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Sunda Islands

(Encyclopedia)Sunda Islands sŭnˈdə [key], mainly in Indonesia, between the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean, comprising the western part of the Malay Archipelago. It includes two main groups: the Greater Sun...

circle

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Circle circle, closed plane curve consisting of all points at a given distance from some fixed point, called the center. A circle is a conic section cut by a plane perpendicular to the axis of...

Loire, river, France

(Encyclopedia)Loire, longest river of France, c.630 mi (1,010 km) long, rising in the Cévennes Mts., SE France, and flowing in an arc through central and W France to the Atlantic Ocean at Saint-Nazaire. The upper ...

Killarney

(Encyclopedia)Killarney, town (1991 pop. 7,274), Co. Kerry, SW Republic of Ireland. The town, which has mineral-water bottling, footwear, lace, hosiery, woolens, and ornamental ironwork industries, is also a touris...

Belinsky, Vissarion Grigoryevich

(Encyclopedia)Belinsky, Vissarion Grigoryevich vĭsəryônˈ grĭgôrˈyəvĭch byĭlyĭnˈskē [key], 1811–48, Russian writer and critic. He was prominent in the group that believed Russia's hope to lie in follo...

Galway, county, Republic of Ireland

(Encyclopedia)Galway gôlˈwā [key], county, 2,293 sq mi (5,939 sq km), W Republic of Ireland. The county ...

myosin

(Encyclopedia)myosin mīˈəsĭn [key], one of the two major protein constituents responsible for contraction of muscle. In muscle cells myosin is arranged in long filaments called thick filaments that lie parallel...

Visalia

(Encyclopedia)Visalia vəsālˈyə [key], city (1990 pop. 75,636), seat of Tulare co., S central Calif., in the San Joaquin Valley (see under San Joaquin); founded 1852, inc. 1874. Its economy is centered around ag...

Zagros

(Encyclopedia)Zagros zăgˈrŏs [key], mountain system of W Iran, extending c.1,100 mi (1,770 km) from the Turkish-Armenian frontier SE to the Strait of Hormuz, forming the western and southern border of the centra...

precession of the equinoxes

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Precession of the equinoxes (the points at which the earth's celestial equator intersects its ecliptic) is due to the slow rotation of the earth's axis around a perpendicular to the ecliptic. ...