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Yazoo

(Encyclopedia)Yazoo yăzˈo͞o [key], river, 188 mi (303 km) long, formed in W central Miss. by the confluence of the Tallahatchie and Yalobusha rivers. Prevented by natural levees from joining the Mississippi Rive...

cerrado

(Encyclopedia)cerrado, tropical ecological region, c. 770,000 sq mi (2 million sq km), Brazil, encompassing several states and the federal district and extending into Bolivia and Paraguay. Located in the central pl...

Rocky Mountains

(Encyclopedia)Rocky Mountains, major mountain system of W North America and easternmost belt of the North American cordillera, extending more than 3,000 mi (4,800 km) from central N.Mex. to NW Alaska; Mt. Elbert (1...

Volga

(Encyclopedia)Volga vŏlˈgə, Rus. vôlˈgə [key], river, c.2,300 mi (3,700 km) long, central and E European Russia. It is the longest river of Europe and the principal waterway of Russia, being navigable (with l...

dam

(Encyclopedia)dam, barrier, commonly across a watercourse, to hold back water, often forming a reservoir or lake; dams are also sometimes used to control or contain rockslides, mudflows, and the like in regions whe...

Open Door

(Encyclopedia)Open Door, maintenance in a certain territory of equal commercial and industrial rights for the nationals of all countries. As a specific policy, it was first advanced by the United States, but it was...

desert

(Encyclopedia)desert, arid region, usually partly covered by sand, having scanty vegetation or sometimes almost none, and capable of supporting only a limited and specially adapted animal population. The so-called ...

Silurian period

(Encyclopedia)Silurian period sĭlo͝orˈēən, sī– [key] [from the Silures, ancient tribe of S Wales, where the period was first studied; named by the British geologist R. I. Murchison], third period of the Pal...

llanos

(Encyclopedia)llanos yäˈnōs [key], Spanish-American term for prairies, specifically those of the Orinoco River basin of N South America, in Venezuela and E Colombia. The llanos of the Orinoco are a vast, hot reg...

arapaima

(Encyclopedia)arapaima ărˌəpīˈmə [key], tropical fish, genus Arapaima, of the Amazon basin. Arapaimas are perhaps the largest of the strictly freshwater fishes, reportedly reaching a length of 15 ft (4.5 m), ...