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Papal States

(Encyclopedia)Papal States, Ital. Lo Stato della Chiesa, from 754 to 1870 an independent territory under the temporal rule of the popes, also called the States of the Church and the Pontifical States. The territory...

Dasht-e Kavir

(Encyclopedia)Dasht-e Kavir däsht-ēkävērˈ [key], great salt desert, c.500 mi (800 km) long and c.200 mi (320 km) wide, SE of the Elburz Mts., N central Iran. It is a huge basin of interior drainage named after...

angler

(Encyclopedia)angler or anglerfish, common name for a member of the order Lophiiformes, predacious fishes found worldwide; many are deep-sea dwellers. Anglers lure their prey with a long, wormlike appendage that ex...

avocet

(Encyclopedia)avocet ăvˈəsĕt [key], common name for a long-legged wading bird about 15 to 18 in. (37.5–45 cm) long, related to the snipe and belonging to the same family as the stilt. The American avocet or b...

pelican

(Encyclopedia)pelican, common name for a large, gregarious aquatic bird of warm regions, allied to the cormorants and gannets. Pelicans are heavy-bodied, long-necked birds with large, flat bills. They are graceful ...

Rocky Mountain goat

(Encyclopedia)Rocky Mountain goat, hoofed ruminant mammal, Oreamnos americanus, found in the high mountains of S Alaska, W Canada, and the extreme NW United States. Although it is not a true goat it belongs to the ...

Garda, Lake

(Encyclopedia)Garda, Lake gärˈdä [key], Ital. Lago di Garda or Benaco, largest lake of Italy, 143 sq mi (370 sq km), between Lombardy and Venetia, N Italy. It is c.32 mi (52 km) long, with a maximum width of c.1...

Outer Barrier

(Encyclopedia)Outer Barrier, series of sandy barrier islands or offshore bars, extending c.75 mi (120 km) along the south shore of Long Island, SE N.Y., from Rockaway Beach at the west to the east end of Shinnecock...

Owyhee

(Encyclopedia)Owyhee ōˈwīhē [key], river, c.300 mi (480 km) long, rising in several branches in SW Idaho, N Nev., and SE Oreg. and flowing N across NE Oreg. to the Snake River; named in 1826 for two Hawaiian em...

Kursky Zaliv

(Encyclopedia)Kursky Zaliv ko͝orˈlănd [key], lagoon, 56 mi (90 km) long and 28 mi (45 km) wide, in Lithuania and Russia. It is separated from the Baltic Sea by Courland Spit, a sandspit c.60 mi (100 km) long and...