Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

gazelle

(Encyclopedia)gazelle, name for the many species of delicate, graceful antelopes of the genera Gazella, Eudorcas, and Nanger, inhabiting arid, open country. Most gazelles are found only in Africa, but several speci...

Stephens, William

(Encyclopedia)Stephens, William, 1671–1753, English colonial official in Georgia, b. Bowcombe, Isle of Wight. He was educated at Cambridge and served in Parliament (1702–27). In 1736 he went to South Carolina t...

domino theory

(Encyclopedia)domino theory, the notion that if one country becomes Communist, other nations in the region will probably follow, like dominoes falling in a line. The analogy, first applied (1954) to Southeast Asia ...

Paphlagonia

(Encyclopedia)Paphlagonia păfˌləgōˈnēə [key], ancient country of N Asia Minor, between Bithynia and Pontus on the Black Sea coast, in modern Turkey. A mountainous district with the Halys as its chief river, ...

West Siberian Plain

(Encyclopedia)West Siberian Plain, an extensive region of continuous flatland, N Asia, comprising the western third of Siberia, Russia. It is bounded on the east by the Yenisei River, on the north by the Arctic Oce...

Hall, Lyman

(Encyclopedia)Hall, Lyman, 1724–90, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Wallingford, Conn. He was a Congregational minister for some time before practicing m...

Terek

(Encyclopedia)Terek tyĕˈrĭk [key], river, c.370 mi (600 km) long, in Russia and Georgia, rising in the Caucasus, in Georgia, in glaciers W of Mt. Kazbek. It flows N through the Daryal gorge past Vladikavkaz, the...

Abrams, Stacey

(Encyclopedia)Abrams, Stacey Yvonne, 1973-, American politician and author, b. Gulfport, Ms., Spelman College (B.A., 1995); Univ. of Texas (Masters of Public Affairs, 1998), Yale Law School (J.D., 1999)...

Colchis

(Encyclopedia)Colchis kŏlˈkĭs [key], ancient country on the eastern shore of the Black Sea and in the Caucasus region. Centered about the fertile valley of the Phasis River (the modern Rion), Colchis corresponds...

Kura

(Encyclopedia)Kura ko͝oräˈ [key], ancient Cyrus, Georgian Mktvari, Azeri Kür, river, c.950 mi (1,530 km) long, the chief river of Georgia and Azerbaijan. It rises in NE Turkey, NW of Kars, and flows NE into Geo...

Browse by Subject