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Central Utah project

(Encyclopedia)Central Utah project, N central Utah; begun 1959 near Vernal, Utah, by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in conjunction with the Colorado River storage project. Water, collected from streams in the Uinta...

Central Valley project

(Encyclopedia)Central Valley project, central Calif., long-term general scheme for the utilization of the water of the Sacramento River basin in the north for the benefit of the farmlands of the San Joaquin Valley ...

Quiché

(Encyclopedia)Quiché kēchāˈ [key], indigenous peoples of Mayan linguistic stock, in the western highlands of Guatemala; most important group of the ancient southern Maya. The largest of the contemporary native ...

Izabal

(Encyclopedia)Izabal ēsäbälˈ [key], lake, c.30 mi (48 km) long and 15 mi (24 km) wide, E Guatemala, largest lake in the country. Known also as the Golfo Dulce, it drains to the Caribbean Sea through the Golfete...

crossbill

(Encyclopedia)crossbill, bird of the genus Loxia, in the finch family. Its bill, crossed at the tips, is specialized for pulling apart pine cones and picking out the seeds. Crossbills are found in the evergreen for...

Arana Osorio, Carlos

(Encyclopedia)Arana Osorio, Carlos kärˈlōs äräˈnä ōsōˈryō [key], 1918–2003, president of Guatemala (1970–74). A conservative army colonel noted for his successes during an antiguerrilla campaign (196...

Kootenai, indigenous group of North America

(Encyclopedia)Kootenai ko͞otˈənāˌ [key], group of Native North Americans who in the 18th cent. occupied the so-called Kootenai country (i.e., N Montana, N Idaho, and SE British Columbia). Their language is tho...

Piedras Negras, ancient city, Guatemala

(Encyclopedia)Piedras Negras pyāˈᵺräs nāˈgräs [key] [Span.,=black stones], ruined city of the Classic era of the Maya, NW Petén, Guatemala, in the Usumacinta valley. Reaching a peak of sculptural achieveme...

Martí, José

(Encyclopedia)Martí, José hōsāˈ märtēˈ [key], 1853–95, Cuban essayist, poet, and patriot, leader of the Cuban struggle for independence. One of the greatest prose writers of Spanish America, he is noted f...

Menchú, Rigoberta

(Encyclopedia)Menchú, Rigoberta rēˌgōbĕrˈtä mĕncho͞oˈ [key], 1959–, Guatemalan social reformer. Of Mayan descent, she and her family were caught in Guatemala's bloody civil war. Protesters against human...