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holly

(Encyclopedia)holly, common name for members of the Aquifoliaceae, a family of widely distributed trees and shrubs, most numerous in Central and South America. The evergreen English holly (Ilex aquifolium), the com...

Santos Calderón, Juan Manuel

(Encyclopedia)Santos Calderón, Juan Manuel, 1951–, Colombian government official and political leader. From a politically influential family, he studied at the Univ. of Kansas, London School of Economics, Harvar...

South America

(Encyclopedia)CE5 South America, fourth largest continent (2015 est. pop. 416,436,000), c.6,880,000 sq mi (17,819,000 sq km), the southern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. It is divided political...

man-o'-war bird

(Encyclopedia)man-o'-war bird or frigate-bird, most aerial of the water birds, found in the tropic seas. The man-o'-war bird's wingspread (71⁄2 ft/228.5 cm) is the largest in proportion to its body (3–4 lb/1.4...

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries

(Encyclopedia)Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), multinational organization (est. 1960, formally constituted 1961) that coordinates petroleum policies and economic aid among oil-producing nations...

El Niño–Southern Oscillation

(Encyclopedia)El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) ĕl nēnˈyō [key], large-scale climatic fluctuation of the tropical Pacific Ocean and the overlying atmosphere. The El Niño [Span.,=the child] is the South Am...

Sachs, Jeffrey David

(Encyclopedia)Sachs, Jeffrey David săks [key], 1954–, American economist, b. Detroit; grad. Harvard (B.A. 1976, M.A. 1978, Ph.D. 1980). He joined the Harvard faculty in 1980, and became a full professor three ye...

rail

(Encyclopedia)rail, common name for some members of the large family Rallidae, marsh and tropical forest birds that include the gallinule and the coot, two specialized rails. Rails are cosmopolitan in distribution,...

caudillo

(Encyclopedia)caudillo kôdēlˈyō Span. kouᵺēˈyō [key], [Span.,= military strongman], type of South American political leader that arose with the 19th-century wars of independence. The first caudillos were o...

Sucre, Antonio José de

(Encyclopedia)Sucre, Antonio José de äntôˈnyō hōsāˈ ᵺā so͞oˈkrā [key], 1795–1830, South American revolutionist, b. Cumaná, Venezuela. He joined (1811) the forces fighting for independence from Spai...

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