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Senegal, river, Africa

(Encyclopedia)Senegal sĕnĭgôlˈ, sĕnˈĭgôl [key], river, c.1,000 mi (1,610 km) long, formed in SW Mali, W Africa, by the confluence of the Bafing and Bakoy rivers, both of which rise in the Fouta Djallon, N G...

Cradle of Humankind

(Encyclopedia)Cradle of Humankind, extensive archaeological site, c.180 sq mi (470 sq km), encompassing dolomitic limestone caves containing numerous hominin fossils, Gauteng and North West prov., South Africa, c.3...

Devils Lake

(Encyclopedia)Devils Lake. 1 200 sq mi (520 sq km), NE central N.Dak., the largest natural body of water in the state. In an area of typically inland drainage, Devils Lake can range from a dry lakebed to more than ...

Pond, Peter

(Encyclopedia)Pond, Peter, 1740–1807, American fur trader and explorer of the Old Northwest, b. Milford, Conn. He served in the French and Indian War and in 1765 became a western trader from Detroit. He later rem...

Gadsden, James

(Encyclopedia)Gadsden, James gădzˈdən [key], 1788–1858, American railroad promoter and diplomat, b. Charleston, S.C.; grandson of Christopher Gadsden. He served in the War of 1812, under Andrew Jackson against...

Southern Ocean

(Encyclopedia)Southern Ocean or Antarctic Ocean, name sometimes given to those parts of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans that surround Antarctica S of roughly 60°S. These waters are marked by the Antarctic...

camass

(Encyclopedia)camass or camas both: kămˈəs [key], any species of the genus Camassia (or Quamasia), hardy North American plants of the family Lilaceae (lily family), chiefly of moist places in the far West, where...

Warsaw Treaty Organization

(Encyclopedia)Warsaw Treaty Organization or Warsaw Pact, alliance set up under a mutual defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, in 1955 by Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania,...

North Africa, campaigns in

(Encyclopedia)North Africa, campaigns in, series of military contests for control of North Africa during World War II. The desert war started in 1940 and for more than two years thereafter seesawed between NE Libya...

Fergana Valley

(Encyclopedia)Fergana Valley or Ferghana Valley, region, 8,494 sq mi (22,000 sq km), Central Asia, divided among Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. The Fergana Range (part of the Tian Shan system) rises in the...