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lapis lazuli

(Encyclopedia)lapis lazuli lăpˈĭs lăzˈo͝olē [key], gem, deep blue, violet, or greenish blue in color and usually flecked with yellow iron pyrites. It is composed of lazurite, a complex sodium aluminum silica...

salpiglossis

(Encyclopedia)salpiglossis sălˌpəglŏsˈəs [key], any plant of the genus Salpiglossis of the family Solanaceae (nightshade family), herbs native to Chile and widely cultivated elsewhere as garden annuals for th...

Santa María, Domingo

(Encyclopedia)Santa María, Domingo dōmēngˈgō sänˈtä märēˈä [key], 1825–89, Chilean historian and statesman, president of Chile (1881–86). A liberal statesman, scholar, and author of several historic...

Chuquicamata

(Encyclopedia)Chuquicamata cho͞oˌkēkämäˈtä [key], former town, Antofagasta region, N Chile, on the western slopes of the Andes. At an elevation of 10,435 ft (3,181 m), the location is the site of the world's...

O'Higgins, Ambrosio

(Encyclopedia)O'Higgins, Ambrosio ōhĭgˈĭnz, Span. ämbrōˈsyō ōēˈgēns [key], 1720?–1801, Spanish colonial administrator, b. Ballinary, Co. Sligo, Ireland. Educated at Cádiz, Spain, under the care of hi...

Hall, Basil

(Encyclopedia)Hall, Basil, 1788–1844, British naval officer and traveler. In the service from 1802 to 1823, he commanded vessels on scientific assignments and voyages of exploration. He wrote of them in his Accou...

Easter Island

(Encyclopedia)Easter Island, Span. Isla de Pascua, Polynesian Rapa Nui, remote island (2020 est. pop. 5,000), 66 sq mi (171 sq km), in the South Pacific, c.2,200 ...

Andes

(Encyclopedia)Andes ănˈdēz [key], mountain system, more than 5,000 mi (8,000 km) long, W South America. The ranges run generally parallel to the Pacific coast and extend from Tierra del Fuego northward, across t...

malachite

(Encyclopedia)malachite mălˈəkīt [key], a mineral, the green basic carbonate of copper occurring in crystals of the monoclinic system or (more usually) in masses. It is translucent or opaque; the luster is silk...

Portales, Diego

(Encyclopedia)Portales, Diego dyāˈgō pôrtäˈlās [key], 1793–1837, Chilean statesman. Founder of constitutional order and of the conservative regime in Chile, he was general minister (1830–31) and minister...