, however, were short-lived. H...

Judgement Day
In Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, the day on which people who have died are resurrected by God, who will judge everyone according to how they have lived, and the world will end. In Islam and Christianity, evil people are sent to hell (Jahannam) and good people to heaven (Jannah). Many religions hold that evil must be punished, as it is not just ...

juzu
Buddhist concept of interpenetration. Pure Land Buddhists believe that all things are dependent on each other for their existence, so that everyone will be reborn in the Pure Land if only one person does so through attaining enlightenment. Pure Land religious leaders can lead the life of a householder, similar in many ways to any member of the Budd...

juvenile court
Magistrates' court in which a juvenile offender (a young person under the age of 17 who has committed a criminal offence) is tried under UK law. Members of the public are not allowed in a juvenile court and the name of the young person on trial is also not allowed to be disclosed in any report of the proceedings (for example, by newspapers). Th...

Jylland
Danish name for the mainland of Denmark, the northern section of the Jutland peninsula

Kawabata, Yasunari
Japanese novelist. He translated Lady Murasaki, and was the author of Snow Country (1947) and A Thousand Cranes (1952). His novels are characterized by melancholy and loneliness. He was the first Japanese to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, in 1968

Kaunas
Industrial city in Lithuania, at the confluence of the Neris and Niemen (Neman) rivers, 80 km/50 mi northwest of Vilnius; population (2001 est) 411,600. Kaunas has engineering, textile, and food industries and is an important river port and railway junction. It was the capital of independent Lithuania from 1920 until 1940. Kaunas was first ...

Kattegat
Strait between Denmark and Sweden. It is about 240 km/150 mi long and 135 km/85 mi wide at its broadest point, and joins the Skagerrak on the north to the Baltic Sea on the south. Its sandbanks are a navigational hazard

Katyn Forest
Forest near Smolensk, southwest of Moscow, Russia, where 4,500 Polish officer prisoners of war (captured in the German-Soviet partition of Poland 1940) were shot; 10,000 others were killed elsewhere. In 1989 the USSR accepted responsibility for the massacre

Kathmandu
Click images to enlargeCapital of Nepal, situated at 1,370 m/4,500 ft in the southern Himalayas, in the Valley of Nepal, at the junction of the Baghmati and Vishnumati rivers; population (2001 est) 696,900. Tourism is an important economic activity and its growth has been aided by the develoment of an internationa...

Karoo
Two areas of semi-desert in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, divided into the Great Karoo and Little Karoo by the Swartberg Mountains. The two Karoos together have an area of about 260,000 sq km/100,000 sq mi

Karnak
Click images to enlargeVillage of modern Egypt on the east bank of the River Nile. It gives its name to the temple of Ammon (constructed by Seti I and Rameses I) around which the major part of the ancient city of Thebes was built. An avenue of rams leads to Luxor

Karl-Marx-Stadt
Former name (1953–90) of Chemnitz, a city in Germany

Karen
Member of any of a group of Southeast Asian peoples. Numbering 1.9 million, they live in eastern Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, and the Irrawaddy delta. Traditionally they practised shifting cultivation. Buddhism and Christianity are their main religions, and their language belongs to the Thai division of the Sino-Tibetan family. In 1984 the Burmes...

Karelia
(Russian Federation) Autonomous republic in the northwest of the Russian Federation, bordering on Finland to the west; area 172,400 sq km/66,550 sq mi; population (1997) 780,000. The capital is Petrozavodsk. The republic is extensively forested with numerous lakes, of which Ladoga ...

Kara-Kum
Sandy desert occupying some 90% of the republic of Turkmenistan; area about 310,800 sq km/120,000 sq mi. The Kara-Kum lies to the east of the Caspian Sea, between the Aral Sea to the north and the Iranian border to the south. It is separated from the Kyzyl-Kum desert by the Amu Darya River. The desert is crossed by the Trans-...

Kara-Kalpak
Large autonomous region in northwest Uzbekistan; area 158,000 sq km/61,000 sq mi; population (2001 est) 1,343,000. The capital is Nukus and Munyak is another city in the region. The north of the region consists mainly of lowland around the delta of the Amu Darya, which formerly flowed into the Aral Sea, the southern half of which is wit...

Karakoram
Mountain range in central Asia, divided among China, Pakistan, and India. Peaks include K2, Masharbrum, Gasharbrum, and Mustagh Tower. Ladakh subsidiary range is in northeastern Kashmir on the Tibetan border

Karachi
Largest city and chief port of Pakistan, lying on the Arabian Sea, northwest of the Indus delta; population (1998) 9,339,000, (2007 calc) 12,315,800. It is the capital of Sind province, and Pakistan's leading centre for commerce, finance, industry, and transport. Its port handles most of the ...

