yttrium (Y), chemical element, a rare-earth metal of Group 3 of the periodic table. Yttrium is a silvery white, moderately soft, ductile metal. It is quite stable in air; rapid oxidation begins above approximately 450 °C (840 °F), resulting in Y2O3. The metal readily reacts with diluted

Bala, market town, Gwynedd county, historic county of Merioneth (Meirionnydd), northern Wales. It lies in Snowdonia National Park at the northern end of mountain-girt Bala Lake (Llyn Tegid), the largest natural lake in Wales. The town was founded under a charter of 1324. In the 18th century it

Barry, port town, Vale of Glamorgan county, historic county of Glamorgan (Morgannwg), southern Wales. It is situated on the Bristol Channel, just west of where the channel is met by the mouth of the River Severn estuary, and is the administrative centre of Vale of Glamorgan county. Barry has

Cowbridge, market town, Vale of Glamorgan county, historic county of Glamorgan (Morgannwg), southern Wales. It is centrally located in the Vale of Glamorgan, about 10 miles (16 km) west of Cardiff. The community of Llanblethian is often associated with it. Cowbridge dates from the 14th century and

Homo sapiens: Bodily structure: …mtDNA samples, as well as Y chromosome samples, derived from people all over the world point to the common descent of all modern humans from a small population that existed about 150 kya. In addition, the African samples show more variability in their mtDNA than do those of other continents,…

electric generator: Phases: This connection is called a star, or wye, connection. Alternatively, since the three winding voltages also sum to zero at every instant, the three windings can be connected in series—a′ to b, b′ to c, and c′ to a—to form a delta connection. The output can then be transmitted using…

Abergavenny, town (community), historic and present county of Monmouthshire (Sir Fynwy), southern Wales. It lies at the confluence of the Rivers Gavenny and Usk. The strategic nature of the site, guarding a main valley corridor between the Black Mountains and the Brecon Beacons into South Wales,

Aneirin: …rests on a single work, Y Gododdin, preserved in a manuscript known as The Book of Aneirin, which dates from about 1265. The language of the poem is direct for the most part, although simile and metaphor are skillfully used, and alliteration and internal rhyme abound. The poem praises the…

Sue Grafton: Y Is for Yesterday (2017), the 25th book in the series, was published just months before Grafton’s death.

Celtic literature: 19th-century literary trends: …of the long poem: his Y Storm is a series of meditations on life and art.

Welshpool, town, Powys county, historic county of Montgomeryshire, eastern Wales. It lies in the valley of the River Severn, just west of the boundary with Shropshire, England. Welshpool’s charter, granting market rights, dates from 1263. Lying near the English border, the town showed pro-English

Alfonso Cuarón: Y tu mamá también (2001; “And Your Mother Too”), which he also wrote, tracks the friendship between two teenage boys as they set out on a road trip with an attractive married woman and is simultaneously a vivid commentary on social class within Mexico. The…

atomic bomb: Development and proliferation of atomic bombs: …was given the code name Project Y. One bomb, using plutonium, was successfully tested on July 16, 1945, at a site 193 km (120 miles) south of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

YMCA, nonsectarian, nonpolitical Christian lay movement that aims to develop high standards of Christian character through group activities and citizenship training. It originated in London in 1844, when 12 young men, led by George Williams, an employee in, and subsequently the head of, a drapery

China: Conflicts within the international alliance: …reequip select Chinese divisions (called Y-Force), and a network of airfields was being built in southern China. This dual approach caused repeated conflict over the allocation of scarce airlift space.

animal learning: Maze learning: …something very much simpler, a T-maze or Y-maze. A rat placed at the end of one arm must run to the central choice-point, from where it has to enter one of the two remaining arms. Although extremely simple, even this apparatus allows for a number of possible modes of solution.…

endocrine system: Class Crustacea: …glands are well known: the Y-organ and the androgenic gland. As in insects, hormones and neurohormones of the crustacean regulate molting, reproduction, osmoregulation, metabolism, and heart rate. In addition, the regulation of colour changes is well developed in crustaceans, whereas only a few insects exhibit hormonally controlled colour changes.

stellar classification: …spectral types L, T, and Y.

