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shipping

(Encyclopedia)shipping, transportation of passengers and goods on waterways. From prehistoric times shipping has had a major influence on human social development. Water routes, unlike roads, did not need building,...

North America

(Encyclopedia)CE5 North America, third largest continent (2015 est. pop. 571,949,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. North America includes a...

euthanasia

(Encyclopedia)euthanasia yo͞oˌthənāˈzhə [key], either painlessly putting to death or failing to prevent death from natural causes in cases of terminal illness or irreversible coma. The term comes from the Gre...

canal

(Encyclopedia)canal, an artificial waterway constructed for navigation or for the movement of water. The digging of canals for irrigation probably dates back to the beginnings of agriculture, and traces of canals h...

Venezuela

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Venezuela vĕnəzwāˈlə, Span. vānāswāˈlä [key], officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, republic (2015 est. pop. 29,275,000), 352,143 sq mi (912,050 sq km), N South America. Ve...

Huguenots

(Encyclopedia)Huguenots hyo͞oˈgənŏts [key], French Protestants, followers of John Calvin. The term is derived from the German Eidgenossen, meaning sworn companions or confederates. In the reign of King Louis ...

Burgundy

(Encyclopedia)Burgundy bo͝orgôˈnyə [key], historic region, E France. The name once applied to a large area embracing several kingdoms, a free county (see Franche-Comté), and a duchy. The administrative region ...

Restoration, in English history

(Encyclopedia)Restoration, in English history, the reestablishment of the monarchy on the accession (1660) of Charles II after the collapse of the Commonwealth (see under commonwealth) and the Protectorate. The ter...

Indonesia

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Indonesia ĭnˌdənēˈzhə [key], officially Republic of Indonesia, republic (2015 est. pop. 258,162,000), c.735,000 sq mi (1,903,650 sq km), SE Asia, in the Malay Archipelago. The fourth most...

Germans

(Encyclopedia)Germans, great ethnic complex of ancient Europe, a basic stock in the composition of the modern peoples of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, N Italy, the Netherlands, Be...