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Nicoya, Gulf of

(Encyclopedia)Nicoya, Gulf of nēkōˈyä [key], inlet of the Pacific Ocean, Central America, between the Nicoya Peninsula and the northwest mainland of Costa Rica. The catch from the fine fishing in the gulf is ca...

Maipú

(Encyclopedia)Maipú mīpo͞oˈ [key], battlefield, central Chile, a few miles S of Santiago. On Apr. 5, 1818, San Martín routed the Spanish royalist army at Maipú and assured Chilean independence. The victory ma...

Saint Vincent, Cape

(Encyclopedia)Saint Vincent, Cape, Port. Cabo de São Vicente, high and rocky promontory at the southwestern extremity of Portugal. Several historic sea battles were fought nearby, the most notable in 1797, when th...

Figueras, Estanislao

(Encyclopedia)Figueras, Estanislao āstäˌnēsläˈō fēgāˈräs [key], 1819–82, Spanish politician. After the overthrow (1868) of Isabella II, he became leader of the Republican party. He opposed King Amadeus...

Tulare Lake

(Encyclopedia)Tulare Lake, intermittent lake, in the Central Valley, central Calif. The Kings, Kaweah, and Kern rivers at one time flowed into the lake, but their waters have been diverted for irrigation. The land ...

Olmedo, José Joaquin

(Encyclopedia)Olmedo, José Joaquin hōsāˈ wäkēnˈ ōlmāˈᵺō [key], 1780–1847, Ecuadorian statesman and poet. An ambassador to Paris and London after Ecuador's independence, Olmedo gained renown for his o...

Pantoja de la Cruz, Juan

(Encyclopedia)Pantoja de la Cruz, Juan hwän päntōˈhä ᵺā lä kro͞oth [key], 1553–1608, Spanish portrait painter, court painter to Philip II and Philip III; pupil and follower of Alonzo Sánchez Coello. Th...

Badía y Leblich, Domingo

(Encyclopedia)Badía y Leblich, Domingo dōmēngˈgō bäᵺēˈä ē lāblēkˈ [key], 1766–1818, Spanish traveler, known as Ali Bey. Posing as a Muslim, he set out from Cádiz (1803) and traveled through N Afri...

Aruba

(Encyclopedia)Aruba əro͞oˈbə [key], island, autonomous part of the Netherlands (2015 est. pop. 104,000), 69 sq mi (179 sq km), in the Lesser Antilles off the coast of Venezuela. Oranjestad is the capital and ma...

Tournai

(Encyclopedia)Tournai to͞ornāˈ [key], Du. Doornik, commune (1991 pop. 67,732), Hainaut prov., SW Belgium, on the Scheldt River. Tournay and Doornijk are alternate spellings for the commune's French and Dutch nam...