Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Samoa, country, SW Pacific Ocean

(Encyclopedia)Samoa, formerly Western Samoa, officially Independent State of Samoa, constitutional monarchy (2015 est. pop. 194,000), South Pacific, comprising the western half of the Samoa island chain. There are ...

lionfish

(Encyclopedia)lionfish, common name for a genus (Pterois) of the family Scorpaenidae (see rockfish), comprising venomous subtropical marine fish native to the South Pacific, the Indian Ocean, and the Red Sea. Nativ...

Algoa Bay

(Encyclopedia)Algoa Bay ălgōˈə [key], arm of the Indian Ocean, indenting Eastern Cape, South Africa. The Portuguese arrived in the late 15th cent., and it was used as an anchorage. Port Elizabeth is on the shor...

Tana, river, Kenya

(Encyclopedia)Tana täˈnä [key], river, c.500 mi (800 km) long, rising near Mt. Kenya, central Kenya, E Africa, and flowing E then S across Kenya to the Indian Ocean. There are hydroelectric plants and irrigation...

Ashmore and Cartier Islands

(Encyclopedia)Ashmore and Cartier Islands ăshˈmōr, cärˌtē-āˈ [key], unhabited tropical islands, 2 sq mi (5 sq km), E Indian Ocean, a dependency of Australia located 190 mi (300 km) NW of N Western Australia...

Ruvuma

(Encyclopedia)Ruvuma ro͞ovo͞oˈmə [key], river, c.450 mi (724 km) long, rising in N Mozambique, near Lake Nyasa and flowing E to the Indian Ocean. It forms most of the Tanzania-Mozambique border. In its lower co...

Victoria, city, Seychelles

(Encyclopedia)Victoria or Port Victoria, city (2010 pop. 26,450), capital of the Seychelles, in the Indian Ocean. A port on the NE coast of Mahé Island, Victoria is an administrative, commercial, tourist, and ship...

Fitzroy

(Encyclopedia)Fitzroy, rivers in Australia. 1 River, 174 mi (280 km) long, formed by the junction of the Dawson and the Mackenzie rivers, E Queensland, Australia, and flowing past Rockhampton to Keppel Bay of the C...

Fianarantsoa

(Encyclopedia)Fianarantsoa fyänäräntso͞oˈə, –tsōˈə [key], town, S central Madagascar, in...

Horn of Africa

(Encyclopedia)Horn of Africa, peninsula, NE Africa, opposite the S Arabia Peninsula. Also known as the Somali Peninsula, it encompasses Somalia and E Ethiopia and is the easternmost extension of the continent, sepa...