Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

International Maritime Organization

(Encyclopedia)International Maritime Organization (IMO), specialized agency of the United Nations established in 1948, with headquarters in London and 168 member nations and three associate members. IMO is one of t...

International Refugee Organization

(Encyclopedia)International Refugee Organization (IRO), temporary agency of the United Nations, established in 1946. In arranging for the care and the repatriation or resettlement of Europeans made homeless by Worl...

health maintenance organization

(Encyclopedia)health maintenance organization (HMO), type of prepaid medical service in which members pay a monthly or yearly fee for all health care, including hospitalization. The term “health maintenance organ...

Palestine Liberation Organization

(Encyclopedia)Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), coordinating council for Palestinian organizations, founded (1964) by Egypt and the Arab League and initially controlled by Egypt. Composed of various guerrill...

World Health Organization

(Encyclopedia)World Health Organization (WHO), specialized agency of the United Nations, established in 1948, with its headquarters at Geneva. WHO admits all sovereign states (including those not belonging to the U...

World Trade Organization

(Encyclopedia)World Trade Organization (WTO), international organization established in 1995 as a result of the final round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) negotiations, called the Uruguay Roun...

Shanghai Cooperation Organization

(Encyclopedia)Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), association of Eurasian nations founded 2001 in Shanghai by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Under the charter signed in 2002...

Southern Ocean

(Encyclopedia)Southern Ocean or Antarctic Ocean, name sometimes given to those parts of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans that surround Antarctica S of roughly 60°S. These waters are marked by the Antarctic...

Senegal, river, Africa

(Encyclopedia)Senegal sĕnĭgôlˈ, sĕnˈĭgôl [key], river, c.1,000 mi (1,610 km) long, formed in SW Mali, W Africa, by the confluence of the Bafing and Bakoy rivers, both of which rise in the Fouta Djallon, N G...

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe

(Encyclopedia)Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), international organization established as the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) in 1973, during the cold war, to promo...