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Magellan, Strait of

(Encyclopedia)Magellan, Strait of, c.330 mi (530 km) long and 21⁄2 to 15 mi (4–24 km) wide, separating South America from Tierra del Fuego and other islands south of the continent. Except for a few miles at its...

Hani, Martin Thembisile

(Encyclopedia)Hani, Chris 1942–1993, anti-apartheid activist, politician, and soldier. A legendary figure in South African history and a key participant in the ...

Spanish Main

(Encyclopedia)Spanish Main, mainland of Spanish America, particularly the coast of South America from the isthmus of Panama to the mouth of the Orinoco River. Spanish treasure fleets, sailing home from the New Worl...

Eswatini

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Eswatini or eSwatini, formerly Swaziland swäˈzēlănd [key],...

Tacna

(Encyclopedia)Tacna, city (1993 pop. 115,633), capital of Tacna dept., S Peru, on the Río Caplina. Tacna is an agricultural center that produces tobacco, grapes, cotton, and sugarcane. It is on the Pan-American Hi...

Mbuji-Mayi

(Encyclopedia)Mbuji-Mayi bäkwängˈgä [key], city (1984 pop. 486,235), capital of Kasai-Oriental prov., S central Congo (Kinshasa), on the Sankuru River. A commercial center in Luba country, it handles most of th...

Tiahuanaco

(Encyclopedia)Tiahuanaco tyäwänäˈkō [key], ancient native ruin, W Bolivia, 34 mi (55 km) S of Lake Titicaca on the Tiahuanaco R. in the S central Andes, near the Peruvian border; also called Tiwanaku or Tiahua...

Matthiessen, Peter

(Encyclopedia)Matthiessen, Peter măthˈəsən [key], American writer, naturalist, and adventurer, b. New York City, grad. Yale (1950). A founder (1951) of the literary Paris Review, he published his first novel, R...

Rodgers, Jimmie

(Encyclopedia)Rodgers, Jimmie (James Charles Rodgers), 1897–1933, American singer, guitarist, and songwriter often called “the father of country music,” b. Meri...

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