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Perrot, Nicolas

(Encyclopedia)Perrot, Nicolas pĕrōˈ [key], 1644–c.1718, French explorer in Canada and the Old Northwest. He came to New France as a child and, in service of the Jesuit missionaries, became acquainted with the...

Yukon, river, Canada and the United States

(Encyclopedia)Yukon yo͞oˈkŏn [key], river, c.2,000 mi (3,220 km) long, rising in Atlin Lake, NW British Columbia, Canada, and receiving numerous headwater streams; one of the longest rivers of North America. It ...

Normandy

(Encyclopedia)Normandy nôrmäNdēˈ [key], region and former province, NW France, bordering on the English Channel. It now includes five departments—Manche, Calvados, Eure, Seine-Maritime, and Orne. Normandy is ...

New England

(Encyclopedia)New England, name applied to the region comprising six states of the NE United States—Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. The region is thought to have been ...

Columbia, river, Canada and the United States

(Encyclopedia)Columbia, river, c.1,210 mi (1,950 km) long, rising in Columbia Lake, SE British Columbia, Canada. It flows first NW in the Rocky Mt. Trench, then hooks sharply about the Selkirk Mts. to flow S throug...

Marathas

(Encyclopedia)Marathas or Mahrattas both: mərătˈəz, məräˈtəz [key], Marathi-speaking people of W central India, known for their ability as warriors and their devotion to Hinduism. From their homeland in Mah...

Kuril Islands

(Encyclopedia)Kuril Islands kyo͝orˈēlz, kyo͝orēlzˈ [key], Jap. Chishima-Retto, Rus. Kurilskiye Ostrova, island chain, c.6,020 sq mi (15,590 sq km), Sakhalin region, E Russia. They stretch c.775 mi (1,250 km) ...

Ruanda-Urundi

(Encyclopedia)Ruanda-Urundi ro͞oänˈdä-o͞oro͞onˈdē [key], former colonial territory, central Africa, now divided between the independent states of Rwanda and Burundi. The original inhabitants of the area wer...

Semite

(Encyclopedia)Semite sĕmˈīt, sēˈmīt [key], originally one of a people believed to be descended from Shem, son of Noah. Later the term came to include the following peoples: Arabs; the Akkadians of ancient Bab...

gibbon

(Encyclopedia)gibbon, small ape, family Hylobatidae, found in the forests of SE Asia. The gibbons are known as the small, or lesser, apes; they are the most highly adapted of the apes to arboreal life. They are hig...