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Aosta
City (pop., 1989: 36,000), capital of Valle d'Aosta region, NW Italy. Located at the juncture of the Great and Little St. Bernard Pass roads through the Alps, it was a stronghold of the Salassi, a Celtic tribe subdued by the Romans in 25 BC. A Roman town was founded there by Augustus in 24 BC, and many Roman structures survive, incl. the walls, two gates, and a triumphal arch in honor of Augustus. Aosta was the birthplace of St. Anselm.
caste
Group of people having a specific social rank, defined largely by descent, marriage, and occupation. Widespread in India, caste is rooted in antiquity and specifies the rules and restrictions governing social intercourse and activity. Each caste has its own customs that restrict the occupations and dietary habits of its members and their social contact with other castes. There are about 3,000 castes, or jatis ("races"), and more than 25,000 subcastes in India. They are traditionally grouped into four major classes, or varnas ("colors"). At the top are the Brahmans, followed by the Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras. Those with the most defiling jobs are ranked beneath the Sudras; once called "untouchables," they are now known as Harijans ("Children of God"), the name given them by M. Gandhi. Influenced by Hinduism, India's Muslims, Sikhs, and Christians also have their own castes, generally less strictly regulated than the Hindu ones. In the 20th cent., there has been increasing upward social mobility and mixing among castes as a result of urbanization, industrialization, and changing attitudes; nevertheless, the caste system has proved adaptable and continues to emerge in new forms.
In biology, a subset of individuals within a colony of social animals (chiefly ants, bees, termites, and wasps) that has a specialized function and is distinguished from other subsets by morphological and anatomical differences. Typical insect castes are the queen (the female responsible for reproduction), workers (the usually sterile female caretakers of the queen, eggs, and larvae), soldiers (defenders of the colony; also sterile females), and sometimes drones (short-lived males). The differentiation of larvae into various castes is often determined by diet, though hormonal and environmental factors can also play a role.
oasis
Fertile tract of land that occurs in a desert wherever a permanent supply of fresh water is available. Oases vary in size from about 2.5 acres (1 hectare) around small springs to vast areas of naturally watered or irrigated land. Underground water sources account for most oases; their springs and wells are supplied from sandstone aquifers whose intake areas may be more than 500 mi (800 km) away. Two-thirds of the population of the Sahara live in oases, where the date palm is the main source of food; the palm also provides shade for growing citrus fruits, figs, peaches, apricots, vegetables, and cereal grains.
oats
Hardy ...
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