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Dover, Strait of

(Encyclopedia)Dover, Strait of, separating Great Britain from France and connecting the English Channel with the North Sea. It is 21 mi (34 km) wide between Dover and Cape Gris-Nez, near Calais, and is called Pas-d...

Pearl, river, China

(Encyclopedia)Pearl, Chin. Zhujiang, river, 110 mi (177 km) long, S Guangdong prov., S China. Formed at Guangzhou by the confluence of the Xi and Bei rivers, it flows E then S past Guangzhou and Huangpu island to f...

near-death experience

(Encyclopedia)near-death experience, phenomenon reported by some people who have been clinically dead, then returned to life. Descriptions of the experience differ slightly in detail from person to person, but usua...

Albano, Lake

(Encyclopedia)Albano, Lake älbäˈnō [key], crater lake, 2 sq mi (5.2 sq km), central Italy, in the Alban Hills SE of Rome. It is c.6 mi (9.7 km) in circumference and c.560 ft (170 m) deep. An underground tunnel ...

Esaki, Leo

(Encyclopedia)Esaki, Leo, 1925–, Japanese physicist, Ph.D. Univ. of Tokyo, 1959. Esaki was a researcher with IBM from 1960 until his retirement in 1992. He then served (1992–98) as president of the Univ. of Tsu...

Saint Bernard, two Alpine passes

(Encyclopedia)Saint Bernard, two Alpine passes, both used since antiquity. The Great Saint Bernard (alt. 8,110 ft/2,472 m), on the Italian-Swiss border, links Valais canton, Switzerland, with Valle d'Aosta, Italy. ...

Provo, river, United States

(Encyclopedia)Provo, river, c.70 mi (110 km) long, rising in the Uinta Mts., NE Utah, and flowing SW past Provo to Utah Lake. It was early used for irrigation, but after Utah Lake was badly depleted in the 1930s, t...

San Francisco Bay

(Encyclopedia)San Francisco Bay, 50 mi (80 km) long and from 3 to 13 mi (4.8–21 km) wide, W Calif.; entered through the Golden Gate, a strait between two peninsulas. The bay is as deep as 100 ft (30 m) in spots, ...

Aomori

(Encyclopedia)Aomori äōmôˈrē [key], city, capital of Aomori prefecture, extreme N Honshu, Japan, on Aomori Bay. First opened to foreign trade in 1906, Aomori is now the chief trans...

Hampton Roads

(Encyclopedia)Hampton Roads, roadstead, 4 mi (6.4 km) long and 40 ft (12.2 m) deep, SE Va., through which the waters of the James, Nansemond, and Elizabeth rivers pass into Chesapeake Bay. One of the finest natural...