Kaohsiung
City and port on the west coast of Taiwan; population (2006 est) 1,514,700. Industries include aluminium, fertilizers, cement, oil refineries, iron and steel works, shipyards, and food processing. Kaohsiung began to develop as a commercial port after 1858; its industrial development came about while it was occupied by Japan 1895–1945

Kansu
Alternative spelling for the Chinese province Gansu

Kant, Immanuel
German philosopher. He believed that knowledge is not merely an aggregate of sense impressions but is dependent on the conceptual apparatus of the human understanding, which is itself not derived from experience. In ethics, Kant argued that right action cannot be based on feelings or inclinations but conforms to a law given by reason, the categoric...

Kanpur
Commercial and industrial city and capital of Kanpur district, Uttar Pradesh, India, 65 km/40 mi southwest of Lucknow, on the River Ganges; population (2001 est) 2,532,100. It is the largest city in Uttar Pradesh, and industries include cotton, wool, jute, chemicals, plastics, iron, and steel. It has benefited from its rail links with Kolka...

Kanchenjunga
Himalayan mountain on the Nepal–Sikkim border, 8,586 m/28,170 ft high, 120 km/75 mi southeast of Mount Everest. The name means `five treasure houses of the great snows`. Kanchenjunga was first climbed by a British expedition in 1955

Kandy
City in central Sri Lanka, on the Mahaweli River; capital of a district of the same name; population (2001 est) 110,000. It lies 116 km/72 mi northeast of Colombo. It is the focus both of a major tea-growing area and of the Sinhalese Buddhist culture. One of the most sacred Buddhist shrines is situated in Kandy. Called the Dalada Ma...

Kandinsky, Vasily
Russian-born painter. He was a pioneer of abstract art. Between 1910 and 1914 he produced the series Improvisations and Compositions, the first known examples of purely abstract work in 20th-century art. He was an originator of the expressionist Blaue Reiter movement 1911–12, and...

Kangchenjunga
Variant spelling of Kanchenjunga, a Himalayan mountain

Kandahar
City in Afghanistan, capital of Kandahar province, and the second city in Afghanistan, 450 km/280 mi southwest of Kabul; population (2001 est) 329,000. The city is 1,005 m/3,297 ft above sea level and stands on plateau with an annual rainfall of only 150 mm/6 in, but is irrigated by the Tarnak and other rivers. It is a trading centr...

Kampala
Capital of Uganda, on Lake Victoria; population (2002 est) 1,208,544. It is linked by rail with Mombasa. Products include tea, coffee, fruit, and vegetables. The varied industries include engineering, chemicals, paint manufacture, textiles, footwear, cement, brewing, distilling, cigarettes, flour- and sugar-milling, and coffee processin...

kamikaze
(pilot) Pilots of the Japanese air force in World War II who deliberately crash-dived their planes, loaded with bombs, usually on to ships of the US Navy. A special force of suicide pilots was established 1944 to crash-dive planes, loaded with bombs, onto US and British ships. Initiall...

Kamchatka Peninsula
Mountainous region in the Russian Far East, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. The Kamchatka Peninsula is over 1,200 km/746 mi long, covers an area of 370,000 sq km/142,857 sq mi, and contains a total of over 120 volcanoes (20 of them active), together with many hot springs and geysers. The highest poin...

Kamakura
City of Kanagawa prefecture, Honshu island, Japan, 15 km/9 mi southwest of Yokohama, on Sagami Bay; population (1993 est) 174,300. It is an exclusive commuter area for Tokyo. The mild climate and historic buildings, especially the Buddhist temples, attract tourists. Lacquerware has been an important craft since the 13th century. Kamakura wa...

Kalmyk
Republic in the southwest of the Russian Federation; area 75,900 sq km/29,305 sq mi; population (1996) 319,000 (39% urban) (45% Kalmyks, 38% Russians). The capital is Elista, and Yashkul is another city. The republic is west of the lower Volga and has a short coastline on the northwestern shore of the Caspian Sea. Physical f...

Kaliningrad
Home to the mission control centre for Russian space flights, a facility owned and operated by the Energiya Rocket and Space Complex. The city and port in western Russia has a population of 425,000 (2003 est). Industries include shipbuilding, fisheries, machinery, engineering, and paper manufacture. The port of Kaliningrad remains ice-free thro...

Kalimantan
Name given to the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo; area 543,900 sq km/210,000 sq mi. It is divided into four provinces: Kalimantan Barat, population (2000 est) 4,034,200, capital Pontianak; Kalimantan Selatan, population (2000 est) 2,985,200, capital Banjarmasin; Kalimantan Tengah, population (2000 est) 1,857,000, capita...

