Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Ukraine

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Ukraine yo͞oˈkrān, yo͞okrānˈ [key], Ukr. Ukraina, republic (2015 est. pop. 44,658,000), 232,046 sq mi (601,000 sq km), E Europe. It borders on Poland in the northwest; on Slovakia, Hungar...

Lavrov, Sergey Viktorovich

(Encyclopedia)Lavrov, Sergey Viktorovich, 1950– Russian and Soviet diplomat, b. Moscow, grad. Moscow State Institute of International Relations, 1972. He began his career in the Soviet foreign service, working in...

Rakovsky, Christian Georgyevich

(Encyclopedia)Rakovsky, Christian Georgyevich khrĭstyänˈ gēyŏrˈgyĭvĭch rəkôfˈskē [key], 1873–1938, Soviet Communist diplomat. His early revolutionary activities extended from his native Bulgaria throu...

Ukrainian literature

(Encyclopedia)Ukrainian literature, literary writings in the Ukrainian language. Kievan Church Slavonic texts of the 11th cent. and W Ukrainian texts of the 13th cent. show Ukrainian linguistic features, which pred...

Ruthenia

(Encyclopedia)Ruthenia ro͞othēˈnēə [key], Latinized form of the word Russia. The term was applied to Ukraine in the Middle Ages when the princes of Halych briefly assumed the title kings of Ruthenia. Later, in...

Turkic

(Encyclopedia)Turkic tûrˈkĭk [key], group of languages forming a subdivision of the Altaic subfamily of the Ural-Altaic family of languages (see Uralic and Altaic languages). The Turkic group of languages has a ...

Moore, Barrington

(Encyclopedia)Moore, Barrington, 1913–2005, American sociologist and political scientist. Moore wrote a number of books on historical sociology that focus on Soviet society. Based at the Russian Research Center a...

Cripps, Sir Stafford

(Encyclopedia)Cripps, Sir Stafford, 1889–1952, British statesman. A brilliant and successful patent and corporation lawyer, he joined the Labour party in 1929 and became solicitor general in 1930, being knighted ...

balance of power

(Encyclopedia)balance of power, system of international relations in which nations seek to maintain an approximate equilibrium of power among many rivals, thus preventing the preponderance of any one state. Crucial...

Sampaio, Jorge Fernando Branco de

(Encyclopedia)Sampaio, Jorge Fernando Branco de zhôrˈzhə fərnäNˈdo͞o bräNˈko͞o dā säNpīˈo͞o [key], 1939–, Portuguese politician, president of Portugal (1996–2006), b. Lisbon. Sampaio, who comes f...