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vital statistics

(Encyclopedia)vital statistics, primarily records of the number of births and deaths in a population. Other factors, such as number of marriages and causes of death, by age groups, are regularly included. From thes...

elephantiasis

(Encyclopedia)elephantiasis ĕlˈəfăntīˈəsĭs [key], abnormal enlargement of any part of the body due to obstruction of the lymphatic channels in the area (see lymphatic system), usually affecting the arms, le...

computer program

(Encyclopedia)computer program, a series of instructions that a computer can interpret and execute; programs are also called software to distinguish them from hardware, the physical equipment used in data processin...

employment bureau

(Encyclopedia)employment bureau, a government-run establishment for bringing together the employer offering work and the employee seeking it. As a not-for-profit service, employment bureaus operate differently from...

international relations

(Encyclopedia)international relations, study of the relations among states and other political and economic units in the international system. Particular areas of study within the field of international relations i...

Nematoda

(Encyclopedia)Nematoda nĕmˌətōdˈə [key], phylum consisting of about 12,000 known species, and many more predicted species, of worms (commonly known as roundworms or threadworms). Nematodes live in the soil an...

Mackenzie

(Encyclopedia)Mackenzie, river, c.1,120 mi (1,800 km) long, issuing from Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada, and flowing generally NW to the Arctic Ocean through a great delta. Between Great Slave Lake...

Ladoga, Lake

(Encyclopedia)Ladoga, Lake läˈdōgə, Rus. läˈdəgə [key], Finnish Laatokka, Rus. Ladozhskoye Ozero, c.7,000 sq mi (18,100 sq km), NW European Russia, in Karelia, NE of St. Petersburg. The largest lake in Euro...

theosophy

(Encyclopedia)theosophy thēŏsˈəfē [key] [Gr.,=divine wisdom], philosophical system having affinities with mysticism and claiming insight into the nature of God and the world through direct knowledge, philosoph...

representation

(Encyclopedia)representation, in government, the term used to designate the means by which a whole population may participate in governing through the device of having a much smaller number of people act on their b...