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Shinano

(Encyclopedia)Shinano shĭnäˈnō [key], river, longest of Honshu, Japan, c.230 mi (370 km) long. It rises in the mountains of central Honshu and flows generally NE to the Sea of Japan at Niigata. It waters the fe...

Derbent

(Encyclopedia)Derbent dyĭrbyĕntˈ [key], city, SE European Russia, in Dagestan, on the Caspian Sea. It st...

Cousteau, Jacques Yves

(Encyclopedia)Cousteau, Jacques Yves zhäk ēv ko͞ostōˈ [key], 1910–97, French oceanographer and naval officer. In 1943, with Émil Gagnan, he invented the self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (scuba)...

Essex, county, England

(Encyclopedia)Essex, county, 1,520 sq mi (3,938 sq km) SE England, on the Thames River and the North Sea, one of the “Home Counties” of London. Chelmsford is the ...

Golan Heights

(Encyclopedia)Golan Heights, strategic upland region (2003 est. pop. 10,500), c.500 sq mi (1,250 sq km), SW Syria. It borders S Lebanon, NE Israel, and NW Jordan. It takes its name from the ancient city of Golan an...

Frisian Islands

(Encyclopedia)Frisian Islands frĭzhˈən [key], chain of low-lying islands, off the coasts of the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark, in the North Sea. The West Frisian Islands, also known as the Wadden Islands, be...

Maury, Matthew Fontaine

(Encyclopedia)Maury, Matthew Fontaine fŏntānˈ môrˈē [key], 1806–73, American hydrographer and naval officer, b. near Fredericksburg, Va. Appointed a midshipman in 1825, he saw varied sea duty until a stagec...

Kolchak, Aleksandr Vasilyevich

(Encyclopedia)Kolchak, Aleksandr Vasilyevich əlyĭksänˈdər vəsēˈlyəvĭch kəlchäkˈ [key], 1874–1920, Russian admiral, leader of the anti-Bolshevik forces in W Siberia during the civil war (1918–20). H...

Kitakyushu

(Encyclopedia)Kitakyushu kētäˈkyo͞osho͞o [key], city (1990 pop. 1,026,455), Fukuoka prefecture, N Kyushu, Japan, on the Shimonoseki Strait between the Inland Sea and the Korea Strait. It was formed in 1963 by ...

Vlorë

(Encyclopedia)Vlorë vəlōˈnə [key], city (1989 pop. 71,662), capital of Vlorë dist., SW Albania, on Vlorë Bay of the Adriatic Sea. Vlorë is a major seaport and a commercial center. Its industries produce oli...