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Palmas, Las

(Encyclopedia)Palmas, Las läs pälˈmäs [key], city (1990 pop. 373,846), capital of Las Palmas prov., Spain, on Grand Canary. The harbor nearby, at Puerto de la Luz, is the chief port of the Canary Islands and th...

Regnard, Jean François

(Encyclopedia)Regnard, Jean François zhäN fräNswäˈ rənyärˈ [key], 1655–1709, French comic dramatist. He traveled widely in Europe; captured by Barbary pirates, he was held in slavery (1678–79) until ran...

Stephens, John Lloyd

(Encyclopedia)Stephens, John Lloyd, 1805–52, American author and traveler, b. Shrewsbury, N.J., grad. Columbia College, 1822. His travels (1834–36) in Europe, the Middle East, and Central America provided the m...

Vänern

(Encyclopedia)Vänern vĕˈnərn [key], lake, c.2,145 sq mi (5,560 sq km), SW Sweden, fed by the Klarälven and drained by the Götaälv SW into the Kattegat. It is the largest lake in Sweden and the third largest ...

Throckmorton, Francis

(Encyclopedia)Throckmorton or Throgmorton, Francis, 1554–84, English conspirator; nephew of Sir Nicholas Throckmorton. A Roman Catholic, he began (1580) a tour of Europe, spent largely in discussing cooperative m...

Sogn og Fjordane

(Encyclopedia)Sogn og Fjordane sôngˈnə ô fyôrˈdänə [key], county (1995 pop. 107,612), c.7,150 sq mi (18,500 sq km), W Norway, bordering on the Atlantic Ocean in the west. Hermansverk is the capital. The cou...

Sestriere

(Encyclopedia)Sestriere sĕstrēârˈ [key], village, alt. 6,670 ft (2,033 m), Piedmont, NW Italy, in the Alps. It is a fashionable winter sports center, located near the French border and the Montgenèvre Pass not...

siderite

(Encyclopedia)siderite kălˈĭbīt [key], a mineral, varying in color from brown, green, or gray to black and occurring in nature in massive and crystalline form. A carbonate of iron, FeCO3, it serves as an iron o...

Balaton

(Encyclopedia)Balaton băˈlətŏn, Hung. bŏˈlŏtôn [key], lake, 230 sq mi (596 sq km), W central Hungary, at the foot of the Bakony Forest. The Zala River is its main tributary; the lake is drained by the Sió ...

Cathay

(Encyclopedia)Cathay kăthāˈ [key], name for North China used by medieval Europeans, derived from the Khitan (or Khitai), a Manchurian people who conquered S Manchuria and N China and founded the Liao dynasty (93...