Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Estrela, Serra da

(Encyclopedia)Estrela, Serra da sĕrˈrə ᵺə əshtrāˈlə [key], mountain range, central Portugal. It rises to 6,532 ft (1,991 m) in Malhão da Estrela, Portugal's highest peak. The range is an important pastor...

Piedras Negras, ancient city, Guatemala

(Encyclopedia)Piedras Negras pyāˈᵺräs nāˈgräs [key] [Span.,=black stones], ruined city of the Classic era of the Maya, NW Petén, Guatemala, in the Usumacinta valley. Reaching a peak of sculptural achieveme...

Tarawera Mountain

(Encyclopedia)Tarawera Mountain täˌräwârˈə [key], volcanic peak, 3,646 ft (1,111 m) high, on the North Island, New Zealand, in Rotorua. Its eruption in 1886 destroyed villages and the unique silica Pink and W...

Wengen

(Encyclopedia)Wengen vĕngˈərn älp [key], at 6,160 ft (1,878 m), has a beautiful view of the Jungfrau peak. ...

Kluane National Park

(Encyclopedia)Kluane National Park klo͞oānˈ [key], c.8,500 sq mi (22,000 sq km), SW Yukon, Canada, between Kluane Lake and the British Columbia and Alaska borders; est. 1972. Located in the St. Elias Mts., the p...

Head, Sir Edmund Walker

(Encyclopedia)Head, Sir Edmund Walker, 1805–68, British governor-general of Canada (1854–61), cousin of Sir Francis Bond Head. An Oxford scholar and tutor, he published several books. His success as lieutenant ...

Aorangi, Mount

(Encyclopedia)Aorangi, Mount ouräkˈē [key] [both: Maori,=cloud in the sky], or Mount Cook, 12,254 ft (3,735 m) high, on the South Island, New Zealand, in the Southern Alps; highest peak of New Zealand. Several g...

Changbai

(Encyclopedia)Changbai or Changpai both: chängˈbīˈ [key], mountain range, largely in NE China and partly in North Korea; Mt. Paektu, also called Changbai Shan or Baitou Shan (9,003 ft/2,744 m), is the highest p...

Babeldaob

(Encyclopedia)Babeldaob or Babelthuap, volcanic island, 143 sq mi (370 sq km), largest island of Palau, in the W Caroline Islands, W Pacific. In 2006, Palau's capital was moved from the island of Oreor (Koror) to M...

Sand to Snow National Monument

(Encyclopedia)Sand to Snow National Monument, 154,000 acres (62,000 hectares) in the San Bernadino Mountains, S Calif. It rises from the Sonoran Desert floor to Mount San Gorgonio (11,503 ft/3,506 m), the highest p...