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Iberian Peninsula

(Encyclopedia)Iberian Peninsula, c.230,400 sq mi (596,740 sq km), SW Europe, separated from the rest of Europe by the Pyrenees. Comprising Spain and Portugal, it is washed on the N and W by the Atlantic Ocean and o...

Hindu Kush

(Encyclopedia)Hindu Kush hĭnˈdo͞o ko͝osh [key], a high mountain system, extending c.500 mi (800 km) W from the Pamir Knot, N Pakistan, into NE Afghanistan; rising to 25,236 ft (7,692 m) in Tirich Mir, on the bo...

Hardangerfjord

(Encyclopedia)Hardangerfjord härdängˈərfyôrˈ [key], second largest fjord of Norway, penetrating 114 mi (183 km) from the Atlantic Ocean into Hordaland co., SW Norway. A southern branch, the Sørfjord, cleaves...

Gunnarsson, Gunnar

(Encyclopedia)Gunnarsson, Gunnar güˈnär güˈnärsôn [key], 1889–1975, Icelandic novelist. Gunnarsson lived abroad until 1939, when he returned to Iceland. Through his early works, written in Danish, he helpe...

K2

(Encyclopedia)K2 or Mount Godwin-Austen, peak, 28,251 ft (8,611 m) high, in the Karakorum range, N Kashmir, on the China-Pakistan border; second highest peak in the world. It was discovered and measured by the Surv...

Milarepa

(Encyclopedia)Milarepa mĭlärˈəpə [key], 1040–1143, saint and poet of Tibetan Buddhism. He was the second patriarch of the Kargyupa sect, the first being Milarepa's guru Marpa (1012–97), who studied under N...

Mount Rainier National Park

(Encyclopedia)Mount Rainier National Park rānērˈ, rə– [key], 235,625 acres (95,395 hectares), SW Wash., in the Cascade Range; est. 1899. The area is dominated by Mt. Rainier, a volcanic peak 14,410 ft (4,392 ...

Merapi, Mount

(Encyclopedia)Merapi, Mount məräˈpē [key] [Indonesian=mountain of fire], volcano, 9,551 ft (2,911 m) high, central Java, Indonesia, 20 mi (32 km) NNE of Yogyakarta. It is the most active of Indonesia's many vol...

North Cascades National Park

(Encyclopedia)North Cascades National Park, 504,781 acres (204,436 hectares), N Washington. Located in the Cascade Range, the park has outstanding alpine scenery, including high jagged peaks, glaciers, icefalls, ha...

Norwegian elkhound

(Encyclopedia)Norwegian elkhound, breed of compact hound whose origins in Norway go back more than 5,000 years. It stands about 19 in. (48.3 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs between 40 and 50 lb (18.1–22.7 kg)...