Kalahari Desert
Arid to semi-arid desert area, occupying a plateau and forming most of Botswana and extending into Namibia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa; area about 900,000 sq km/347,400 sq mi. The only permanent river, the Okavango, flows into a delta in the northwest, forming marshes that are rich in wildlife. The British explorer, David Livingstone, c...

Kaiser
Title formerly used by the Holy Roman emperors, Austrian emperors 1806–1918, and German emperors 1871–1918. The word, like the Russian `tsar`, is derived from the Latin Caesar

Kairouan
Muslim holy city in Tunisia, south of Tunis; population (2004) 117,900. It is also a commercial centre for trade in sheep, wool, skins, grain, and olives. Chief industries are carpets, leather goods, ceramics, and copperware. The city, said to have been founded in AD 617, is sometimes known as th...

Kaifeng
City in Henan province; population (1999 est) 600,000. Formerly the provincial capital and once a capital of China (907–1127), it lost its importance because of the silting-up of the nearby Huang He River. Industries include zinc-smelting, and the manufacture of fertilizers, textiles, beverages, and agricultural machinery. History ...

Kahlo, Frida
Mexican painter. Using vivid colour and a naive style that was deliberately based on Mexican folk art, she created deeply personal, moving, and emotional paintings. Often referred to as an `autobiographical` artist, she is known primarily for her surreal self-portraits in which she explored her physical disabilities (she was crippled ...

Kagoshima
Industrial city and port on Kyushu island, southwest Japan, 150 km/93 mi southeast of Nagasaki; population (2005) 604,400. It is the seat of the prefecture of the same name. Satsumayaki porcelain, starch, caramel, vegetable oil, tobacco, wood crafts, and a silk fabric called tsumugi are produced here. Kagoshima is often c...

Kafue
River in central Zambia, a tributary of the Zambezi, 965 km/600 mi long. The upper reaches of the river form part of the Kafue National Park (1951). Kafue town, 44 km/27 mi south of Lusaka, population (2000) 45,900, is the centre of Zambia's heavy industry, which includes engineering and textiles. A hydroelectric power station opened in...

Kafka, Franz
Austrian novelist. He wrote in German. His three unfinished allegorical novels Der Prozess/The Trial (1925), Das Schloss/The Castle (1926), and Amerika/America (1927) were posthumously published despite his instructions that they should be destroyed. His short stories include ...

Kabinda
Part of Angola; see Cabinda

Kabul
Capital of Afghanistan, capital of Kabul province, and the leading economic and cultural centre of Afghanistan, lying at an altitude of 1,800 m/5,900 ft above sea level, on the River Kabul; population (2001 est) 2,080,000 (the majority Farsi-speaking Tajiks, with a large Pathan (Pashtun) minority). Products include textiles, plastics, l...

Kabbalah
Ancient esoteric Jewish mystical tradition of philosophy containing strong elements of pantheism, yet akin to neo-Platonism. Kabbalistic writing reached its peak between the 13th and 16th centuries. It is largely rejected by modern Judaic thought as medieval superstition, but has influenced the ultra-Orthodox Hasidic and Lubavitch sects. Am...

Kabardino-Balkaria
Republic in the far southwestern Russian Federation, on the border with Georgia; area 12,500 sq km/4,826 sq mi; population (1996) 790,000 (58% urban) (48% Kabarda, 32% Russians, 9% Balkars). The capital is Nalchik, and other cities include Tyrnyauz and Prokhladnyy. The republic is on the northern slopes and foothills of ...

Kaaba
In Mecca, Saudi Arabia, an oblong building in the quadrangle of the Great Mosque, into the northeastern corner of which is built the Black Stone declared by the prophet Muhammad to have been given to Abraham by the archangel Gabriel, and revered by Muslims. By using special compasses or noting the position of the qiblah wall within the mosque, Musl...

Kalidasa
Indian epic poet and dramatist. His works, in Sanskrit, include the classic drama Sakuntala, the love story of King Dushyanta and the nymph Sakuntala

Kariba Dam
Concrete dam on the Zambezi River, on the Zambia–Zimbabwe border, about 386 km/240 mi downstream from the Victoria Falls, constructed 1955–60 to supply power to both countries. The dam crosses the Kariba Gorge, and the reservoir, Lake Kariba, has important fisheries

Karamanlis, Constantinos
Greek politician of the New Democracy Party. A lawyer and an anticommunist, he was prime minister 1955–58, 1958–61, and 1961–63 (when he went into self-imposed exile because of a military coup). He was recalled as prime minister on the fall of the regime of the `colonels` in July 1974, and was president 1980–85

Karajan, Herbert von
Austrian conductor. He dominated European classical music performance after 1947. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra 1955–89, and artistic director of the Vienna State Opera 1957–64 and of the Salzburg Festival 1956–60. A perfectionist, he cultivated an orchestral sound of notable smoothness and transpare...

