Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Sinclair, Upton

(Encyclopedia)Sinclair, Upton (Upton Beall Sinclair), 1878–1968, American novelist and socialist activist, b. Baltimore, grad. College of the City of New York, 1897. He was one of the muckrakers, and a dedication...

Zeffirelli, Franco

(Encyclopedia)Zeffirelli, Franco frängˈkō zāf-fērĕlˈlē [key], 1923–2019, Italian opera, stage, and film director and designer, b. Florence as Gianfranco Corsi Zeffirelli. Zeffirelli had his first successe...

Gan

(Encyclopedia)Gan or Kan both: gän [key], river, c.550 mi (885 km) long, flowing north through the plain of central Jiangxi prov., SE China, past Nanchang to Poyang lake. Despite many rapids, it is navigable for j...

Jalpaiguri

(Encyclopedia)Jalpaiguri jəlpīˈgo͝orē [key], town (1991 pop. 68,732), West Bengal state, NE India, on the Tista River. It is the administrative center for a district that produces tea, rice, jute, tobacco, tim...

Bukavu

(Encyclopedia)Bukavu bo͞okäˈvo͞o [key], city, capital of Sud-Kivu province, E Congo (Kinshasa), a port on ...

Coorg

(Encyclopedia)Coorg ko͝org [key], former state, 1,593 sq mi (4,126 sq km), Karnataka state, SW India. Mercara was the capital. Situated mainly in the hilly Western Ghats, the Coorg region produces coffee, tea, car...

Nuwara Eliya

(Encyclopedia)Nuwara Eliya no͝ovˈərə āˈlĭyə, no͞orāˈlēə [key], town (1990 est. pop. 26,000), S Sri Lanka. A hill resort (alt. 6,194 ft/1,889 m) and health center in a tea-growing area, it was first set...

kratom

(Encyclopedia)kratom, drug obtained from the leaves of the tropical evergreen tree Mitragyna speciosa, also called kratom, a relative of the coffee tree found in Southeast Asia. The leaves are chewed, boiled for a ...

Usambara

(Encyclopedia)Usambara o͞osämbäˈrä [key], mountains, c.70 mi (110 km) long and from 20 to 40 mi (30–60 km) wide, NE Tanzania. On its slopes, which rise to c.8,000 ft (2,440 m), coffee, sisal, tea, and cincho...

Browse by Subject