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cigar and cigarette

(Encyclopedia)cigar and cigarette, tubular rolls of tobacco designed for smoking. Cigars consist of filler leaves held together by binder leaves and covered with a wrapper leaf, which is rolled spirally around the ...

standard of living

(Encyclopedia)standard of living, level of consumption that an individual, group, or nation has achieved. The evaluation of a standard of living is relative, depending upon the judgment of the observer as to what c...

coeducation

(Encyclopedia)coeducation, instruction of both sexes in the same institution. The economic benefits gained from joint classes and the need to secure equality for women in industrial, professional, and political act...

Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency

(Encyclopedia)Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), specialized agency of the United Nations. Formed in 1988, with headquarters in Washington, D.C., it is a member of the World Bank Group (see Internatio...

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...

Slavophiles and Westernizers

(Encyclopedia)Slavophiles and Westernizers, designation for two groups of intellectuals in mid-19th-century Russia that represented opposing schools of thought concerning the nature of Russian civilization. The dif...

Métis, in Canadian history and society

(Encyclopedia)Métis [Fr.,=mixed], person of mixed racial heritage, particularly a descendant of French and English fur traders and indigenous women, principally in the Canadian prairie provinces of Alberta, Manito...

Flushing, part of Queens, New York City, United States

(Encyclopedia)Flushing, former village, now in N Queens borough of New York City, SE N.Y.; chartered 1645, inc. into Greater New York City with Queens in 1898. Although chiefly residential, Flushing has gained impo...

Niagara, river, United States and Canada

(Encyclopedia)Niagara nīăgˈrə [key], river, 34 mi (55 km) long, issuing from Lake Erie between Buffalo, N.Y., and Fort Erie, Ont., Canada. It flows north around Grand Island and over Niagara Falls to Lake Ontar...

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