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Silk Road

(Encyclopedia)Silk Road, ancient overland trade route linking Asia and Europe, consisting of a network of caravan routes running from China across central Asia to the shores of the Mediterranean. Its starting point...

Okinawa

(Encyclopedia)Okinawa ōˌkĭnäˈwä [key], island (1990 pop. 1,222,458), 454 sq mi (1,176 sq km), W Pacific Ocean, SW of Kyushu; a part of Okinawa prefecture, Japan. It is the largest of the Okinawa Islands in th...

sponge

(Encyclopedia)sponge, common name for members of the aquatic animal phylum Porifera, and for the dried, processed skeletons of certain species used to hold water. Over 4,500 living species are known; they are found...

Comoros, the

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Comoros, the kŏmˈərōs [key], officially Union of the Comoros (2020 est. pop. 869,601), 838 sq mi ...

cobra

(Encyclopedia)cobra, name for African and Asian snakes of the family Elapidae that are equipped with inflatable neck hoods. The family also includes the African mambas, the Asian kraits, the New World coral snakes ...

Devonian period

(Encyclopedia)Devonian period dĭvōˈnēən [key], fourth period of the Paleozoic era of geologic time between 408 and 360 million years ago (see Geologic Timescale, tablegeologic timescale, table). It was named (...

Queensland

(Encyclopedia)Queensland, state (2016 pop. 4,703,193), 667,000 sq mi (1,727,200 sq km), NE Australia. Brisbane is the capital; other important cities are Gold Coast, Toowoomba, Townsville, Rockhampton, Cairns, and ...

Aleutian Islands

(Encyclopedia)Aleutian Islands əlo͞oˈshən [key], chain of rugged, volcanic islands curving c.1,200 mi (1,900 km) west from the tip of the Alaska Peninsula and approaching Russia's Komandorski Islands. A partial...

saxifrage

(Encyclopedia)saxifrage săkˈsĭfrĭj [key], common name for several members of the Saxifragaceae, a family of widely varying herbs, shrubs, and small trees of cosmopolitan distribution. They are found especially ...

sand

(Encyclopedia)sand, rock material occurring in the form of loose, rounded or angular grains, varying in size from .06 mm to 2 mm in diameter, the particles being smaller than those of gravel and larger than those o...