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coast

(Encyclopedia)coast, land bordering an ocean or other large body of water. The line of contact between the land and water surfaces is called the shoreline. It fluctuates with the waves and tides. Sometimes the term...

Grain Coast

(Encyclopedia)Grain Coast, W Africa, former name of a part of the Atlantic coast that is roughly identical with the coast of modern Liberia. In the 15th cent. “grains of paradise,” i.e., seeds of the melegueta ...

Coast Ranges

(Encyclopedia)Coast Ranges, series of mountain ranges along the Pacific coast of North America, extending from SE Alaska to Baja California; from 2,000 to 20,000 ft (610–6,100 m) high. The ranges include the St. ...

coast guard

(Encyclopedia)coast guard, special naval force assigned to seaboard duties. Its primary responsibilities usually consist in suppressing contraband trade and aiding vessels in distress. The British coast guard was e...

Barbary Coast

(Encyclopedia)Barbary Coast bärˈbərē [key], waterfront area of San Francisco, Calif., in the years after the 1849 gold rush. Gamblers, gangsters, prostitutes, and confidence men flourished, and the brothels, sa...

Coast Mountains

(Encyclopedia)Coast Mountains, range, W British Columbia and SE Alaska, extending c.1,000 mi (1,610 km) parallel to the Pacific coast, from the mountains of Alaska near the Yukon border to the Cascade Range near th...

Malabar Coast

(Encyclopedia)Malabar Coast mălˈəbär [key], SW coast of India stretching c.525 mi (845 km) from Goa to the southern tip of the peninsula at Kanniyakumri (Cape Comorin), primarily in Kerala state and the norther...

Cape Coast

(Encyclopedia)Cape Coast, town (1984 pop. 57,224), capital of Central Region, S Ghana, on the Gulf of Guinea. Known locally as Gna or Oegna, the town is an export port and fishing center. The town originated as an ...

Slave Coast

(Encyclopedia)Slave Coast, name given by European traders to the coast bordering the Bight of Benin on the Gulf of Guinea, W Africa. It was the principal source of slaves from W Africa from the 16th cent. to the mi...

Coromandel Coast

(Encyclopedia)Coromandel Coast kŏrˌəmănˈdəl [key], east coast of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh states, SE India, stretching more than 400 mi (644 km) from Point Calimere, opposite the northern tip of Sri Lank...