Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Worcester, town, South Africa

(Encyclopedia)Worcester, town, now part and seat of the Breede Valley local municipality, Western Cape prov., SW South Africa. It produces wine and liquor and processes the fruits and vegetables of the surrounding ...

Bethlehem, town, South Africa

(Encyclopedia)Bethlehem, town, Free State prov., E central South Africa, part and seat of Dihlabeng local municipality. It is situated in a farming and livestock area and has industries producing furniture and food...

Peru, country, South America

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Peru pāro͞oˈ [key], officially Republic of Peru, republic (2015 est. pop. 31,377,000), 496,220 sq mi (1,285,210 sq km), W South America. It borders on the Pacific Ocean in the west, on Ecuad...

marines

(Encyclopedia)marines, troops that serve on board ships of war or in conjunction with naval operation. A British marine corps was established in 1664, and the need for skilled riflemen aboard military vessels broug...

concentration camp

(Encyclopedia)concentration camp, a detention site outside the normal prison system created for military or political purposes to confine, terrorize, and, in some cases, kill civilians. The term was first used to d...

Acheson, Dean Gooderham

(Encyclopedia)Acheson, Dean Gooderham ăchˈĭsən [key], 1893–1971, U.S. secretary of state (1949–53), b. Middletown, Conn., grad. Yale, Harvard Law School. He was (1919–21) private secretary to Louis Brande...

leopard

(Encyclopedia)leopard, large carnivore of the cat family, Panthera pardus, widely distributed in Africa and Asia. It is commonly yellow, buff, or gray, patterned with black spots and rings. The rings, unlike those ...

Jilin, province, China

(Encyclopedia)Jilin kēˈrĭnˈ [key], province (2010 pop. 27,462,297), 72,000 sq mi (186,528 sq km), NE China; one of the original Manchurian provinces. The capital is Changchun. It is bordered by Heilongjiang pro...

nuclear weapons

(Encyclopedia)nuclear weapons, weapons of mass destruction powered by atomic, rather than chemical, processes. Nuclear weapons produce large explosions and hazardous radioactive byproducts by means of either nuclea...

Browse by Subject