Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Anáhuac

(Encyclopedia)Anáhuac änäˈwäk [key] [Aztec and Nahuatl,=near the water], geographical term used variously in Mexico before the Spanish Conquest. Today it commonly refers to that part of the central plateau of ...

Uncompahgre

(Encyclopedia)Uncompahgre ŭnˌkəmpäˈgrē [key], river, c.75 mi (120 km) long, rising in the San Juan Mts., SW Colo., and flowing NW past Montrose to the Gunnison River at Delta. Its waters are used for irrigati...

Rioja, La

(Encyclopedia)Rioja, La lä rēōˈhä [key], autonomous community (2011 pop. 321,173), 1,948 sq mi (5,045 sq km), N Spain, coextensive with La Rioja prov. A fertile region, it is famous for its fine wines, which a...

Natural Bridge

(Encyclopedia)Natural Bridge, small village, Rockbridge co., W Va., in the Shenandoah valley; founded 1774. Nearby is the famous Natural Bridge over the gorge of Cedar Creek. It is a limestone arch 215 ft (66 m) hi...

Awash

(Encyclopedia)Awash äˈwäsh [key], river, E Ethiopia, rising near Addis Ababa and flowing c.500 mi (800 km) to a swampy lake near the Djibouti border. The Awash Valley is important agriculturally and has hydroele...

Sorek

(Encyclopedia)Sorek sōˈrĕk [key], in the Bible, valley, SW ancient Palestine, the home of Delilah. It is the modern Nahal Soreg, Israel, which meets the sea NW of Yibna. ...

Cape Fear River

(Encyclopedia)Cape Fear River, 202 mi (325 km) long, formed in E central N.C. by the junction of the Deep and Haw rivers, and flowing southeast to enter the Atlantic Ocean S of Wilmington and N of Cape Fear; longes...

Harris, Barbara Clementine

(Encyclopedia)Harris, Barbara Clementine, 1930–2020, American Episcopal bishop, b. Philadelphia. An African American, Harris was active in the civil-rights movement in the 1960s (and remained active in social cau...

Eratosthenes

(Encyclopedia)Eratosthenes ĕrətŏsˈthənēz [key], c.275–c.195 b.c., Greek scholar, b. Cyrene. A pupil of Callimachus in Athens, he became (c.240 b.c.) head of the library at Alexandria. Known for his versatil...

Cullen, Countee

(Encyclopedia)Cullen, Countee kounˈtēˈ [key], 1903–46, American poet, b. New York City, grad. New York Univ. 1925, M.A. Harvard, 1926. A major writer of the Harlem Renaissance—a flowering of black artistic a...