Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Sayan Mountains

(Encyclopedia)Sayan Mountains säyänˈ [key], central Asia, chiefly in S Siberia. The Eastern Sayan Mts. extend c.680 mi (1,090 km) from the lower Yenisei River to the southwest end of Lake Baykal and rise to 11,6...

Tunguska Basin

(Encyclopedia)Tunguska Basin, c.400,000 sq mi (1,036,000 sq km), Krasnoyarsk Territory and Sakha Republic, E central Siberian Russia, between the Yenisei and Lena rivers. It has a huge untapped coal reserve. The ma...

Biminis

(Encyclopedia)Biminis bĭˈmĭnēz, bəmēˈnēz [key], island group in the Straits of Florida, forming the northwest section of the Bahamas. The group includes North Bimini, South Bimini, and surrounding cays. Exc...

Cantabrian Mountains

(Encyclopedia)Cantabrian Mountains kăntāˈbrēən [key], N Spain, extending c.300 mi (480 km) along the Bay of Biscay from the Pyrenees to Cape Finisterre. Torre de Cerredo (8,687 ft/2,648 m) in the Picos de Euro...

viaduct

(Encyclopedia)viaduct vīˈədŭktˌ [key] [Lat.,=road conveyor], type of bridge for carrying a highway or railroad over a valley, over low ground, or over a road. It is commonly constructed in the form of several ...

Zhuhai

(Encyclopedia)Zhuhai jo͞o-hī [key], city (1994 est. pop. 308,600), S Guangdong prov., on the Pearl River, N of Macau. Designated a special economic zone in 1979, the city has benefited greatly from its proximity ...

Legal Tender cases

(Encyclopedia)Legal Tender cases, lawsuits brought to the U.S. Supreme Court involving the constitutionality of the Legal Tender Act of 1862, which was passed to meet currency needs during the Civil War. The act ha...

Friendly, Fred W.

(Encyclopedia)Friendly, Fred W., 1915–98, American broadcaster and author, b. New York City as Ferdinand Friendly Wachenheimer. He began his career at age 22 at a radio station in Providence where he wrote, produ...

corporation tax

(Encyclopedia)corporation tax, imposts levied by federal, state, or local governments against corporations, their income, or their peculiar attributes, such as charters, capitalization, dividends, and franchises. I...

fine

(Encyclopedia)fine. 1 In criminal law, sum of money exacted by a lawful tribunal as punishment for a crime. In the case of misdemeanors and minor infractions of the law, convicted persons ordinarily have the altern...

Browse by Subject