Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Manihiki

(Encyclopedia)Manihiki mänĭhēˈkē [key], atoll, c.2 sq mi (5.2 sq km), South Pacific, in the Cook Islands. It comprises 12 islets; the whole group that includes Manihiki and Penrhyn is also often designated Man...

Gosnold, Bartholomew

(Encyclopedia)Gosnold, Bartholomew gŏzˈnōld [key], fl. 1572–1607, English explorer and colonizer. In 1602 he commanded the Concord on a voyage of exploration. He navigated the coast from Maine to Narragansett ...

Alderney

(Encyclopedia)Alderney ōrēnyēˈ [key], anc. Riduna, island, c. 3 sq mi (7.7 sq km), in the English Channel, northernmost of the larger Channel Islands. It is separated from the Frenc...

Pentland Firth

(Encyclopedia)Pentland Firth pĕntˈlənd fûrth [key], channel, 6 to 8 mi (9.7–12.9 km) wide and c.14 mi (23 km) long, N Scotland. Connecting the North Sea with the Atlantic Ocean, it separates the Scottish main...

Tuvalu

(Encyclopedia)Tuvalu to͞ovälˈo͞o [key], independent Commonwealth nation (2015 est. pop. 11,000), 10 sq mi (26 sq km), composed of nine low coral atolls, formerly known as the Ellice (or Lagoon) Islands, scatter...

Sporades

(Encyclopedia)Sporades spôrˈədēz, spŏrˈ– [key], islands, E and SE Greece, in the Aegean Sea. They have been grouped variously at different times. The Northern Sporades are generally understood to include Sk...

Atlantic Ocean

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Atlantic Ocean [Lat.,=of Atlas], second largest ocean (c.31,800,000 sq mi/82,362,000 sq km; c.36,000,000 sq mi/93,240,000 sq km with marginal seas). The North Atlantic Ocean has some of the w...

Williams, John, English missionary

(Encyclopedia)Williams, John, 1796–1839, English missionary, called the Apostle of Polynesia. Under the London Missionary Society he went (1817) to the Society Islands. He discovered Rarotonga in 1823 and founded...

Uist, North, and South Uist

(Encyclopedia)Uist, North yo͞oˈĭst, o͞oˈ– [key], and South Uist, islands, two of the Outer Hebrides, Western Isles council area, NW Scotland. North Uist (1985 est. pop. 3,300), is 18 mi (29 km) long and 13 m...

Banaba

(Encyclopedia)Banaba bənäˈbə [key] or Ocean Island, island, 2.2 sq mi (5.7 sq km), central Pacific, in ...