Y2K bug, a problem in the coding of computerized systems that was projected to create havoc in computers and computer networks around the world at the beginning of the year 2000 (in metric measurements, k stands for 1,000). After more than a year of international alarm, feverish preparations, and

graphic novel: The graphic novel grows up: …and Melinda Gebbie, respectively, and Y: The Last Man (2002–08) and Pride of Baghdad (2006) by Brian K. Vaughan, with artwork by Pia Guerra and Niko Henrichon, respectively. These comics, along with a host of other artful and literate publications, have gained recognition and awards well beyond the sometimes insular…

Saya San was the leader of the anti-British rebellion of 1930–32 in Burma (Myanmar). Saya San was a native of Shwebo, a centre of nationalist-monarchist sentiment in north-central Burma that was the birthplace of the Konbaung (or Alaungpaya) dynasty, which controlled Myanmar from 1752 until the

Arabic literature: Tawfīq al-Ḥakīm: … drama, Yā ṭāliʿ al-shajarah (1962; The Tree Climber), where the usage of the standard literary language in dialogue helped contribute to the “unreal” nature of the play’s dramatic logic. Al-Ḥakīm also wrote a few plays in the colloquial dialect of Egypt, but his most memorable experiment was his attempt to…

Ya’an, city, west-central Sichuan sheng (province), southwestern China. It is situated in the mountainous western fringe of the Sichuan Basin on the Qingyi River, about 80 miles (130 km) southwest of Chengdu, the provincial capital. The city is a communications centre near the crossing of two main

Ya’an, city, west-central Sichuan sheng (province), southwestern China. It is situated in the mountainous western fringe of the Sichuan Basin on the Qingyi River, about 80 miles (130 km) southwest of Chengdu, the provincial capital. The city is a communications centre near the crossing of two main

Yalu River, river of northeastern Asia that forms the northwestern boundary between North Korea and the Northeast region (Manchuria) of China. The Chinese provinces of Jilin and Liaoning are bordered by the river. Its length is estimated to be about 500 miles (800 km), and it drains an area of some

Brahmaputra River, major river of Central and South Asia. It flows some 1,800 miles (2,900 km) from its source in the Himalayas to its confluence with the Ganges (Ganga) River, after which the mingled waters of the two rivers empty into the Bay of Bengal. Along its course the Brahmaputra passes

Yalong River, long secondary tributary of the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) in central and southern China. The Yalong rises in the Bayan Har Mountains in southern Qinghai province at an elevation of nearly 16,500 feet (5,000 metres). The upper stream flows southeastward from the Bayan Har Mountains

Dagomba: …a previous paramount chief, the ya-na, may rise to that office, which is filled in rotation by one of three divisional chiefs.

Khaled: …albums such as Kenza (2000), Ya-Rayi (2004), Liberté (2009), and C’est la vie (2012).

Jacob Israel Emden was a rabbi and Talmudic scholar primarily known for his lengthy quarrel with Rabbi Jonathan Eybeschütz (q.v.), an antagonism that sundered European Jewry. Emden was thoroughly trained as a scholar of the Talmud, the rabbinical compendium of law, lore, and commentary. Emden

yab-yum, (Tibetan: “father-mother”), in Buddhist art of India, Nepal, and Tibet, the representation of the male deity in sexual embrace with his female consort. The pose is generally understood to represent the mystical union of the active force, or method (upaya, conceived of as masculine), with

bowling: Organization and tournaments: A third membership organization, the Young American Bowling Alliance (YABA; established in 1982), administers to the league and tournament needs of young bowlers through college age.

Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu: Yaban, perhaps his best-known novel (1932; “The Stranger”), deals with the psychological distance between the Turkish peasant and the urban intellectual. He also wrote poetry and several works of nonfiction.

Beijing: Commerce and finance: Yabao Lu, near the Chaoyang Gate site, is popular with Russians and eastern Europeans. Most of the Chinese shop owners there speak at least some Russian, signs are written in Cyrillic, Russian food is served, and most of the products are Russian-made clothing and daily-use…

Jordan River: Physical environment: …the right bank and the Yābis on the left. The Jordan River’s plain then spreads out to a width of about 15 miles (24 km) and becomes very regular. The flat arid terraces of that area, known as the Ghawr (Ghor), are cut here and there by wadis or rivers…

arc lamp: The Yablochkov candle, an arc lamp invented by the Russian engineer Paul Yablochkov, was used for street lighting in Paris and other European cities from 1878.

