Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Oulu

(Encyclopedia)Oulu ōˈlo͞o [key], Swed. Uleåborg, city (1998 pop. 115,493), capital of Oulu prov., W central Finland, at the mouth of the Oulu River on the Gulf of Bothnia. It is a seaport and has metal shops, l...

La Farge, Oliver

(Encyclopedia)La Farge, Oliver lä färzh [key], 1901–63, American writer and anthropologist, b. New York City, grad. Harvard (B.A., 1924; M.A., 1929). He conducted three archaeological expeditions to Arizona and...

zinnia

(Encyclopedia)zinnia, any species of the genus Zinnia of the family Asteraceae (aster family), native chiefly to Mexico, though some range as far north as Colorado and as far south as Guatemala. The common zinnia o...

Redfield, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Redfield, Robert, 1897–1958, American anthropologist and sociologist, b. Chicago, grad. Univ. of Chicago (B.A., 1920; Ph.D., 1928). He began teaching at the Univ. of Chicago in 1928, later becoming ...

colony

(Encyclopedia)colony, any nonself-governing territory subject to the jurisdiction of a usually distant country. The term is also applied to a group of nationals who settle in a foreign country or territory but reta...

Córdoba, city, Argentina

(Encyclopedia)Córdoba kôrˈdōvä [key], city, capital of Córdoba prov., central Argentina, on the Río ...

Mennonites

(Encyclopedia)Mennonites mĕnˈnənīts [key], descendants of the Dutch and Swiss evangelical Anabaptists of the 16th cent. The name Mennonite is derived from Menno Simons (c.1496–1561), Dutch reformer and org...

Fonseca, Gulf of

(Encyclopedia)Fonseca, Gulf of fōnsāˈkä [key], inlet of the Pacific Ocean, c.700 sq mi (1,810 sq km), c.50 mi (80 km) long and c.30 mi (50 km) wide, W Central America. In a volcanic area, it is a natural shallo...

Mattis, James

(Encyclopedia)Mattis, James, 1950–, American general and secretary of defense (2017–18), b. Pullman, Wash., grad. Central Washington Univ. (1971). Commissioned as a second lieutenant (1972) in the Marines after...

Mille Lacs Lake

(Encyclopedia)Mille Lacs Lake mĭl lăks [key], 207 sq mi (536 sq km), E central Minn., N of Minneapolis. It drains into the Rum River. Sieur Duluth, a French explorer, visited (1679) the Ojibwas who lived on the l...