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Mau Mau
Mau Mau , secret insurgent organization in Kenya , comprising mainly Kikuyu tribespeople. They were bound by oath to force the expulsion of white settlers from Kenya. In 1952 the Mau Mau began reprisals against the Europeans, especially in the "white highlands," claimed as Kikuyu lands. The set...
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Mount Kenya
Mount Kenya or Mount Kirinyaga, extinct volcano, central Kenya, just south of the equator. Its highest peak, Batian, reaches 17,058 ft (5,199 m), making Mt. Kenya the highest mountain in Africa after Kilimanjaro. In the heart of Kikuyu country, Mt. Kenya was a focal point during the Mau Mau d...
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Kikuyu
Kikuyu , Bantu-speaking people, numbering about 6 million, forming the largest tribal group in Kenya. The Kikuyu live in the highlands NE of Nairobi. Before the British conquest they were the most influential people in the country. During the 1950s, under the leadership of Jomo Kenyatta , the Kikuy...
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Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey
Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey , 1903-72, British archaeologist and anthropologist of E Africa, b. Kabete, Kenya; father of Richard Leakey . His fossil discoveries in E Africa demonstrated that humans were far older than had previously been suspected. Leakey, the son of missionary parents, grew up amo...
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Tom Wolfe
Tom Wolfe (Thomas Kennerly Wolfe, Jr.), 1931-, American journalist and novelist, b. Richmond, Va. Wolfe first gained fame for his studies of contemporary American culture in a style known as New Journalism, which combined personal impressions and opinions, reconstructed dialogue, slang, and academi...
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Jomo Kenyatta
Jomo Kenyatta , 1893?-1978, African political leader, first president of Kenya (1964-78). A Kikuyu, he was one of the earliest and best-known African nationalist leaders. As secretary of his tribal association (1928), he campaigned for land reform and African political rights. In England he collabor...
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Nairobi
Nairobi , city (1996 pop. 3,000,000), capital of Kenya, S Kenya, in the E African highlands. Nairobi is Kenya's largest city and its administrative, communications, and economic center. It is the trade and distribution center for a productive agricultural area specializing in coffee, tea, and cattle...
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Ngugi wa Thiong'o
Ngugi wa Thiong'o or James Ngugi, 1938-, Kenyan writer, acclaimed as East Africa's foremost novelist. He studied at universities in Uganda and England. His first novel, Weep Not, Child (1964) and his second, A Grain of Wheat (1967), are accounts of the Mau Mau rebellion. Ngugi is particul...
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Cochin China
Cochin China , Fr. Cochinchine, historic region (c.26,500 sq mi/68,600 sq km) of Vietnam, SE Asia. The capital and chief city was Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City ). Cochin China was bounded by Cambodia on the northwest and north, by the historic region of Annam on the northeast, by the South China...
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Samoa
Samoa formerly Western Samoa, officially Independent State of Samoa, constitutional monarchy (2005 est. pop. 177,000), South Pacific, comprising the western half of the Samoa island chain. There are nine major islands: Upolu , Savai'i , Apolima, Manono, Fanuatapu, Namua, Nuutele, Nuula, and...
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