Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Baltic Sea

(Encyclopedia)Baltic Sea, arm of the Atlantic Ocean, c.163,000 sq mi (422,170 sq km), including the Kattegat strait, its northwestern extension. The Øresund, Store Bælt, and Lille Bælt connect the Baltic Sea wit...

Baltic states

(Encyclopedia)Baltic states, the countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, bordering on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. Formed in 1918, they remained independent republics until their involuntary incorporat...

Baltic languages

(Encyclopedia)Baltic languages, a subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages. The Indo-European subfamily to which the Baltic languages appear to be closest is the Slavic. Because of this, some linguists re...

Baltic provinces

(Encyclopedia)Baltic provinces, historic regions of Courland, Livonia, Estonia, and Ingermanland bordering on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. They were conquered by Russia from Sweden in the 18th cent. and mad...

Baltic Shield

(Encyclopedia)Baltic Shield, the continental core of Europe, composed of Precambrian crystalline rock, the oldest of Europe. The tectonically stable region was not affected by the Caledonian, Hercynian, and Alpine ...

White Sea

(Encyclopedia)White Sea, Rus. Beloye More, c.36,680 sq mi (95,000 sq km), NW European Russia, an inlet of the Barents Sea. Its northern section, opening into the Barents Sea between the Kola and Kanin peninsulas, i...

Volga-Baltic Waterway

(Encyclopedia)Volga-Baltic Waterway, canal and river system, c.685 mi (1,100 km) long, N European Russia. It links the Volga River and the St. Petersburg industrial area. It consists of the Moscow-Volga Canal, the ...

sea

(Encyclopedia)sea, term used as synonymous with ocean, or a subdivision of an ocean (Caribbean Sea, Yellow Sea), or erroneously designating a large salt lake (Caspian Sea, Dead Sea, Aral Sea). ...

Tyrrhenian Sea

(Encyclopedia)Tyrrhenian Sea tĭrēˈnēən [key], Ital. Tirreno, part of the Mediterranean Sea, c.475 mi (760 km) long and from 60 to 300 mi (97–483 km) wide, between the Ligurian Sea, the Italian peninsula, Sic...

sea level

(Encyclopedia)sea level, the level of the sea, which serves as the datum used for measurement of land elevations and ocean depths. Theoretically, one would expect sea level to be a fixed and permanent horizontal su...