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Whelan, Wendy

(Encyclopedia)Whelan, Wendy, 1967–, American ballet dancer, b. Louisville, Ky. A soloist (1989) and principal (1991) with the New York City Ballet (NYCB), the angular, muscled Whelan became known for her roles in...

Biqa, Al

(Encyclopedia)Biqa, Al ĕl bēkäˈ [key], upland valley of Lebanon and Syria, 75 mi (121 km) long and 5 to 9 mi (8–14.5 km) wide, between the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon ranges; highest part of the Rift Valley comp...

cloud

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Approximate heights of some types of clouds cloud, aggregation of minute particles of water or ice suspended in the air. Cloudiness (or proportion of the sky covered by any form of cloud),...

Great Basin

(Encyclopedia)Great Basin, semiarid, N section of the Basin and Range province, the intermontane plateau region of W United States and N Mexico. Lying mostly in Nevada and extending into California, Oregon, Idaho, ...

Borneo

(Encyclopedia)Borneo bôrˈnēōˌ [key], island, c.287,000 sq mi (743,330 sq km), largest of the Malay Arc...

nitric acid

(Encyclopedia)nitric acid, chemical compound, HNO3, colorless, highly corrosive, poisonous liquid that gives off choking red or yellow fumes in moist air. It is miscible with water in all proportions. It forms an a...

megapode

(Encyclopedia)megapode mĕgˈəpōdˌ [key], common name for large, stout-bodied, long-tailed, terrestrial, nonmigratory birds comprising six genera in the family Megapodiidae. Members of the family have large, str...

Atacama Desert

(Encyclopedia)Atacama Desert ätäkäˈmä [key], arid region, c.600 mi (970 km) long, N Chile, extending south from the border of Peru. The desert itself, c.2,000 ft (610 m) above sea level, is a series of dry sal...

Guiana Highlands

(Encyclopedia)Guiana Highlands, mountainous tableland, c.1,200 mi (1,930 km) long and from 200 to 600 mi (322–966 km) wide, N South America, bounded by the Orinoco and Amazon river basins, and by the coastal lowl...

Tohono O'Odham

(Encyclopedia)Tohono O'Odham păpˈəgōˌ, päˈ– [key], Native North Americans speaking a language that belongs to the Uto-Aztecan branch of the Aztec-Tanoan linguistic stock (see Native American languages) and...