Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Westphalia

(Encyclopedia)Westphalia wĕstfālˈyə [key], Ger. Westfalen, region and former province of Prussia, W Germany. Münster was the capital of the province. After 1945 the province was incorporated into the West Germ...

rabbit

(Encyclopedia)rabbit, name for herbivorous mammals of the family Leporidae, which also includes the hare and the pika. Rabbits and hares have large front teeth, short tails, and large hind legs and feet adapted for...

Skelligs

(Encyclopedia)Skelligs, rocky islands, off SW Republic of Ireland, in Co. Kerry, comprising Lemon Rock, Little Skellig, and Great Skellig. Climbing the rocks to the peaks of Great Skellig, also known as Skellig Mic...

Ivan VI

(Encyclopedia)Ivan VI, 1740–64, czar of Russia (1740–41), great-grandson of Ivan V. He was the son of Prince Anthony Ulric of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and of Anna Leopoldovna. An infant, he succeeded his great-a...

Union, Act of

(Encyclopedia)Union, Act of. For the union of England and Scotland (1707), see Great Britain; for the union of Ireland (1800) with Great Britain, see Ireland. ...

Guienne

(Encyclopedia)Guienne, Fr. Guyenne both: gēĕnˈ, gwē– [key], region of SW France. The name referred to different territories at different times. Guienne as it existed from the time of Henry IV (late 16th–ear...

Kharkiv

(Encyclopedia)Kharkiv khärˈkəf [key], Rus. Kharkov, city (1990 est. pop. 1,600,000), capital of Kharkiv region, E Ukraine, at the confluence of the Kharkiv, Lopan, and Udy rivers in the upper Donets valley. Ukra...

paleomagnetism

(Encyclopedia)paleomagnetism, study of the intensity and orientation of the earth's magnetic field as preserved in the magnetic orientation of certain minerals found in rocks formed throughout geologic time. Paleom...

Tuva Republic

(Encyclopedia)Tuva Republic or Tyva Republic both: to͞oˈvə, Rus. to͞oväˈ, Tuvan to͞owäˈ [key], constituent republic (1990 est. pop. 366,000), 65,830 sq mi (170,500 sq km), extreme S Siberian Russia, on the...

Yellowstone National Park

(Encyclopedia)Yellowstone National Park, 2,219,791 acres (899,015 hectares), the world's first national park (est. 1872), NW Wyo., extending into Montana and Idaho. It lies mainly on a broad plateau in the Rocky Mt...