Pavel Nikolayevich Yablochkov was a Russian electrical engineer and inventor who developed the Yablochkov candle, the first arc lamp that was put to wide practical use and that greatly accelerated the development of electric lighting. In 1871 Yablochkov was appointed director of the telegraph lines

red dog, name for two different simple gambling card games. In one version of red dog—also known as yablon, acey-deucey, and between the sheets—each player puts up an initial stake, and the banker deals two cards faceup. Unless the ranks of the cards are the same or consecutive, the bettors may

Yablonitsky Pass, pass in the outer eastern Carpathians of western Ukraine, an important route connecting the country’s isolated western reaches with the rest of the republic and with northeastern Romania. The southern portion of the pass is formed by the valley of the Tisza River (also spelled

Yablonitsky Pass, pass in the outer eastern Carpathians of western Ukraine, an important route connecting the country’s isolated western reaches with the rest of the republic and with northeastern Romania. The southern portion of the pass is formed by the valley of the Tisza River (also spelled

Yablonitsky Pass, pass in the outer eastern Carpathians of western Ukraine, an important route connecting the country’s isolated western reaches with the rest of the republic and with northeastern Romania. The southern portion of the pass is formed by the valley of the Tisza River (also spelled

Yablonitsky Pass, pass in the outer eastern Carpathians of western Ukraine, an important route connecting the country’s isolated western reaches with the rest of the republic and with northeastern Romania. The southern portion of the pass is formed by the valley of the Tisza River (also spelled

Yablonovy Range, mountain range in the Transbaikalia region of Chita oblast (province) and Buryatiya, in far eastern Russia. The range is some 500 miles (800 km) long northeast–southwest and reaches a maximum height of 5,512 feet (1,680 m) in Mount Kusotuy. Formed principally of granites and

Yablonovy Range, mountain range in the Transbaikalia region of Chita oblast (province) and Buryatiya, in far eastern Russia. The range is some 500 miles (800 km) long northeast–southwest and reaches a maximum height of 5,512 feet (1,680 m) in Mount Kusotuy. Formed principally of granites and

Yablonitsky Pass, pass in the outer eastern Carpathians of western Ukraine, an important route connecting the country’s isolated western reaches with the rest of the republic and with northeastern Romania. The southern portion of the pass is formed by the valley of the Tisza River (also spelled

saivo: …from the other Sami otherworld, yabme-aimo, which, for example, was associated with the sacrifice of black animals and was generally conceived as much less pleasant.

Yakö: …council of village priests (the yabot); the village head is the priest of the paramount fertility spirit.

recombinant DNA: Creating the clone: Yeast artificial chromosomes (YACs) are vectors based on autonomously replicating plasmids of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker’s yeast). In yeast (a eukaryotic organism) a YAC behaves like a yeast chromosome and segregates properly into daughter cells. These vectors can carry the largest inserts of all and are…

Yakan, ethnic group living primarily on Basilan Island but also on Sacol, Malanipa, and Tumalutab islands, all off the southern tip of the Zamboanga Peninsula, in the southern Philippines. Smaller groups of Yakan live elsewhere in the Philippines—particularly on the island of Mindanao—as well as in

caiman: crocodilus), and yacaré (C. yacare) caimans; Melanosuchus, with the black caiman (M. niger); and Paleosuchus, with two species (P. trigonatus and P. palpebrosus) known as smooth-fronted caimans.

grass tree, (genus Xanthorrhoea), genus of about 30 species of slow-growing perennial plants (family Asphodelaceae) endemic to Australia. Certain species are also known as grass gums because of the red or yellow gumlike resins that exude from the base of old leaves. The resins are used for varnish.

yellowwood: …the Chilean Andes; and the yacca (P. coriaceus) of the West Indies.

