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calcium-channel blocker

(Encyclopedia)calcium-channel blocker, any of a class of drugs used in treating hypertension, angina pectoris, and certain arrhythmias. They prevent the calcium ions needed for muscle contraction from entering the ...

Saint George's Channel

(Encyclopedia)Saint George's Channel, strait, c.100 mi (160 km) long and 50 to 95 mi (80–153 km) wide, linking the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea. It separates SE Ireland from Wales. ...

Andaman and Nicobar Islands

(Encyclopedia)Andaman and Nicobar Islands ănˈdəmən, nĭkˈōbär [key], union territory (2001 provisional pop. 356,265), India, in the Bay of Bengal. Port Blair, in the Andamans, is...

Thousand Islands

(Encyclopedia)Thousand Islands, a group of more than 1,800 islands and 3,000 shoals in the St. Lawrence River, E of Lake Ontario, N N.Y. and S Ont., stretching c.50 mi (80 km) along the U.S.-Canada line. Most of th...

Senkaku Islands

(Encyclopedia)Senkaku Islands sĕnˈkäko͞o [key], small, uninhabited island group, 8 sq mi (20.7 sq km), Okinawa prefecture, extreme SW Japan, in the East China Sea. Located 90 mi (45 km) NNW of Ishigaki in the R...

Phoenix Islands

(Encyclopedia)Phoenix Islands, group of eight islands, 11 sq mi (28 sq km), central Pacific, N of Samoa. The chain comprises a portion of Kiribati. The two most important are Kanton (or Abariringa) and Enderbury Is...

Frisian Islands

(Encyclopedia)Frisian Islands frĭzhˈən [key], chain of low-lying islands, off the coasts of the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark, in the North Sea. The West Frisian Islands, also known as the Wadden Islands, be...

Tanimbar Islands

(Encyclopedia)Tanimbar Islands tĕnĭmˈbär, tə– [key], group of about 30 islands, c.2,100 sq mi (5,440 sq km), E Indonesia, in the Banda Sea, between the Aru Islands and Timor, in the Moluccas. The largest of ...

Virgin Islands

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Virgin Islands, group of about 100 small islands, West Indies, E of Puerto Rico. The islands are divided politically between the United States and Great Britain. Although constituting the weste...

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