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Charles River Bridge Case

(Encyclopedia)Charles River Bridge Case, decided in 1837 by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Charles River Bridge Company had been granted (1785) a charter by the state of Massachusetts to operate a toll bridge. The sta...

Chad, Lake

(Encyclopedia)Chad, Lake chăd, chäd [key], N central Africa. It lies mainly in Chad and Cameroon. Some 550 sq mi (1,425 sq km) in area in 2003, the shallow lake has been greatly reduced in size since the 1960s, w...

Sahara

(Encyclopedia)Sahara səhârˈə [key] [Arab.,=desert], world's largest desert, c.3,500,000 sq mi (9,065,000 sq km), N Africa; the western part of a great arid zone that continues into SW Asia. Extending more than ...

delta

(Encyclopedia)delta [from triangular shape of the Nile delta, like the Greek letter delta], a deposit of clay, silt, and sand formed at the mouth of a river where the stream loses velocity and drops part of its sed...

Dakar

(Encyclopedia)Dakar dəkärˈ, dä– [key], city (1988 pop. 672,991), capital of Senegal, W Senegal, on Cape Verde Peninsula, a port on the Atlantic Ocean. Situated in a market-gardening region, Dakar is Senegal's...

Missouri River basin project

(Encyclopedia)Missouri River basin project, comprehensive plan authorized in 1944 for the coordinated development of water resources of the Missouri River and its tributaries, draining an area of c.513,300 sq mi (1...

Guinea, archaic term for Africa's west coast

(Encyclopedia)Guinea gĭnˈē [key], an archaic term for the west coast of Africa. In its widest sense it has been applied to the region from Angola to Senegal. Parts of the region bore names originating in early c...

Tuareg

(Encyclopedia)Tuareg or Touareg both: twäˈrĕg [key], Berbers of the Sahara, numbering c.2 million. They have preserved their ancient alphabet, which is related to that used by ancient Libyans. The Tuaregs tradit...

Kaolack

(Encyclopedia)Kaolack kouˈläk [key], city (1988 pop. 150,961), W Senegal, a port on the Saloum River. Lying in a farm area, Kaolack is a major peanut marketing and exporting center and has a large peanut oil fact...

Diori, Hamani

(Encyclopedia)Diori, Hamani, 1916–89, Nigerien political leader. A teacher in Niger and Paris, and then a school headmaster in Niamey, Niger, he helped found (1946) the Niger Progressive party (PPN). After servin...