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Terschelling

(Encyclopedia)Terschelling tərskĕlˈĭng [key], island, c.40 sq mi (100 sq km), Friesland prov., N Netherlands, in the North Sea, one of the West Frisian Islands. West-Terschelling is the main town. Farming and f...

Latin America

(Encyclopedia)Latin America, the Spanish-speaking, Portuguese-speaking, and French-speaking countries (except Canada) of North America, South America, Central America, and the West Indies. The 20 republics are Arge...

Davis, George Breckenridge

(Encyclopedia)Davis, George Breckenridge, 1847–1914, American army officer and jurist, b. Ware, Mass., grad. West Point, 1871. His early military service was divided between duty on the Western frontier and teach...

Scott, Hugh Lenox

(Encyclopedia)Scott, Hugh Lenox, 1853–1934, U.S. army officer, b. Danville, Ky., grad. West Point, 1876. He was assigned (1876) to military service in the West and took part in the Sioux, Nez Percé, and Cheyenne...

Yayi, Thomas Boni

(Encyclopedia)Yayi, Thomas Boni, 1952–, Beninois political leader, president of Benin (2006–16), b. Tchaourou. He studied at the National Univ. of Benin, in Senegal at Cheikh Anta Diop Univ., and in France at t...

Berlin airlift

(Encyclopedia)Berlin airlift, 1948–49, supply of vital necessities to West Berlin by air transport primarily under U.S. auspices. It was initiated in response to a land and water blockade of the city that had bee...

Fertile Crescent

(Encyclopedia)Fertile Crescent, historic region of the Middle East. A well-watered and fertile area, it arcs across the northern part of the Syrian desert. It is flanked on the west by the Mediterranean and on the ...

Permian Basin

(Encyclopedia)Permian Basin or West Texas Basin, extensive sedimentary basin, West Texas and SE New Mexico. Covering an area of more than 75,000 sq mi (194,000 sq km), its main components are the Midland Basin on t...

Jalpaiguri

(Encyclopedia)Jalpaiguri jəlpīˈgo͝orē [key], town (1991 pop. 68,732), West Bengal state, NE India, on the Tista River. It is the administrative center for a district that produces tea, rice, jute, tobacco, tim...

Red River Settlement

(Encyclopedia)Red River Settlement, agricultural colony in present Manitoba, North Dakota, and Minnesota. It was the undertaking of Thomas Douglas, 5th earl of Selkirk. Wishing to relieve the dispossessed and impov...