Kunming, city and capital of Yunnan sheng (province), southwestern China. It is situated in the east-central part of the province in a fertile lake basin on the northern shore of Lake Dian, surrounded by mountains to the north, west, and east. Kunming has always been a focus of communications in

Shelly Yachimovich is an Israeli politician and journalist who served as leader of the Israel Labour Party from 2011 to 2013. After serving in the Israeli army, Yachimovich enrolled in Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, graduating with a degree in behavioral science in 1985. Yachimovich soon began

Shelly Yachimovich is an Israeli politician and journalist who served as leader of the Israel Labour Party from 2011 to 2013. After serving in the Israeli army, Yachimovich enrolled in Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, graduating with a degree in behavioral science in 1985. Yachimovich soon began

yacht, a sail- or power-driven vessel, usually light and comparatively small, used for racing or for recreation. In recreation, the term applies to very large craft, originally powered by sail and later by steam or internal-combustion engines. It is in this sense that the generality of nonyachting

yacht: Yachting and yacht clubs: As the Dutch rose to preeminence in sea power during the 17th century, the early yacht became a pleasure craft used first by royalty and later by the burghers on the canals and the protected and unprotected waters of the Low Countries. Racing…

yacht: Racing clubs: …1875; from 1952 called the Royal Yachting Association). The organization made rules governing regatta sailing and later took on duties as a representative body for all British yachting, including dealing with port, harbour, and other governmental authorities. In the United States, where there is much freshwater sailing, yacht clubs were…

yacht: Yachting and yacht clubs: ” As the Dutch rose to preeminence in sea power during the 17th century, the early yacht became a pleasure craft used first by royalty and later by the burghers on the canals and the protected and unprotected waters of the Low…

Bolivia: Hydrocarbons of Bolivia: …1937 to form the nationalized Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB). In the mid-1950s North American companies were again encouraged to resume operations, and in 1956 the Bolivian Gulf Oil Company (a branch of Gulf Oil Corporation) began a decade of successful oil and natural gas strikes in the Santa Cruz…

Mor Ignatius Yacoub III was a Syriac Orthodox patriarch of Antioch who combined scholarship and dedication with an active commitment to the ecumenical movement. Mor Ignatius Yacoub III studied in the seminary of Mar Mattai, took his monastic vows in Homs, Syria, and went to India as secretary to

Alaa al-Aswany: …major novel, ʿImārat Yaʿqūbiyyān (The Yacoubian Building), attracted an unprecedented number of readers in Egypt and throughout the Arab world when it was published in 2002. The first edition sold out in 40 days, and nine more printings were subsequently ordered. The English version appeared in 2006 and was…

Argentina: Resources and power: The huge Yacyretá dam on the lower Paraná River, brought on line in 1994–98, gave the nation a surplus of generating capacity. Argentina, with several nuclear plants, is one of Latin America’s main producers of nuclear power.

yad, in Judaism, a ritual object, usually made of silver but sometimes of wood or other materials, that consists of a shaft affixed to a miniature representation of a hand with its index finger pointing. The yad is used optionally in liturgical services to indicate the place that is being read on a

Holocaust: The extermination camps: …honorary citizenship and commemoration at Yad Vashem, Israel’s memorial to the Holocaust.

Holocaust: The extermination camps: …honorary citizenship and commemoration at Yad Vashem, Israel’s memorial to the Holocaust.

Yad Vashem Holocaust History Museum, museum in Jerusalem that commemorates the victims of the Holocaust. It was designed by architect Moshe Safdie and completed in 2005. Safdie was involved with the Yad Vashem redevelopment for many years, having completed the Children’s Memorial in 1987 and the

Korean literature: Later Chosŏn: 1598–1894: The diverse yadam form includes stories of individuals involved in historical events. After the appearance of Yu Mong-In’s Ŏu yadam (“Tales of Ŏu”) in the 17th century, numerous yadam were edited and compiled in collections such as the anonymous Ch’ŏnggu yadam (“Tales from the Green Hills”), Yi…

Samajwadi Party: …change, spearheaded by Yadav’s son, Akhilesh Yadav. In addition to bringing a number of young professionals into the party, the policy changes he instituted included promising a ban on state land acquisition, announcing incentives for the agricultural sector (including extending loans to farmers at low interest rates), and (in a…

Lalu Prasad Yadav is an Indian politician and government official who in 1997 founded and then served as the longtime president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD; National People’s Party) political party in Bihar state, eastern India. He was also the former chief minister (head of government) of

