Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Piedras Negras, city, Mexico

(Encyclopedia)Piedras Negras, city (1990 pop. 96,178), Coahuila state, N Mexico, on the Rio Grande opposite Eagle Pass, Tex. Founded in 1849, the city grew as an international shipping point. Piedras Negras is a co...

Rosa, Monte

(Encyclopedia)Rosa, Monte mōnˈtā rôˈzä [key], massif, in the Pennine Alps, on the Swiss-Italian border. Its highest peak, the Dufourspitze, 15,217 ft (4,638 m), is the highest point in Switzerland. The Swiss ...

Uinta Mountains

(Encyclopedia)Uinta Mountains yo͞oĭnˈtə [key], range of the Rocky Mts. extending c.120 mi (190 km) E from NE Utah to SW Wyoming. It rises to Kings Peak (13,528 ft/4,123 m), the highest point in Utah. The Uinta ...

Tonawanda

(Encyclopedia)Tonawanda tŏnəwŏnˈdə [key], city (1990 pop. 17,284), Erie co., NW N.Y., on the Niagara River at the terminus of the Erie Canal; inc. as a village 1854, as a city 1903. An industrial suburb of Buf...

top

(Encyclopedia)top, toy with a tapering point on which it can be made to spin. Tops were known in antiquity and appeared in Europe during the Middle Ages; they are used today in many different regions of the world b...

Banda Sea

(Encyclopedia)Banda Sea bănˈdə, bänˈdä [key], section of the Pacific Ocean, c.600 mi (970 km) long and c.300 mi (480 km) wide, E Indonesia, outlined by the South Molucca islands. The deepest point is c.24,000...

Wareham

(Encyclopedia)Wareham wârˈəm, –hămˌ [key], town (1990 pop. 19,232), Plymouth co., SE Mass., on an inlet of Buzzards Bay; settled 1678, inc. 1739. It is a resort as well as a shipping point for cranberries an...

Bellefontaine

(Encyclopedia)Bellefontaine bĕlfounˈtĭn, –fŏnˈtĭn [key], city (2020 pop. 13,433), seat of L...

fog

(Encyclopedia)fog, aggregation of water droplets or ice crystals immediately above the surface of the earth (i.e., a cloud near the ground). A light or thin fog is usually called a mist. Fog may occur when the mois...

ellipse

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Ellipse ellipse, closed plane curve consisting of all points for which the sum of the distances between a point on the curve and two fixed points (foci) is the same. It is the conic section fo...