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Blanchard, Raoul

(Encyclopedia)Blanchard, Raoul, 1877–1965, French geographer. He wrote a monograph on Flanders (1906) that earned him the chair of geography at the Univ. of Grenoble, a position he held for 50 years. He establish...

Adige

(Encyclopedia)Adige äˈdējā [key], second longest river of Italy, c.225 mi (360 km) long, rising in the Tyrolean Alps, N Italy. It flows generally south, past Bolzano, Trent, and Verona, to the Po valley where i...

yodel

(Encyclopedia)yodel or yodle both: yōˈdəl [key], type of wordless singing, joyous in nature, usually associated with the Swiss. It is, in fact, practiced throughout the Alps and, as an importation, in the mounta...

Spyri, Johanna

(Encyclopedia)Spyri, Johanna yōhänˈä shpēˈrē [key], 1827–1901, Swiss author. Her many stories of child life in Switzerland include Heidi (1880; tr. 1884), a classic among children's books. Heidi, the story...

alphorn

(Encyclopedia)alphorn or alpenhorn [Ger.,=Alps horn], wooden horn from 3 ft to 12 ft (91 cm–3.7 m) long, sometimes curved slightly, with conical bore and a cup-shaped mouthpiece. It produces only the natural harm...

Drava

(Encyclopedia)Drava or Drave both: dräˈvə [key], Ger. Drau, Hung. Dráva, river, c.450 mi (720 km) long, rising in the Carnic Alps, N Italy. It flows generally E through S Austria (where it is called the Drau) a...

Aorangi, Mount

(Encyclopedia)Aorangi, Mount ouräkˈē [key] [both: Maori,=cloud in the sky], or Mount Cook, 12,254 ft (3,735 m) high, on the South Island, New Zealand, in the Southern Alps; highest peak of New Zealand. Several g...

Gap

(Encyclopedia)Gap gäp [key], city, capital of Hautes-Alpes dept., SE France, on the Luye River at the foot...

Adda

(Encyclopedia)Adda ädˈdä [key], river, 194 mi (312 km) long, rising in the Rhaetian Alps, N Italy, and flowing SW through Lake Como, then S into the Po River near Cremona. Its upper course furnishes much electri...

Thun

(Encyclopedia)Thun to͞on [key], city (1990 est. pop. 37,700), Bern canton, central Switzerland, on the Aare River, where it flows out of the Lake of Thun. Machinery, watches, pottery, and cheese are made there. Of...