Lalu Prasad Yadav is an Indian politician and government official who in 1997 founded and then served as the longtime president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD; National People’s Party) political party in Bihar state, eastern India. He was also the former chief minister (head of government) of

Mulayam Singh Yadav was an Indian politician and government official who founded and was the longtime leader of the Samajwadi (Socialist) Party (SP) of India. He served three times as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh state (1989–91, 1993–95, and 2003–07). Yadav was raised in a poor farming family

Nepal: Fall of the monarchy: In July 2008 Ram Baran Yadav of the NC was elected by the assembly as the country’s first president. One month later an election for prime minister was held in parliament. Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal, popularly known as Prachanda, won by a wide margin and formed a…

Sharad Yadav was an Indian politician and government official who long served as president of the Janata Dal (United), or JD(U), political party based in Bihar state, eastern India. Yadav was born into a family of farmers in a small village near Hoshangabad, in what is now Madhya Pradesh state in

Bhagavata: …Bhagavata sect originated among the Yadava people of the Mathura area of northern India in the 2nd and 1st centuries bce. From there it spread as the tribes migrated to western India and the northern Deccan and then into South India. The sect continued to be prominent within Vaishnavism until…

Yadava dynasty, rulers of a 12th–14th-century Hindu kingdom of central India in what is now the Indian state of Maharashtra. Originally a feudatory of the Eastern Chalukyas of Kalyani, the dynasty became paramount in the Deccan under Bhillama (c. 1187–91), who founded Devagiri (later Daulatabad) as

yad, in Judaism, a ritual object, usually made of silver but sometimes of wood or other materials, that consists of a shaft affixed to a miniature representation of a hand with its index finger pointing. The yad is used optionally in liturgical services to indicate the place that is being read on a

Yaddo, a working community of writers, composers, and visual artists, located on the outskirts of Saratoga Springs, New York, U.S. Yaddo is a nonprofit organization founded in 1900 by New York financier Spencer Trask (1844–1909), his wife, the writer Kate, or Katrina, Nichols Trask (1853–1922), and

Yaddo: …Yaddo began awarding an annual Artist Medal, designed by James Siena, to an individual who has “sustained a high level of achievement in their artistic discipline and reinforced the sense of community that is central to Yaddo’s residency program.”

Yigael Yadin was an Israeli archaeologist and military leader noted for his work on the Dead Sea Scrolls. Yadin, the son of an archaeologist, was educated at Hebrew University (M.A., 1945; Ph.D., 1955). He was a member of the Haganah military organization from 1932 to 1948 and served as chief of

Henri Rousseau: Later paintings and recognition of Henri Rousseau: …ambitious of these jungle paintings, The Dream (1910; also called Yadivigha’s Dream), which was also one of his greatest works. In this impressive fantasy, an enchanting nude rests on a red plush Victorian sofa in the middle of a dense jungle. Huge flowers wave about her head, two lions and…

Pee Dee River: …River, river rising as the Yadkin River in the Blue Ridge Mountains in northwestern North Carolina, U.S. Flowing northeast past Wilkesboro and Elkin, then southeast past Badin, it becomes the Pee Dee (named for the Pedee Indians) after a course of about 200 miles (320 km). As the Pee Dee,…

Indian philosophy: The prelogical period: …the two unorthodox schools of yadrichhavada (accidentalists) and svabhavaha (naturalists), who rejected the supernatural. Kapila, the legendary founder of the Samkhya school, supposedly flourished during the 7th century bce. Proto-Jain ideas were already in existence when Mahavira (flourished 6th century bce), the founder of Jainism,

Southeast Asian arts: The 16th century: …new verse form called the yadu (the seasons). They borrowed only the theme, however, and not the form, and they developed it as an emotional poem, passionate, yet with something of the cool intellectual strength of the poems of the English metaphysical poets John Donne and Andrew Marvell. The most…

Young Americans for Freedom (YAF), American youth organization based on conservative principles, notably limited government, traditional social values, and free enterprise. It was founded in 1960 and became part of Young America’s Foundation in 2011. Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) began in

Tel Aviv–Yafo, major city and economic centre in Israel, situated on the Mediterranean coast some 40 miles (60 km) northwest of Jerusalem. Tel Aviv was founded in 1909 as a Jewish garden suburb of the ancient Mediterranean port of Jaffa (now Yafo), with which it was joined in 1950. By the beginning

