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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...

Qatar

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Qatar or Katar both: kŭˈtər, gŭ–, kətärˈ [key], officially State of Qatar, independent emirate (2015 est. pop. 2,482,000), c.4,400 sq mi (11,400 sq km), E Arabia, coextensive with the ...

Cook, James

(Encyclopedia)Cook, James, 1728–79, English explorer and navigator. The son of a Yorkshire agricultural laborer, he had little formal education. After an apprenticeship to a firm of shipowners at Whitby, he joine...

Thant, U

(Encyclopedia)Thant, U o͞o thänt [key], 1909–74, Burmese diplomat, secretary-general of the United Nations (1962–72). Educated at University College, Yangon, he later held positions in education, the press, a...

zoning

(Encyclopedia)zoning, legislative regulations by which a municipal government seeks to control the use of buildings and land within the municipality. It has become, in the United States, a widespread method of cont...

Declaration of Independence

(Encyclopedia)Declaration of Independence, full and formal declaration adopted July 4, 1776, by representatives of the Thirteen Colonies in North America announcing the separation of those colonies from Great Brita...

Ingermanland

(Encyclopedia)Ingermanland ĭngˈgrēə [key], Finnish Ingerinta, historic region, NW European Russia, along the Neva River and on the east bank of the Gulf of Finland. Its name derives from the ancient Finnic inha...

Mattis, James

(Encyclopedia)Mattis, James, 1950–, American general and secretary of defense (2017–18), b. Pullman, Wash., grad. Central Washington Univ. (1971). Commissioned as a second lieutenant (1972) in the Marines after...

Mers-el-Kebir

(Encyclopedia)Mers-el-Kebir mĕrs-ĕl-kəbĭrˈ [key], town, NW Algeria, on the Gulf of Oran. Originally a Roman port, it has a long history of maritime importance. During the 15th cent. it was a center of activity...

Olympias

(Encyclopedia)Olympias, d. 316 b.c., wife of Philip II of Macedon and mother of Alexander the Great. She did not get on well with Philip, who had other wives, but the story that she murdered him is probably false. ...