Kano
Capital of Kano state in northern Nigeria, trade centre of an irrigated area; population (2007 est) 3,848,900. Kano is a major centre for the groundnut and cattle trade. Products of local industry include rolled steel, bicycles, assembled motor vehicles, glass, furniture, textiles, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, office equipment, flour, and vegeta...

Kaieteur Falls
Waterfall on the River Potaro, a tributary of the Essequibo, Guyana. At 250 m/822 ft, it is five times as high as Niagara Falls

Kaltenbrunner, Ernst
Austrian Nazi leader. After the annexation of Austria in 1938 he joined police chief Himmler's staff, and as head of the Security Police (SD) from 1943 was responsible for the murder of millions of Jews (see the Holocaust) and Allied soldiers in World War II. After the war, he was tried at Nürnberg for war crimes and hanged in October 1946

kakapo
Nocturnal flightless parrot that lives in burrows in New Zealand. It is green, yellow, and brown with a disc of brown feathers round its eyes, like an owl. It weighs up to 3.5 kg/7.5 lb. When in danger, its main defence is to remain perfectly still. Because of the introduction of predators such a...

kangaroo
Any of a group of marsupials (mammals that carry their young in pouches) found in Australia and Papua New Guinea. Kangaroos are plant-eaters and most live in groups. They are adapted to hopping, the vast majority of species having very large, powerful back legs and feet compared with the small fo...

karma
In Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism, the deeds carried forward from one life to the next through rebirth or reincarnation. The aim of believers is to free themselves from the cycle of rebirth, attaining union with God or nirvana. In Hinduism and Sikhism, all the actions of a person, whether deliberate or unintentional, are carried forward with the t...

Kali
In Hindu mythology, the goddess of destruction and creation. She is the wife of Shiva. Kali feeds herself on blood, but produces life and destroys ignorance. She shows Hindus that death is an illusion, not to be feared, but another aspect of eternal life. Kali is usually depicted with four arms, but sometimes has up to ten, signifying her greater&#...

Kahn, Louis Isadore
US architect. A follower of Mies van der Rohe, he developed a classically romantic style, in which functional `servant` areas such as stairwells and air ducts feature prominently, often as towerlike structures surrounding the main living and working, or `served`, areas. Khan's projects are characterized by an imaginative use...

Kazan
City and port on the Volga, capital and economic centre of Tatarstan, in the western Russian Federation; population (2003 est) 1,113,600. Kazan is the centre of Tatarstan culture. It has large engineering plants (manufacturing ships, machine tools, compressors, and dental equipment), chemical works (producing explosives, synthetic rubber, soap,...

Kazantzakis, Nikos
Greek writer. His works include the poem I Odysseia/The Odyssey (1938), which continues Homer's Odyssey, and the novels Zorba the Greek (1946), Christ Recrucified (1948), The Greek Passion, and The Last Temptation of Christ (bot...

kapok
Silky hairs that surround the seeds of certain trees, particularly the kapok tree (Bombax ceiba) of India and Malaysia and the silk-cotton tree (Ceiba pentandra) of tropical America. Kapok is used for stuffing cushions and mattresses and for sound insulation; oil obtained from the seeds is used in food ...

Kara Sea
Part of the Arctic Ocean off the north coast of the Russian Federation, bounded to the northwest by the island of Novaya Zemlya and to the northeast by Severnaya Zemlya; area 880,000 sq km/339,768 sq mi; average depths 30–100 m/98–328 ft, with a maximum of 620 m/2,034 ft. Novy Port on the Gulf of Ob is the chief port. ...

Karnataka
Click images to enlargeState in southwest India; area 191,773 sq km/74,044 sq mi; population (2001 est) 52,734,000, of which the majority is Hindu. The capital is Bangalore, and Mangalore is a port. The state has a western coastal plain; inland the forested Western Ghats rise to heights of 1,250 m/4,00...

Kashmir
Disputed area on the border of India and Pakistan in the northwest of the former state of Kashmir, now Jammu and Kashmir; area 78,900 sq km/30,445 sq mi. Physical features include the west Himalayan peak Nanga Parbat (8,126 m/26,660 ft), Karakoram Pass, Indus River, and Baltoro Glacier. T...

Kazan, Elia
Turkish-born US stage and film director. Among the plays he directed are The Skin of Our Teeth (1942), A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949), and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955). He became a film director in 1944, and won Academy Awards for G...

Karbala
Holy city of the Shiite Muslims and administrative centre of the governorate of the same name, in Iraq, 96 km/60 mi southwest of Baghdad; population (2007 est) 449,000. The city lies on the edge of the Syrian desert and is linked by canal to the Hindiyah branch of the River Euphrates. The chief modern industries are the manufacture of texti...