Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

alien

(Encyclopedia)alien, in law, any person residing in one political community while owing allegiance to another. A procedure known as naturalization permits aliens to become citizens. Each nation establishes conditio...

Natron, Lake

(Encyclopedia)Natron, Lake nāˈtrən [key], c.35 mi (60 km) long and 15 mi (20 km) wide, in the Great Rift Valley, E Africa, on the Kenya-Tanzania border. It has soda, salt, and magnesite deposits. ...

Roodepoort

(Encyclopedia)Roodepoort ro͞oˈdəpo͝ort [key], city, now part of the City of Johannesburg metropolitan municipality, Gauteng prov., NE South Africa; founded in 1887. It is a gold-mining center and a resort. ...

Djerid, Chott

(Encyclopedia)Djerid, Chott shôt jĕrēdˈ [key], salt lake, c.1,900 sq mi (4,920 sq km), W central Tunisia, N Africa. It is now an extensive salt flat with water only in its lower areas. ...

Bantu languages

(Encyclopedia)Bantu languages, group of African languages forming a subdivision of the Benue-Niger division of the Niger-Congo branch of the Niger-Kordofanian language family (see African languages). Bantu contains...

Muir, John

(Encyclopedia)Muir, John, 1838–1914, American naturalist, b. Dunbar, Scotland, studied at the Univ. of Wisconsin. He came to the United States in 1849 and settled in California in 1868. In recognition of his effo...

Leguía, Augusto Bernardino

(Encyclopedia)Leguía, Augusto Bernardino ougo͞osˈtō bārnärdēˈnō lāgēˈä [key], 1863–1932, president of Peru (1908–12, 1919–30). In his second administration Leguía promulgated a new constitution ...

Reston

(Encyclopedia)Reston, uninc. city (1990 pop. 48,556), Fairfax co., N Va., a residential and commercial suburb c. 20 mi (32 km) W of Washington, D.C. A planned community, it was established in 1961 by real estate de...

Reyes, Rafael

(Encyclopedia)Reyes, Rafael räfäĕlˈ rāˈyās [key], 1850–1921, president of Colombia (1904–9). As a young man, he explored the upper Amazon wilderness with his brother. Later he distinguished himself in th...

Barquisimeto

(Encyclopedia)Barquisimeto bärkēsēmāˈtō [key], city, capital of Lara state, NW Venezuela, on the Pan-American Highway. Surrou...

Browse by Subject