Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

ibex

(Encyclopedia)ibex īˈbĕks [key], wild goat, genus Capra, found in rugged country on mountain ranges from central Asia to the Himalayas, S Europe, and NE Africa. Ibexes are surefooted and agile; they usually trav...

Al Shabab

(Encyclopedia)Al Shabab or Al Shabaab [key], [Arab.,=the youth], Islamic fundamentalist militia based in Somalia. One of several hardline Somali Islamist militias, Al Shabab has operated primarily in southern and ...

de Klerk, F. W.

(Encyclopedia)de Klerk, F. W. (Frederik Willem de Klerk) frĕdˈərĭk vĭlˈəm də klûrkˈ ...

Numidia

(Encyclopedia)Numidia no͞omĭdˈēə [key], ancient country of NW Africa, very roughly the modern Algeria. It was part of the Carthaginian empire until Masinissa, ruler of E Numidia, allied himself (c.206 b.c.) wi...

stink bug

(Encyclopedia)stink bug, member of a large, widely distributed family (Pentatomidae) of true bugs with flattened, shield-shaped bodies. Most are 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 in. (6–12 mm) long. Those species whose hard upper c...

Libya

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Libya lĭbˈēə [key], republic (2015 est. pop. 6,235,000), 679,358 sq mi (1,759,540 sq km), N Africa. It borders on Algeria in the west, on Tunisia in the northwest, on the Mediterranean Sea ...

Zanzibar, semiautonomous archipelago and island, Tanzania

(Encyclopedia)Zanzibar zănˈzĭbär, zănzĭbärˈ [key], semiautonomous archipelago (2012 pop. 1,303,569), Tanzania, E Africa, in the Indian Ocean c. 20 mi (32 km) off the mainland, consisting of the island of Za...

Gluckman, Herman Max

(Encyclopedia)Gluckman, Herman Max glŭkˈmən [key], 1911–75, British anthropologist, b. Johannesburg, South Africa, grad. Univ. of Witwatersrand (B.A., 1930) and Oxford (Ph.D., 1936). From 1947 to 1971 he was p...

Drakensberg Range

(Encyclopedia)Drakensberg Range dräˈkənzbûrg, Afrik. –bĕrkh [key], South Africa and Lesotho, extending 700 mi (1,127 km) NE–SW in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Lesotho, and Free State. The Zulu name ...

Maputo

(Encyclopedia)Maputo məpo͞oˈtō [key], city (1997 pop. 966,837), capital of Mozambique, a port on the Indian Ocean. It is Mozambique's largest city and its administrative, communications, and commercial center. ...