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Flores, island, Azores

(Encyclopedia)Flores flôˈrĭz, Port. flôˈrəsh [key], island , 58 sq mi (150 sq km), Horta dist...

Canada Act

(Encyclopedia)Canada Act, also called the Constitutional Act of 1982, which made Canada a fully sovereign state. The British Parliament approved it on Mar. 25, 1982, and Queen Elizabeth II proclaimed it on Apr. 17,...

Long Island, battle of

(Encyclopedia)Long Island, battle of, Aug. 27, 1776, American defeat in the American Revolution. To protect New York City and the lower Hudson valley from the British forces massed on Staten Island, George Washingt...

Foxe Basin

(Encyclopedia)Foxe Basin, a widening of the waterway between Baffin Island and the Melville Peninsula, c.340 mi (550 km) long and c.225 mi (360 km) wide, Nunavut Territory, Canada. The basin is shallow and is ice-c...

Washington Island, United States

(Encyclopedia)Washington Island, c.20 sq mi (50 sq km), NE Wis., in NW Lake Michigan, just off the northern tip of the Door Peninsula. The island was visited by the French explorers Pierre Radisson (1657) and Rober...

Montserrat, island, West Indies

(Encyclopedia)Montserrat mŏntsərătˈ [key], British dependency and island (2015 est. pop. 5,000), 38 sq mi (98 sq km), West Indies, one of the Leeward Islands. It is a rugged, scenic island of volcanic origin. C...

Aves Island

(Encyclopedia)Aves Island äˈvĕs [key] or Bird Island, Span. Isla de Aves, small, low-lying sand and coral island, a dependency of Venezuela, in the E Caribbean Sea 380 mi (610 km) N of the Venezuelan mainland. V...

Stewart Island

(Encyclopedia)Stewart Island, island, 674 sq mi (1,746 sq km), S New Zealand, 20 mi (32 km) S of the South Island across Foveaux Strait. Halfmoon Bay is the main settlement. A mountainous and scenic island, it is a...

Padre Island

(Encyclopedia)Padre Island pädˈrē, pădˈrē [key], low, sandy island, c.115 mi (185 km) long, less than 3 mi (4.8 km) wide, S Tex. It is characterized by large, irregular sand dunes, sparse vegetation, and a st...

Melville, Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount

(Encyclopedia)Melville, Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount, 1742–1811, British lawyer and politician. He was solicitor general for Scotland (1766–75), entered Parliament in 1774, and became lord advocate in 1775. Durin...