Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Olinda

(Encyclopedia)Olinda o͝olēnˈdə [key], city (1991 pop. 341,394), Pernambuco state, E Brazil, on the Atlantic Ocean. Founded in 1537, it was captured by the Dutch in the 1630s and burned to the ground. The rebuil...

Parnaíba

(Encyclopedia)Parnaíba pərnīēˈbə [key], river c.800 mi (1,290 km) long, rising in the highlands of NE Brazil. It flows generally north, forming the boundary between Maranhão and Piauí states, and enters the...

Penobscot Bay

(Encyclopedia)Penobscot Bay, inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, 35 mi (56 km) long and 27 mi (43 km) wide, S Maine. The bay was entered by the English explorer Martin Pring in 1603; the French explorer Samuel de Champlai...

Percé Rock

(Encyclopedia)Percé Rock pĕrsāˈ [key], E Que., Canada, just off the tip of the Gaspé Peninsula. It is a massive rock (1,420 ft/433 m long; c.300 ft/90 m wide; and 290 ft/88 m at the highest point), rising shee...

Kristiansund

(Encyclopedia)Kristiansund krĭstyänso͝onˈ [key], city (1995 pop. 17,098), Møre og Romsdal co., W Norway, a port on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the site of a large trawler fleet and has industries that produce sh...

Arecibo

(Encyclopedia)Arecibo ärəsēˈbō [key], city, N Puerto Rico, a port on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Rio Grande de Arecibo. It has rum distilleries and is the commercial and...

Piscataqua

(Encyclopedia)Piscataqua pĭskătˈəkwə, –kwā [key], navigable river, 12 mi (19 km) long, formed by the junction of the Cocheco and the Salmon Falls rivers, SE N.H., and flowing SE to Portsmouth harbor, formin...

Baixada Fluminense

(Encyclopedia)Baixada Fluminense bīshäˈdə flo͞omēnēNnˈsə [key], coastal lowland region, Rio de Janeiro state, SE Brazil. It extends c.250 mi (400 km) from Sepetiba Bay to the Paraíba River between the Ser...

Agulhas, Cape

(Encyclopedia)Agulhas, Cape əgŭˈləs [key] [Port.,=needles], Western Cape province, South Africa; the southernmost point of Africa. Its name refers to the saw-edged reefs and sunken rocks that run out to sea and...

Bouvet Island

(Encyclopedia)Bouvet Island bo͞ovāˈ [key], uninhabited volcanic island, c.58 sq mi (150 sq km), S Atlantic Ocean, about 1,600 mi (2,576 km) SW of the Cape of Good Hope. A Norwegian possession since 1928, Bouvet ...

Browse by Subject