Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Harz

(Encyclopedia)Harz härts [key], mountain range, northern Germany, extending c.60 mi (100 km) between the Elbe and Leine rivers. The rugged mountains were once densely forested. They culminate in Brocken peak (3,74...

Bergonzi, Carlo

(Encyclopedia)Bergonzi, Carlo, 1924–2014, Italian opera singer. He began his career as a baritone, debuting in 1948, but he made a second debut as a tenor in 1951 after realizing his voice was better suited to th...

white alder

(Encyclopedia)white alder, deciduous shrub or small tree (Clethra alnifolia) native to the Appalachians, named for the resemblance of its leaves to those of the unrelated true alders. It is cultivated as an ornamen...

Cantabrian Mountains

(Encyclopedia)Cantabrian Mountains kăntāˈbrēən [key], N Spain, extending c.300 mi (480 km) along the Bay of Biscay from the Pyrenees to Cape Finisterre. Torre de Cerredo (8,687 ft/2,648 m) in the Picos de Euro...

Nyamuragira

(Encyclopedia)Nyamuragira or Nyamulagira, active volcano (11,033 ft/3,058 m), S Virunga range, in E Congo (Kinshasa) near the Rwanda border, N of Lake Kivu and 15 mi (25 km) N of Goma, in S Virunga National Park. A...

Thar Desert

(Encyclopedia)Thar Desert tär, tŭr [key] or Great Indian Desert, extensive arid region, c.500 mi (800 km) long and c.250 mi (400 km) wide, S Asia, in NW India and E Pakistan, between the Indus and Sutlej river va...

vireo

(Encyclopedia)vireo, small, migratory songbird of the New World. Some species nest in the United States, but the majority are tropical. Vireos (also called greenlets) range from 4 to 6 1/2 in. (10.2–16.5 cm) in l...

Clovis

(Encyclopedia)Clovis. 1 City (2020 pop. 120,124, Fresno co., S central Calif., near the foothills of the Sierra Nevada range; inc. 1912. It is a growing trade ...

Collège de France

(Encyclopedia)Collège de France kôlĕzhˈ də fräNs [key], institution of higher learning founded in Paris, France, in 1529 by Francis I at the instigation of Guillaume Budé. It was founded to encourage humanis...

Anderson, Clinton Presba

(Encyclopedia)Anderson, Clinton Presba, 1895–1975, U.S. government official and senator, b. Centerville, S.Dak. He had a newspaper and insurance background before he served New Mexico as treasurer (1933–34) and...