in antiquity, in certain countries of the East, the name for Rome and, later, the Roman Empire. After the division of the Roman Empire in the fourth century A.D., the name “Rum” referred only to the Eastern Roman Empire, or Byzantium. At the time of the Seljuk conquest of Asia Minor, the name came to refer to Asia Minor; hence, the Sultanate of Rum, another name for the Sultanate of Konya, or Seljuk Sultanate. After their conquest of Byzantium, the Ottoman Turks used the name “Rum” for the Balkan Peninsula (seeRUMELIA).
a strong alcoholic liquor prepared from rum spirit, which is obtained by fermentation and distillation of juice or waste products (molasses) during the manufacture of sugar from sugarcane. The rum spirit is diluted with distilled water (in the USSR up to a strength of 45 percent by volume), and as much as 1 percent sugar is added to the solution. The obtained mixture (blend) is tinted with burned sugar and poured into oak casks, where it is aged at least four years at 18°-23°C and a relative humidity of 70–80 percent.
Rum is produced in all countries where sugarcane is grown. Rum was first manufactured in the 17th century in the British West Indies. Jamaican rum is an especially well known type and is produced in Jamaica (exported since the 18th century) and on other islands of the West Indies (Cuba, Guadeloupe, and Martinique). In the USSR rum spirit is obtained from the juice of the sugarcane grown in the republics of Middle Asia.