Amy Coney Barrett: ) For the court in Yafai v. Pompeo (2019), she favoured a highly deferential review of a consular officer’s rejection of a visa application based on that officer’s determination that the immigrants had attempted to smuggle their children into the United States. And in dissent in Cook County v. Wolf…

Tel Aviv–Yafo: …the ancient Mediterranean port of Jaffa (now Yafo), with which it was joined in 1950. By the beginning of the 21st century, the modern city of Tel Aviv had developed into a major economic and cultural centre. Tel Aviv is headquarters for a number of government ministries, including the Ministry…

Sam Yagan is an American entrepreneur who cofounded several technology start-up companies, notably OkCupid (2003), an online dating site. Yagan was the son of Syrian immigrants who had settled in the Chicago area. After graduating from the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, Yagan attended

ayahuasca, hallucinogenic drink made from the stem and bark of the tropical liana Banisteriopsis caapi and other botanical ingredients. First formulated by indigenous South Americans of the Amazon basin, ayahuasca is now used in many parts of the world. Some users experience visions and sensations,

William S. Burroughs: …of his life detailed in The Yage Letters, his correspondence with Ginsberg written in 1953 but not published until 1963. Between travels he lived in London, Paris, Tangier, and New York City but in 1981 settled in Lawrence, Kansas.

Dānishmend dynasty: …among his two brothers—Yağibasan (Yaghibasan) in Sivas and ʿAyn ad-Dawlah in Malatya-Elbistan—and his son Dhū an-Nūn in Kayseri. After Yağibasan’s death (1164), the Seljuq sultan Qïlïj Arslan II intervened repeatedly in the affairs of the Sivas and Kayseri branches and finally invaded Dānishmend territory; but he was stopped by…

Islamic arts: Persian literatures: …artistry, his contemporary, the satirist Yaghmā (died 1859), had been using popular and comprehensible language to make coarse criticisms of contemporary society. As in the other Islamic countries, a move toward simplicity is discernible during the last decades of the 19th century. The members of the polytechnic college Dār ol-Fonūn…

ʿAbd al-Wādid Dynasty: …headed by the Zanātah amīr Yaghmurāsan (ruled 1236–83). Yaghmurāsan was able to maintain internal peace through the successful control of the rival Berber factions, and, in the face of the Marīnid threat in the west, he formed an alliance with the Sultan of Granada and the King of Castile.

Iranian languages: Modern Iranian: …the direct ancestor of modern Yaghnābī, spoken at present in the valley of the Yaghnob River, a tributary of the Zeravshan. Yaghnābī, nevertheless, certainly belongs linguistically to the Sogdian family. Similarly, the languages of the Scytho-Sarmatian inscriptions may represent dialects of a language family of which Modern Ossetic, an East…

Tajikistan: Ethnic groups: …group is formed by the Yaghnābīs, direct descendants of the ancient Sogdians, who live in the Zeravshan River basin.

Dānishmend dynasty: …among his two brothers—Yağibasan (Yaghibasan) in Sivas and ʿAyn ad-Dawlah in Malatya-Elbistan—and his son Dhū an-Nūn in Kayseri. After Yağibasan’s death (1164), the Seljuq sultan Qïlïj Arslan II intervened repeatedly in the affairs of the Sivas and Kayseri branches and finally invaded Dānishmend territory; but he was stopped by…

Genrikh Grigoryevich Yagoda was the head of the Soviet secret police under Stalin from 1934 to 1936 and a central figure in the purge trials. Yagoda joined the Bolsheviks in 1907 and became a member of the presidium of the Cheka (Soviet secret police) in 1920. He was a deputy chairman of the

kava, nonalcoholic euphoria-producing beverage made from the root of the pepper plant, principally Piper methysticum, in most of the South Pacific islands. It is yellow-green in colour and somewhat bitter. The primary active ingredients of kava are known as kavalactones; other substances, including

Léogâne, city and port on the Gulf of Gonâve, southwestern Haiti, lying approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of Port-au-Prince on the north shore of the country’s southern peninsula. A former French colonial town, Léogâne has long been the centre of a predominantly agricultural region. The city was