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Caribbean Community and Common Market

(Encyclopedia)Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM), organization founded by the Treaty of Chaguaramas (Trinidad; 1973, revised 2001) and including Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica...

Carlos, Spanish and Portuguese kings

(Encyclopedia)Carlos. For Spanish and Portuguese kings thus named, use Charles.

vertical takeoff and landing aircraft

(Encyclopedia)vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (VTOL), craft capable of rising and descending vertically from and to the ground, thus requiring no runway. While a balloon or an airship has obvious VTOL capabil...

Vienna, city and province, Austria

(Encyclopedia)Vienna vēĕnˈə [key], Ger. Wien, city and province (1991 pop. 1,539,848), 160 sq mi (414 sq km), capital and largest city of Austria and administrative seat of Lower Austria, NE Austria, on the Dan...

Ursa Major and Ursa Minor

(Encyclopedia)Ursa Major ûrˈsə [key] and Ursa Minor [Lat.,=the great bear; the little bear], two conspicuous northern constellations. Known to many peoples from ancient times, these constellations have had vario...

waterproof and water-repellent fabrics

(Encyclopedia)waterproof and water-repellent fabrics, materials treated with various substances so as to make them impervious to water. Permanent waterproofing is achieved by first coating fabrics with rubber or pl...

León, region and former kingdom, Spain

(Encyclopedia)León lā-ōnˈ [key], historic region and former kingdom, NW Spain, E of Portugal and Galicia, now part of Castile–León. It includes the provinces of León, Salamanca, and Zamora, named after thei...

Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act

(Encyclopedia)Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act: see Landrum-Griffin Act. ...

Lake Clark National Park and Preserve

(Encyclopedia)Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, S Alaska. Located across Cook Inlet from Anchorage, the park (2,619,733 acres/1,060,621 hectares) and adjacent preserve (1,410,325 acres/570,982 hectares) featur...

Métis, in Canadian history and society

(Encyclopedia)Métis [Fr.,=mixed], person of mixed racial heritage, particularly a descendant of French and English fur traders and indigenous women, principally in the Canadian prairie provinces of Alberta, Manito...