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Halmahera

(Encyclopedia)Halmahera jīlôˈlô [key], island, c.7,000 sq mi (18,100 sq km), E Indonesia, between New G...

Gilbert Islands

(Encyclopedia)Gilbert Islands, group of 16 islands, central Pacific, one of the island groups that form the Republic of Kiribati. The group includes Tarawa, Butaritari, Makin, Little Makin, Marakei, Abaiang, Maiana...

Micronesia

(Encyclopedia)Micronesia mīkrōnēˈzhə, –shə [key], one of the three main divisions of Oceania, in W Pacific Ocean, north of the equator. Micronesia includes the Caroline Islands, Marshall Islands, Mariana Is...

zodiacal light

(Encyclopedia)zodiacal light or zodiacal band, a faint band of light sometimes seen in the western sky just after sunset in the spring, extending up from the horizon at the point where the sun has just set, or in t...

Howland Island

(Encyclopedia)Howland Island, uninhabited island (.73 sq mi/1.89 sq km), central Pacific near the equator, c.1,620 mi (2610 km) SW of Honolulu. The island was discovered by American traders and was claimed by the U...

map projection

(Encyclopedia)map projection, transfer of the features of the surface of the earth or another spherical body onto a flat sheet of paper. Only a globe can represent accurately the shape, orientation, and relative ar...

Humboldt, Alexander, Freiherr von

(Encyclopedia)Humboldt, Alexander, Freiherr von hŭmˈbōlt, Ger. älĕksänˈdər frīˈhĕr fən ho͝omˈbôlt [key], 1769–1859, German naturalist, inventor, explorer, and author, the most eminent scientist of ...

Du Chaillu, Paul Belloni

(Encyclopedia)Du Chaillu, Paul Belloni pōl bĕlōnēˈ dü shāyüˈ [key], c.1831–1903, French-American explorer in Africa. Born probably in Paris, he spent his youth on the west coast of Africa, where his fath...

longitude

(Encyclopedia)longitude lŏnˈjĭto͞odˌ [key], angular distance on the earth's surface measured along any latitude line such as the equator east or west of the prime meridian. A meridian of longitude is an imagin...

Earhart, Amelia

(Encyclopedia)Earhart, Amelia ârˈhärt [key], 1897–1937, American aviator, b. Atchison, Kans. She was the first woman to cross the Atlantic by airplane (1928) and the first woman to make a solo flight across th...