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America, in geography

(Encyclopedia)America [for Amerigo Vespucci], the lands of the Western Hemisphere—North America, Central (or Middle) America, and South America. The world map published in 1507 by Martin Waldseemüller is the fir...

boat people

(Encyclopedia)boat people, term used to describe the Indochinese refugees who fled Communist rule after the Vietnam War (1975) in small boats and the many ethnic Chinese who left Vietnam similarly after China's inv...

Veracruz, city, Mexico

(Encyclopedia)Veracruz, city (1990 pop. 303,152), Veracruz state, E central Mexico, on the Gulf of Mexico. Rivaling Tampico as the country's main port, it is also the commercial and industrial center of an importan...

Central Valley

(Encyclopedia)Central Valley, great trough of central Calif., c.450 mi (720 km) long and c.50 mi (80 km) wide, between the Sierra Nevada and the Coast Ranges. The Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers drain much of the...

Veracruz, state, Mexico

(Encyclopedia)Veracruz yäˈbā [key], state (1990 pop. 6,228,239), 27,759 sq mi (71,896 sq km), E central Mexico. The capital is Xalapa. Stretching c.430 mi (690 km) along the Gulf of Mexico and reaching from 30 t...

Zacatecas, city, Mexico

(Encyclopedia)Zacatecas, city (1990 pop. 100,051), capital of Zacatecas state, N central Mexico. With an altitude of more than 8,000 ft (2,438 m), it is situated in a deep ravine surrounded by arid hills. The clima...

Central Park

(Encyclopedia)Central Park, 840 acres (340 hectares), the largest park in Manhattan, New York City; bordered by 59th St. on the south, Fifth Ave. on the east, 110th St. on the north, and Central Park West on the we...

Chihuahua, city, Mexico

(Encyclopedia)Chihuahua, city, capital of Chihuahua state, N Mexico. It lies in a valley almost encircled by hills. Chihuahua is the commercial and processing center ...

Central American Common Market

(Encyclopedia)Central American Common Market (CACM), trade organization envisioned by a 1960 treaty between Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. The treaty established (1961) a secretariat for Central A...

Aguascalientes, state, Mexico

(Encyclopedia)Aguascalientes äˌgwäskälyānˈtās, äˌwäs– [key] [Span.,=hot waters], state, 2,007 sq mi (5,200 sq km), central Mexico, on the Anáhuac plateau. Aguascali...