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side-necked turtle

(Encyclopedia)side-necked turtle, name for the long-necked turtle of the families Chelidae and Pelomedusidae, found only in the Southern Hemisphere. The neck in these two families is of a different structure from t...

Porto-Novo

(Encyclopedia)Porto-Novo pôrˈtō nōˈvō [key], city (1992 pop. 179,138), capital of Benin, S Benin, a port on Porto-Novo lagoon, an arm of the Gulf of Guinea. It is Benin's second largest city and an administra...

Matthiessen, Peter

(Encyclopedia)Matthiessen, Peter măthˈəsən [key], American writer, naturalist, and adventurer, b. New York City, grad. Yale (1950). A founder (1951) of the literary Paris Review, he published his first novel, R...

Dampier, William

(Encyclopedia)Dampier, William dămˈpēr [key], 1651–1715, English explorer, buccaneer, hydrographer, and naturalist. He fought (1673) in the Dutch War, managed a plantation in Jamaica (1674), and then worked wi...

Benin, Bight of

(Encyclopedia)Benin, Bight of, northern arm of the Gulf of Guinea, c.550 mi (885 km) wide, W Africa, between Cape Three Points, S Ghana, and the Niger River delta, SW Nigeria. The bight was an important area for sl...

Kindia

(Encyclopedia)Kindia kĭnˈdyə [key], town (1996 pop. 287,607), W Guinea. A rail and road hub, Kindia is the trade center for an area where bananas, manioc, rice, fruits, and vegetables are grown and bauxite is mi...

frogmouth

(Encyclopedia)frogmouth, common name for small, owllike birds of the family Podargidae, ranging in size from 9 to 21 in. (22.5–52.5 cm). Their soft plumage is a mottled gray-brown in color with little distinction...

Spínola, António Sebastião Ribeiro de

(Encyclopedia)Spínola, António Sebastião Ribeiro de əntôˈnyo͝o səbəstyouNˈ rēbĕēˈro͝o dĭ spēˈno͝olə [key], 1910–96, Portuguese army officer and political leader. Active in the colonial wars in...

Ogooué

(Encyclopedia)Ogooué or Ogowe both: ōgōwāˈ [key], river, c.560 mi (900 km) long, rising on the Batéké Plateau, SW Congo (Brazzaville). It flows NW and W across Gabon to the Gulf of Guinea, near Port-Gentil, ...

Biafra, Bight of

(Encyclopedia)Biafra, Bight of bēäˈfrə [key], eastern bay of the Gulf of Guinea, W Africa. It extends approximately from the Niger River delta, in S Nigeria, to N Gabon. The bight gave its name to the secession...