Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Congress of the United States

(Encyclopedia)Congress of the United States, the legislative branch of the federal government, instituted (1789) by Article 1 of the Constitution of the United States, which prescribes its membership and defines it...

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...

Comoros, the

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Comoros, the kŏmˈərōs [key], officially Union of the Comoros (2020 est. pop. 869,601), 838 sq mi ...

Atlantic Ocean

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Atlantic Ocean [Lat.,=of Atlas], second largest ocean (c.31,800,000 sq mi/82,362,000 sq km; c.36,000,000 sq mi/93,240,000 sq km with marginal seas). The North Atlantic Ocean has some of the w...

Bahamas, the

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Bahamas, the bəhäˈməz [key], officially Commonwealth of the Bahamas, independent nation (2020 ...

Taymyr Peninsula

(Encyclopedia)Taymyr Peninsula or Taimyr Peninsula both: tīmĭrˈ [key], northernmost projection of Siberia, N Krasnoyarsk Territory, N central Siberian Russia, between the estuaries of the Yenisei and Khatanga ri...

Lefkás

(Encyclopedia)Lefkás, formerly Levkás lo͞oˈkəs [key], mountainous island (1991 pop. 19,350), c.115 sq mi (300 sq km), W Greece, in the Ionian Sea; one of the Ionian Islands. Lefkás (1991 pop. 6,344), the chie...

New Caledonia

(Encyclopedia)New Caledonia, Fr. Nouvelle Calédonie, officially Territory of New Caledonia and Dependencies, internally self-governing dependency of France (2015 est. pop. 269,000), land area 7,241 sq mi (18,760 s...

Ladoga, Lake

(Encyclopedia)Ladoga, Lake läˈdōgə, Rus. läˈdəgə [key], Finnish Laatokka, Rus. Ladozhskoye Ozero, c.7,000 sq mi (18,100 sq km), NW European Russia, in Karelia, NE of St. Petersburg. The largest lake in Euro...

monkey-puzzle tree

(Encyclopedia)monkey-puzzle tree, evergreen tree (Araucaria araucana) native to Chile and widely cultivated elsewhere as an ornamental. The symmetrical branches have an unusual angularity and are completely covered...