Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Afroasiatic languages

(Encyclopedia)Afroasiatic languages hămˈĭtō-səmĭtˈĭk [key], family of languages spoken by more than 250 million people in N Africa; much of the Sahara; parts of E, central, and W Africa; and W Asia (especia...

Zambezi

(Encyclopedia)Zambezi zămbēˈzē [key], river, c.1,700 mi (2,740 km) long, rising in NW Zambia, S central Africa, and flowing in an S-shaped course generally E through E Angola, along the Zambia-Zimbabwe border, ...

Barth, Heinrich

(Encyclopedia)Barth, Heinrich hīnˈrĭkh bärt [key], 1821–65, German explorer in British service. After traveling (1845–47) through the Levant and N Africa, he entered the service of the British government. H...

Atbara

(Encyclopedia)Atbara ătˈbärä [key], river, NE Africa, rising in NW Ethiopia and flowing c.500 mi (800 km) to the Nile at Atbarah, Sudan; before entering Sudan it forms the Eritrean-Ethiopian border. There are f...

Pool Malebo

(Encyclopedia)Pool Malebo, lakelike expansion of the Congo River, c.320 sq mi (830 sq km), along the Congo (Kinshasa)–Congo (Brazzaville) border, W central Africa, c.350 mi (560 km) from the Congo's mouth. It is ...

Sobat

(Encyclopedia)Sobat sōˈbät [key], river, c.200 mi (320 km) long, formed on the Ethiopia–South Sudan border, E Africa, by the confluence of the Baro and Pibor rivers. It flows generally NW through NE South Suda...

Luangwa

(Encyclopedia)Luangwa lwängˈwä [key], river, c.500 mi (800 km) long, S Africa. It rises in NE Zambia, near the Malawi border, and joins the Zambezi River. In the river valley lies Luangwa National Park, a former...

Maseru

(Encyclopedia)Maseru măzˈəro͞o [key], city (1996 pop. 137,837), capital of the Kingdom of Lesotho, on the Caledon River, near the border with the Republic of South Africa. It is Lesotho's only sizable city and ...

Stellenbosch

(Encyclopedia)Stellenbosch stĕlˈənbo͝osh, –bŏs [key], city and local municipality (2011 pop. 155,125), Western Cape prov., SW South Africa, in the Eerste River valley. It is a wine-making and fruit-growing c...

White Nile

(Encyclopedia)White Nile, river, one of the chief tributaries of the Nile, E Africa. The name is sometimes used for the 600 mi (970 km) long section of the river known as the Bahr el Abiad that extends upstream fro...