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Mojave Desert

(Encyclopedia)Mojave or Mohave Desert, c.15,000 sq mi (38,850 sq km), region of low, barren mountains and flat valleys, 2,000 to 5,000 ft (610–1,524 m) high, S Calif.; part of the Great Basin of the United States...

Khwarazm

(Encyclopedia)Khwarazm khərĕzˈəm [key], ancient and medieval state of central Asia, situated in and around the basin of the lower Amu Darya River; now a region, NW Uzbekistan. Khwarazm is one of the oldest cent...

sturgeon

(Encyclopedia)sturgeon, primitive fish of the northern regions of Europe, Asia, and North America. Unlike evolutionarily advanced fishes, it has a fine-grained hide, with very reduced scalation, a mostly cartilagin...

Nevada

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Nevada nəvădˈə, –vä– [key], far western state of the United States. It is bordered by Utah (E), Arizona (SE), California (SW, W), and Oregon and Idaho (N). In the 20th cent. the ...

cichlid

(Encyclopedia)cichlid sĭkˈlĭd [key], common name for members of the family Cichlidae, more that 1,600 species of spiny-finned freshwater fishes of moderate or small size, native to Africa, S Asia, Mexico, and Ce...

Imeritia

(Encyclopedia)Imeritia ĭmərĭshˈə [key], geographic and historic region, Georgia, in the upper Rion River basin. Kutaisi (the historic capital) and Chiatura are the main cities. Imeritia is an agricultural regi...

Murray, river, Australia

(Encyclopedia)Murray, principal and second-longest river of Australia, 1,609 mi (2,589 km) long, rising in the Australian Alps, SE New South Wales, and flowing westward to form the New South Wales–Victoria bounda...

Noatak National Preserve

(Encyclopedia)Noatak National Preserve, 6,569,904 acres (2,660,811 hectares), N Alaska. The preserve is the largest mountain-ringed river basin in the United States that is still virtually unaffected by human activ...

Marañón

(Encyclopedia)Marañón, river, c.1,000 mi (1,600 km) long, rising in Lake Lauricaucha in the Cordillera Occidental, W central Peru. It flows generally NW, then E across the Andes to join the Ucayali River in NE Pe...

Loire, river, France

(Encyclopedia)Loire, longest river of France, c.630 mi (1,010 km) long, rising in the Cévennes Mts., SE France, and flowing in an arc through central and W France to the Atlantic Ocean at Saint-Nazaire. The upper ...