Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Canaletto

(Encyclopedia)Canaletto känälĕtˈtō [key], 1697–1768, Venetian painter, whose original name was Antonio Canal. He studied with his father, Bernardo Canal, a theatrical scene painter, and spent several years i...

water table

(Encyclopedia)water table, the top zone of soil and rock in which all voids are saturated with water. The level of the water table varies with topography and climate, and depends on the degree to which the groundwa...

Montreux Convention

(Encyclopedia)Montreux Convention, 1936, international agreement regarding the Dardanelles. The Turkish request for permission to refortify the Straits zone was favorably received by nations anxious to return to in...

butterwort

(Encyclopedia)butterwort, common name for several species of the plant genus Pinguicula of the north temperate zone and the mountains of tropical America. It is a member of the family Lentibulariaceae (bladderwort ...

Chicago, river, United States

(Encyclopedia)Chicago, river, formed in Chicago by the junction of its North Branch (24 mi/39 km long) and South Branch (10 mi/16 km long), and flowing southeast via a canal into the Des Plaines River at Lockport, ...

Cordilleras

(Encyclopedia)Cordilleras kôrdĭlˈərəz, Span. kōrdēyāˈräs [key] [Span., originally=little string], general name for the entire chain of mountain systems of W North America, extending from N Alaska to Nicar...

Chabahar

(Encyclopedia)Chabahar, city, Sistan and Baluchistan prov., SE Iran, on the Gulf of Oman; formerly known as Chah Bahar or Bandar Behesti. It was dependent on fishing ...

Marne, river, France

(Encyclopedia)Marne, river, c.325 mi (520 km) long, rising in the Langres plateau, NE France, and flowing in an arc generally NW to the Seine River near Paris. It passes through Chaumont and Châlons-en-Champagne. ...

Eider, river, Germany

(Encyclopedia)Eider īˈdər [key], river, 117 mi (188 km) long, rising S of Kiel, N Germany, and flowing N to the Kiel Canal before turning west and meandering to the North Sea at Tönning. It is navigable for mos...

Galápagos Islands

(Encyclopedia)Galápagos Islands gəlăpˈəgōs [key] [Span.,=tortoises], archipelago and province, 3,029 sq mi ...