Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Maritime Territory

(Encyclopedia)Maritime Territory or Primorsky Kray prēmôrˈskē krī [key], administrative division (1992 pop. 2,309,000), c.64,900 sq mi (168,100 sq km), Russian Far East, between China (Manchuria or the Northea...

Semey

(Encyclopedia)Semey syĭmēˌpəläˈtyĭnsk [key], city (1993 est. pop. 342,000), capital of Semey region, NE Kazakhstan, on the Irtysh River and the Turkistan-Siberia RR. It is a river port, rail terminus, and co...

Vientiane

(Encyclopedia)Vientiane vēˌəntyĕnˈ, vyăNtyänˈ [key], city (1990 est. pop. 140,000), administrative capital and largest city of Laos, N central Laos, on the Mekong River, c.130 mi (210 km) southeast of the f...

compass

(Encyclopedia)compass. 1 In mathematics, an instrument for making circles and measuring distances. Frequently called a pair of compasses, it consists of two metal legs with one end of each attached to a pivot to fo...

Chu Ta

(Encyclopedia)Chu Ta or Zhu Da both: jo͞o dä [key], c.1626–c.1705, Chinese painter and calligrapher, also known as Pa-ta-shan-jen or Bada Shanren. Said to have been a descendant of the imperial Ming family, he ...

cinnamon

(Encyclopedia)cinnamon, name for trees and shrubs of the genus Cinnamomum of the family Lauraceae (laurel family). True cinnamon spice comes from the Ceylon or Sri Lanka cinnamon (C. verum or C. zeylanicum), now cu...

ancestor worship

(Encyclopedia)ancestor worship, ritualized propitiation and invocation of dead kin. Ancestor worship is based on the belief that the spirits of the dead continue to dwell in the natural world and have the power to ...

Palissy, Bernard

(Encyclopedia)Palissy, Bernard bĕrnärˈ pälēsēˈ [key], c.1510–c.1589, French potter. For 16 years he worked in vain to imitate white-glazed pottery (probably Chinese), even burning his furniture to fire his...

Hohhot

(Encyclopedia)Hohhot ho͞ohāhōtˈ [key], city (1994 est. pop. 683,200), capital of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region, N China. The terminus of caravan routes to Xinjiang and to the Republic of Mongolia, Hohho...

incubator

(Encyclopedia)incubator, apparatus for the maintenance of controlled conditions in which eggs can be hatched artificially. Incubator houses with double walls of mud, a fireroom, and several compartments each holdin...