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California, Gulf of

(Encyclopedia)California, Gulf of, or Sea of Cortés, arm of the Pacific Ocean, c.700 mi (1,130 km) long and 50 to 130 mi (80–209 km) wide, NW Mexico; separates Baja California from the Mexican mainland. The gulf...

Kent, kingdom of

(Encyclopedia)Kent, kingdom of, one of the kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England. It was settled in the mid-5th cent. by aggressive bands of people called Jutes (see Anglo-Saxons). Historians are in dispute over the auth...

Organization of Islamic Cooperation

(Encyclopedia)Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), international organization of 57 countries whose inhabitants are mainly Muslim, est. 1969 as the Organization of the Islamic Conference, renamed 2011. It is ...

Hopi

(Encyclopedia)Hopi hōˈpē [key], group of the Pueblo, formerly called Moki, or Moqui. They speak the Hopi language, which belongs to the Uto-Aztecan branch of the Aztec-Tanoan linguistic stock, at all their puebl...

harvest customs

(Encyclopedia)harvest customs, practices associated with the celebration of the gathering of agricultural crops. The gathering of the harvest—the climax of the year's labors wherever the soil is cultivated—has ...

Man, Isle of

(Encyclopedia)Man, Isle of, island and dependency of the British crown (2015 est. pop. 83,000), 227 sq mi (588 sq km), off Great Britain, in the Irish Sea. The coast is rocky with precipitous cliffs; the Calf of Ma...

search, right of

(Encyclopedia)search, right of. 1 In domestic law, the right of officials to search persons or private property, usually obtained through some form of search warrant authorized by a court. In the United States, the...

Kroeber, Alfred Louis

(Encyclopedia)Kroeber, Alfred Louis krōˈbər [key], 1876–1960, American anthropologist, b. Hoboken, N.J., Ph.D. Columbia, 1901. He taught (1901–46) at the Univ. of California and was director (1925–46) of t...

Biafra, Republic of

(Encyclopedia)Biafra, Republic of, secessionist state of W Africa, in existence from May 30, 1967, to Jan. 15, 1970. At the outset Biafra comprised, roughly, the East-Central, South-Eastern, and Rivers states of th...

Chibcha

(Encyclopedia)Chibcha chĭbˈchə [key], indigenous people of the eastern cordillera of the Andes of Colombia. Although trade with neighboring tribes was common, the Chibcha seem to have evolved their culture in co...