hirt” faction, a loose grouping of the urban middle class and others, formed in opposition. Clashes between the two led to riots and the paralyzing of Bangkok’s airports. The former prime minister’s sister was elected prime minister in 2011. Her young administration was immediately tested by catastrophic regional flooding. Twice the size of Wyoming. Capital: Bangkok. Languages: Thai, English and regional dialects. Faith: Buddhist (95 percent), Muslim (5 percent) and others (2000 estimate). Population: 67 million (2012 estimate). Proportion of population younger than 15: one-fifth. Ethnic groups: Thai (75 percent), Chinese (14 percent) and others. Literacy: 93 percent. (Source: World Factbook.)
Virtually unknown cuisine in the United States until the latter half of the 20th century. A distinct cuisine from those of China and Japan. (The Thai typically use forks and spoons, rather than chopsticks. King Rama IV, the model for the monarch in the Broadway musical “The King and I,” promoted Westernization.) Unlike Chinese restaurants, Thai restaurants are not so numerous as to emphasize regional cuisines. The typically spicy cuisine is sometimes tamped down to accommodate non-Asian palates, but Thai can equal or exceed Hunanese in spice. Best known is “pad thai,” stir-fried rice noodles, egg, bean sprouts, shrimp and peanuts.
Typically personal name first, family name second, with long multi-syllable names, especially if Chinese. On second reference, personal name is sometimes used.
A vestige of the Cold War and used to describe that portion of the globe that was non-aligned with either the West or Communist powers. Once in vogue, especially by such Marxist scholars of colonialism as Frantz Fanon, most experts today use “developing countries,” or “emerging world,” or a similar formulation. Coinage variously attributed, but principally to either Albert Sauvy, the French demographer and sociologist, or Charles de Gaulle, the French statesman. They both used “tiers monde,” or third world. See COLONIALISM; IMPERIALISM; INDIA.
The vast public square at the center of Beijing, capital of China. In 1989, as many as a million protesters, led by students, demonstrated in favor of democracy, prompting a lethal crackdown by the Communist government on June 4. Number of deaths still unknown, but totaling at least in the hundreds. The crackdown is a central event in modern Chinese history. See CHINA; TAIPENG REBELLION; TIBET; UIGHUR.
A mysterious culture and important branch of Buddhism dating back more than 2,000 years. Long known as the “Roof of the World” because it is home to the Himalayan mountain range and Mount Everest. Since 1965 an autonomous region of China. The Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is the head of the “Yellow Hat” order of Tibetan Buddhists. In 1959, he fled China on foot and horseback into India after a Chinese crackdown of a Tibetan uprising. Tibetan Buddhism emphasizes reincarnation. The Dalai Lama (a combination of the words “ocean” and “teacher”) is the 14th of his line. He is regarded as the earthly embodiment of the compassionate “bodhisattva,” or “buddha-to-be.” The Chinese central government views the Dalai Lama and his government-in-exile with contempt. In 2012, state-run media sought to equate the Dalai Lama, a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, with the Nazis. Tibetan exiles have set themselves on fire in protest of Chinese rule. In his 70s in 2012, the Dalai Lama, has gradually devolved power, yielding secular authority to a prime-minister-in exile and starting the years-long search for a successor as spiritual head.
A head covering in desert or other hot climates that does not necessarily have ethnic or religious significance and is not solely Arab. See SIKHISM.
UIGHUR (ALSO UYGHUR):
Pronounced wee-GORE. A small ethnic group in China that speaks languages of the Turkic family (which includes Kazakh, Turkish and Uzbek). They generally practice Sunni Islam. They are newsworthy because of increasingly violent clashes with China’s central government. China is perhaps the most homogeneous nation on Earth, with more