150 miles W. by S. of Nagpur; with walls and a fort, and some trade in cotton. Pop. 29,289.
Ak′ron, a town of the United States, in Ohio, 100 miles N.E. of Columbus, on an elevated site. Being furnished with ample water-power by the Little Cuyahoga, it possesses large flour-mills, woollen factories, manufactures of iron goods, &c. In the vicinity extensive beds of mineral paint are worked. Pop. (1920), 208,435.
Aksu′ ('white water'), a town of Eastern or Chinese Turkestan, 300 miles from Kashgar, in the valley of the Aksu. It is an important centre of trade between Russia, China, and Tartary, and has manufactures of cotton cloth, leather, and metal goods. Formerly the residence of the kings of Kashgar and Yarkand. Pop. 30,000.
Akyab′, a seaport of Lower Burmah, capital of the province of Arracan, at the mouth of the River Kuladan or Akyab, of recent upgrowth, well built, possessing a good harbour, and carrying on an important trade, its chief exports being rice and petroleum. Pop. 35,680.
Al, the article in the Arabic language. It appears in English words derived from the Arabic, such as Algebra, Alchemy, Alcove.
Alabama (al-a-ba˙′ma), one of the United States, bounded by Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, and Mississippi; area, 51,998 sq. miles. The southern part, bordering on the Gulf of Mexico and Florida, is low and level, and wooded largely with pine, hence known as the 'pine-woods region'; the middle is hilly, with some tracts of level sand or prairies; the north is broken and mountainous. The State is intersected by the Rivers Alabama, Tombigbee, Mobile, Coosa, Tallapoosa, Tennessee, &c., some of them navigable for several hundred miles. The soil is various, being in some places, particularly in the south, sandy and barren, but in most parts is fertile, especially in the river valleys and in the centre, where there is a very fertile tract known as the 'cotton belt'. The climate in general is warm, and in the lowlying lands skirting the rivers is rather unhealthy. In the more elevated parts it is healthy and agreeable, the winters being mild and the summers tempered by breezes from the Gulf of Mexico. The staple production is cotton, especially in the middle and south, where rice and sugar are also grown; in the north the cereals (above all maize) are the principal crops. Alabama possesses extensive beds of iron ore and coal, with marble, granite, and other minerals; and coal and iron mining, and the smelting and working of iron, are now important industries. The manufacture of cotton goods is extensively carried on. The foreign trade is concentrated in Mobile, whence cotton is the principal export. The State sends eight representatives to Congress. Its principal towns are Montgomery, the seat of government, and Mobile, the chief port. There is a State university at Tuscaloosa, a university connected with the Methodist Episcopal body, several State normal colleges, besides professional schools, &c., in the principal towns. Alabama became a State in 1819. It was one of the slave States. Pop. (1920), 2,348,174.
Alabama, a river of the United States, in the State of Alabama, formed by the junction of the Coosa and the Tallapoosa. After a course of 300 miles it joins the Tombigbee and assumes the name of the Mobile.
Alabama, The, a ship built at Birkenhead to act as a privateer in the service of the Confederate States of North America during the civil war begun in 1861. She was a wooden screw steamer with two engines of 350 h.p. each, 1040 tons burden, and carried eight 32-pounders. Before she was launched her destination was made known to the British Government, but owing to some legal formalities the orders given for her detention did not reach Liverpool till the day after she had left that port (29th July, 1862). She received her armament and stores at the Azores, and entered on her destructive career, capturing and burning merchant vessels, till she was sunk in a fight with the Federal war steamer Kearsarge, off Cherbourg, 19th June, 1864. As early as the winter of 1862 the United States Government declared that they held themselves entitled at a suitable period to demand full compensation from Britain for the damages inflicted on American property by the Alabama and several other cruisers that had been built, supplied, or recruited in British ports or waters. After a long series of negotiations it was agreed to submit the final settlement of the question to a court of arbitration, consisting of representatives of Britain and the United States, and of three other members, appointed by the King of Italy, the President of Switzerland, and the Emperor of Brazil. This court met at Geneva, 17th Dec., 1871, and a claim for indirect damages to American commerce having been abandoned by the United States Government, the decree was given in Sept., 1872, that Britain was liable to the United States in damages to the amount of 15,500,000 dollars (about £3,229,200). After all awards were made to private claimants about 8,000,000 dollars still remain unclaimed.
Alabandite, or Manganblende, a black submetallic mineral.
Alabas′ter, a name applied to a granular variety of gypsum or hydrated sulphate of lime. It was much used by the ancients for the manufacture of ointment and perfume boxes, vases, and the like. It has a fine granular texture, is usually of a pure white colour, and is so soft that it can be scratched with the nail. It is found in