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Wakefield, Edward Gibbon

(Encyclopedia)Wakefield, Edward Gibbon, 1796–1862, British colonial statesman. He was attached to the British embassies in Turin (1814–16) and Paris (1820–26), but in 1826 was convicted of an attempt to marry...

milkwort

(Encyclopedia)milkwort, common name for the Polygalaceae, a family including herbs, shrubs, and trees found in all parts of the world except New Zealand and the polar regions. Several milkworts (genus Polygala), pe...

Malayo-Polynesian languages

(Encyclopedia)Malayo-Polynesian languages ôˌstrōnēˈzhən [key], family of languages estimated at from 300 to 500 tongues and understood by approximately 300 million people in Madagascar; the Malay Peninsula; I...

Te Kanawa, Dame Kiri

(Encyclopedia)Te Kanawa, Dame Kiri tā käˈnəwə [key], 1944–, New Zealand opera and concert singer. From the early 1970s until her last public performance (2016), she was one of the most acclaimed and popular ...

ice plant

(Encyclopedia)ice plant, low, fleshy plant (Cryophytum crystalinum) of warm, dry, barren regions. It is cultivated chiefly as a curiosity because of its leaves, densely coated with small, glistening, bladder-shaped...

hot spring

(Encyclopedia)hot spring, natural discharge of groundwater having an elevated temperature. Most hot springs result from the emergence of groundwater that has passed through or near recently formed, hot, igneous roc...

Napier

(Encyclopedia)Napier nāˈpēər [key], city (1993 est. pop. 51,800), E central North Island, New Zealand, on Hawke Bay, close to Hastings. It is a major center for wool, as well as meat, fruit, and dairy exports; ...

Manihiki

(Encyclopedia)Manihiki mänĭhēˈkē [key], atoll, c.2 sq mi (5.2 sq km), South Pacific, in the Cook Islands. It comprises 12 islets; the whole group that includes Manihiki and Penrhyn is also often designated Man...

Bridges, Simon Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Bridges, Simon Joseph, 1976–, New Zealand lawyer and politician, b. Auckland. A Maori and a member of the conservative National party, Bridges was a lawyer and prosecutor before he was first elected...

Taupo, Lake

(Encyclopedia)Taupo, Lake touˈpō [key], largest lake of New Zealand, 234 sq mi (606 sq km) and 552 ft (168 m) deep, in central North Island. Originally fed by over 20 streams, the lake is drained by the Waikato R...