Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Rosas, Juan Manuel de

(Encyclopedia)Rosas, Juan Manuel de hwän mänwĕlˈ dā rôˈsäs [key], 1793–1877, Argentine dictator, governor of Buenos Aires prov. (1829–32, 1835–52). As a boy he served under Jacques de Liniers against ...

Pedro I

(Encyclopedia)Pedro I (Dom Pedro de Alcântara) pāˈdrō [key], 1798–1834, first emperor of Brazil (1822–31); son of John VI of Portugal. Dom Pedro was a child when the Portuguese royal family, fleeing from Na...

Rio Branco, José Maria da Silva Paranhos, barão do

(Encyclopedia)Rio Branco, José Maria da Silva Paranhos, barão do zho͝ozĕˈ mərēˈə də sēlˈvə pəräˈnyo͝os bərouNˈ do͝o rēˈo͝o brängˈko͝o [key], 1845–1912, Brazilian statesman and diplomat. ...

São Francisco

(Encyclopedia)São Francisco souN frəsēshˈko͝o [key], river, c.1,800 mi (2,900 km) long, rising in the Serra de Canastra, SW Minas Gerais state, Brazil, and flowing northeast, then southeast through the sertão...

Pôrto Velho

(Encyclopedia)Pôrto Velho pōrˈto͝o vĕˈlyo͝o [key], city (1996 pop. 287,534), capital of Rondônia state, NW Brazil, on the Madeira River. It is a rail terminus and the last point of navigation on the river. ...

Japurá

(Encyclopedia)Japurá zhəpo͞oräˈ [key], river, c.1,750 mi (2,815 km) long, rising as the Caquetá in the Andes, SW Colombia. It flows SE into Brazil, where it is called the Japurá, and enters the Amazon throug...

Fortaleza

(Encyclopedia)Fortaleza fo͝ortəlĕˈzə [key], city, capital of Ceará state, NE Brazil, a port on the At...

Purus

(Encyclopedia)Purus po͞oro͞ozˈ [key], river, c.2,100 mi (3,380 km) long, rising in the Andes Mts., E Peru. It flows generally northeast in a meandering course, across Acre and Amazonas states, NW Brazil, to the ...

Salado, Río

(Encyclopedia)Salado, Río rēˈō säläˈᵺō [key] [Sp.,=salty river], name of several South American rivers, including more than 10 in Argentina. The most important is the Río Salado del Norte (c.1,250 mi/2,0...

Native American languages

(Encyclopedia)Native American languages, languages of the native peoples of the Western Hemisphere and their descendants. A number of the Native American languages that were spoken at the time of the European arriv...