Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Bello, Sir Ahmadu

(Encyclopedia)Bello, Sir Ahmadu, 1910–66, Nigerian political, b. Rabbah (now in Sokoto State), NW Nigeria. A Fulani and descendent of Usuman dan Fodio, the founder of the Sokoto caliphate, he was a major figure i...

Salza, Hermann von

(Encyclopedia)Salza, Hermann von hĕrˈmän fən zälˈtsä [key], d. 1239, grand master (1210–39) of the Teutonic Knights. A friend and adviser of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, he often mediated between the e...

Ulster

(Encyclopedia)Ulster, northernmost of the historic provinces of Ireland. Modern Ulster consists of nine counties. Six (Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Derry, and Tyrone) now make up Northern Ireland (see Ireland, ...

Lakshadweep

(Encyclopedia)Lakshadweep ləkshädˈwēpˌ [key], union territory (2001 provisional pop. 60,595), 11 sq mi (28 sq km), SW India, consisting of the Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi islands in the Arabian Sea off th...

Agin-Buryat Autonomous Area

(Encyclopedia)Agin-Buryat Autonomous Area ägˈə bo͝oryätˈ [key], former administrative division, S Siberian Russia, in what is now the Transbaykal Territory. Aginskoye was the capital. Formed in 1937, the area...

Hill, James Jerome

(Encyclopedia)Hill, James Jerome, 1838–1916, American railroad builder, b. Ontario, Canada. He went to St. Paul, Minn., in 1856. He became a partner of Norman Kittson in a steamboat line and, with Kittson, Donald...

Mourne Mountains

(Encyclopedia)Mourne Mountains môrn [key], in Down, Newry, and Mourne dists., SE Northern Ireland. Slieve Donard (2,796 ft/852 m) is the highest peak in Northern Ireland. The district is barren and sparsely popula...

Heard Island

(Encyclopedia)Heard Island, barren, uninhabited subantarctic island, 142 sq mi (368 sq km), S Indian Ocean, located some 300 mi (483 km) SE of the Kerguelen Islands. Mountainous and largely covered by snow and glac...

Ephraim

(Encyclopedia)Ephraim ēˈfrēəm [key], in the Bible, younger son of Joseph and Asenath and eponymous ancestor of one of the 12 tribes of Israel. His tribe occupied the rugged country around Shiloh that later came...

Usuman dan Fodio

(Encyclopedia)Usuman dan Fodio 1754–1817. Fulani religious and political leader. Beginning as an itinerant Muslim missionary in northern Nigeria, he gained a large following for his syncretic visions, establishin...