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Apache
Amer. Indians of the SW U.S. Culturally, the Apache are divided into Eastern Apache, which include the Mescalero, Jicarilla, Chiricahua, and Lipan, and Western Apache, which include the Cibecue. The Eastern Apaches were predominantly hunting and gathering societies, while their Western counterparts relied more on farming. Their ancestors had come down from the north to settle the Plains, but with the introduction of the horse they were pressed south and west by the Comanche and Ute. They attempted to be friends of the Spanish, the Mexicans, and later the Americans. In 1861, however, there began a quarter-century confrontation between U.S. military forces and the Apache and Navajo. The Apache wars were among the fiercest fought on the frontier. The last ended in 1886 with the surrender of Geronimo. The Chiricahua Apache were evacuated from the West and held successively in Florida, Alabama, and Oklahoma. The Apache today total about 11,000 and live largely on or near reservations in Arizona and New Mexico. See also Cochise.


abacus
Calculating instrument that uses beads that slide along a series of wires or rods set in a frame to represent the decimal places. Probably of Babylonian origin, it is the ancestor of the modern digital calculator. Used by merchants in the Middle Ages throughout Europe and the Arabic world, it was gradually replaced by arithmetic based on Hindu-Arabic numerals. Though rarely used in Europe past the 18th cent., it is still used in the Middle East, China, and Japan.


acacia
Any of the approximately 800 species of trees and shrubs that make up the genus Acacia, of the mimosa family, native to tropical and subtropical regions of the world, particularly Australia and Africa. Sweet acacia (A. farnesiana) is native to the SW U.S. Acacias have distinctive, finely divided leaflets, and their leafstalks may bear thorns or sharp spines at their base. Their small, often fragrant, yellow or white flowers have many stamens apiece, giving each a fuzzy appearance. On the plains of S and E Africa, acacias are well-known landmarks. Several species are important economically, yielding substances such as gum arabic and tannin, as well as valuable timber.


APEC
Trade group established in 1989 to promote the economic development of its members. The original members were Australia, Brunei, Canada, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, S. Korea, Thailand, and the U.S, as well as Taiwan and Hong Kong (since membership was based on "economies" rather than nations). The original 15 represented nearly 2 billion people and the world's leading exporters. APEC's first summit was held in Seattle in 1993. Mexico, Chile, and Papua New Guinea joined APEC in 1994. The APEC group now represents about 40% of the world's population, 40% of global trade, and 50% of the world's gross national product. See also N. Amer. Free Trade Agreement, ...

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