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Pietermaritzburg

(Encyclopedia)Pietermaritzburg pēˌtərmărˈĭtsbûrgˌ [key], city, part and seat of Msunduzi local municipality and capital of KwaZulu-Natal prov., E South Africa, in the foothills of the Drakensberg Range. The...

polygon

(Encyclopedia)polygon, closed plane figure bounded by straight line segments as sides. A polygon is convex if any two points inside the polygon can be connected by a line segment that does not intersect any side. I...

osmium

(Encyclopedia)osmium ŏzˈmēəm [key], metallic chemical element; symbol Os; at. no. 76; at. wt. 190.23; m.p. 3,045±30℃; b.p. 5,027±100℃; sp. gr. 22.57 at 20℃; valence usually +0 to +8. Osmium is a very ha...

vector

(Encyclopedia)vector, quantity having both magnitude and direction; it may be represented by a directed line segment. Many physical quantities are vectors, e.g., force, velocity, and momentum. Thus, in specifying a...

combustion

(Encyclopedia)combustion, rapid chemical reaction of two or more substances with a characteristic liberation of heat and light; it is commonly called burning. The burning of a fuel (e.g., wood, coal, oil, or natura...

Imperial Conference

(Encyclopedia)Imperial Conference, assembly of representatives of the self-governing members of the British Empire, held about every four years until World War II. The meetings prior to 1911—in 1887, 1897, 1902, ...

Aqaba, Gulf of

(Encyclopedia)Aqaba, Gulf of, northeastern arm of the Red Sea, 118 mi (190 km) long and 10 to 15 mi (16.1 to 24.1 km) wide, between the Sinai and Arabian peninsulas; a part of the Great Rift Valley. The gulf, which...

Manhattan, borough, New York City, United States

(Encyclopedia)Manhattan, borough (1990 pop. 1,487,536), 28 sq mi (57 sq km), New York City, SE N.Y., coextensive with New York co. Manhattan is the cultural and commercial heart of the city, and its dramatic skylin...

Knoxville

(Encyclopedia)Knoxville, city (1990 pop. 165,121), seat of Knox co., E Tenn., on the Tennessee River; inc. 1876. A port of entry, it is a trade and shipping center for a farm, bituminous-coal, and marble area. Its ...

Kashi

(Encyclopedia)Kashi käshˈgär [key], city (1994 est. pop. 190,500), SW Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China, on the Kaxgar (Kashgar) River (a tributary of the Tarim). It is the hub of an important commercial d...