Kotah

Kotah, the chief town of a native state in Rajputana, on the right bank of the Chambal. Pop. 33,624. The area of the state is 3803 sq. in.; pop. 544,350.

Kothen

Kothen, a town in the German duchy of Anhalt, till 1853 the capital of the principality of Anhalt-Kothen, 22 miles by rail N. of Halle, and 31 SSE. of Magdeburg. It has a cathedral; the castle of the former dukes, rebuilt in 1597-1606 after a fire; iron-foundries, sugar-factories, etc. Pop. (1875) 14,403 ; (1900) 22,100.

Kotonou

Kot'onou. See Cotonou.

Koubbet

Koubbet. See Obock.

Kovno

Kovno, capital of the Russian government of Kovno, stands near the confluence of the Vilia and the Niemen, 523 miles by rail SW. of St Petersburg and 94 ENE. of Konigsberg. It was long a stronghold of the Teutonic knights, and was taken by Russia from Lithuania in 1795. Pop. 73,550. - The government lies south of Cour-land, bordering on Prussia and Poland. Area, 15,687 sq. m.; pop. 1,600,000.

Koweit

Koweit, or Kuweit, a good port of Turkey in Asia, on the Shat-el-Arab, dependent on Muscat or Oman (and so on Britain); the proposed terminus of the German railway through Asia Minor.

Kowloon

Kowloon. See Hono-kong.

Koyunjik

Koyunjik. See Nineveh.

Kozlof

Kozlof, a Russian town, 123 miles SE. of Moscow by rail. Pop. 45,053.

Kra

Kra, or Krao, the isthmus connecting Siam with the Malay Peninsula, whose minimum breadth is 44 miles. A ship-canal through it would shorten the journey from Ceylon to Hong-Kong by 300 miles, and that from Calcutta to Hong-Kong by 540. A railway has also been suggested. See a work by Loftus (1883).

Kragujevatz

Kragujevatz, a town of Servia, 61 miles S. of Belgrade, has an arsenal. Till 1842 it was the residence of the Servian princes. Pop, 14,669.

Krain

Krain. See Carniola.

Krajova

Krajova, or Craiova, a town of Roumania, 154 miles by rail W. of Bucharest. Near it are productive salt-mines. Pop. 43,000.

Krakatoa

Krakatoa, or Krakatau, a volcanic island in the Strait of Sunda, between Java and Sumatra, was in 1883 the scene of a tremendous volcanic disturbance. From May the volcano on the island had been ejecting ashes ; during 26-28th August the crater walls fell in, together with a part of the ocean bed, carrying with it 8 sq. m. or two-thirds of the island. At the same time a gigantic ocean-wave inundated the adjoining coasts of Java and Sumatra, causing a loss of 36,500 lives, and then careered round the entire globe. See a work by G. J. Symons (1888).

Kranganur

Kranganur. See Cranganore.

Krasnovodsk

Krasnovodsk, a Russian railway terminus and harbour, on the east side of the Caspian Sea, in the Transcaspian territory. Pop. 7500.

Krasnoyarsk

Krasnoyarsk, the chief town of the Siberian government of Yeniseisk, on the Upper Yenisei, 370 miles E. from Tomsk. It is the centre of the gold-washings of the province. Pop. 27,154.

Krefeld

Krefeld, one of the most important manufacturing towns of Germany, 4 miles from the left bank of the Rhine and 12 NW. of Dusseldorf. It owes its importance to the settlement here, in the 17th and 18th centuries, of refugees from Julich and Berg, who established Krefeld's noted silk and velvet manufactures. Here are also large railway repair shops, iron-foundries, and manufactures of machinery, chemicals, soaps, spirits, etc. Pop. (1875) 62,840 ; (1900) 109,116.