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sand

(Encyclopedia)sand, rock material occurring in the form of loose, rounded or angular grains, varying in size from .06 mm to 2 mm in diameter, the particles being smaller than those of gravel and larger than those o...

Ordovician period

(Encyclopedia)Ordovician period ôrdəvĭshˈən [key] [from the Ordovices, ancient tribe of N Wales], second period of the Paleozoic era of geologic time (see Geologic Timescale, tablegeologic timescale, table) fr...

Luzon

(Encyclopedia)Luzon lo͞ozŏnˈ [key], island (1990 pop. 30,797,458), 40,420 sq mi (104,688 sq km), largest, most populous, and most important of the Philippine Islands. As the major island, Luzon has played the ...

Marseilles

(Encyclopedia)Marseilles märsāˈ [key], Fr. Marseille, city (1990 pop. 807,726), capital of Bouches-du-Rhône dept., SE France, on the Gulf of Lions, an arm of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the second largest city...

Aleppo

(Encyclopedia)Aleppo əlĕpˈ [key], Arabic Haleb, city (2021 est. pop. 1,917,000), capital of Aleppo governorate, NW Syria. It is a commercial and industrial center located in a semide...

Guangzhou

(Encyclopedia)Guangzhou kănˌtŏnˈ, kănˈtŏnˌ [key], city (1994 est. pop. 3,113,800), capital of Guangdong prov., S China, a major deepwater port on the Pearl River delta. Guangzhou became a part of China in...

Kansas-Nebraska Act

(Encyclopedia)Kansas-Nebraska Act, bill that became law on May 30, 1854, by which the U.S. Congress established the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. By 1854 the organization of the vast Platte and Kansas river c...

Thessaloníki

(Encyclopedia)Thessaloníki sălənēˈkə, səlŏnˈĭkə [key], also known as Thessalonike, Thessalonica, Salonika, and Saloniki, city (1991 pop. 383,967), capital of Thessaloníki prefecture, N Greece, in Macedo...

road

(Encyclopedia)road, strip of land used for transportation. The history of roads has been related to the centralizing of populations in powerful cities, which the roads have served for military purposes and for trad...

dam

(Encyclopedia)dam, barrier, commonly across a watercourse, to hold back water, often forming a reservoir or lake; dams are also sometimes used to control or contain rockslides, mudflows, and the like in regions whe...