Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Parnaíba

(Encyclopedia)Parnaíba pərnīēˈbə [key], river c.800 mi (1,290 km) long, rising in the highlands of NE Brazil. It flows generally north, forming the boundary between Maranhão and Piauí states, and enters the...

Reyes, Alfonso

(Encyclopedia)Reyes, Alfonso älfônˈsō rāˈyĕs [key], 1889–1959, Mexican writer, diplomat, and educator. Reyes is generally recognized as one of the greatest Spanish-American writers of his time. After spend...

sertão

(Encyclopedia)sertão sərˈtouN [key] [Port.,=backlands], semiarid hinterland of NE Brazil; c.250,000 sq mi (647,500 sq km). Its characteristic landscape is the caatinga, or thorny scrub forest. The chief occupati...

Fray Bentos

(Encyclopedia)Fray Bentos frīˈbānˈtōs [key], city, capital of Río Negro dept., SW Uruguay, a port on the ...

Araguaía

(Encyclopedia)Araguaía ärägwīˈə [key], river, c.1,600 mi (2,575 km) long, rising in the Serra des Araras, at the border of Goiás and Mato Grosso states, S central Brazil. It flows generally northward into th...

Guiana Highlands

(Encyclopedia)Guiana Highlands, mountainous tableland, c.1,200 mi (1,930 km) long and from 200 to 600 mi (322–966 km) wide, N South America, bounded by the Orinoco and Amazon river basins, and by the coastal lowl...

Dutch West India Company

(Encyclopedia)Dutch West India Company, trading and colonizing company, chartered by the States-General of the Dutch republic in 1621 and organized in 1623. Through its agency New Netherland was founded. The phenom...

Paranaíba

(Encyclopedia)Paranaíba pərənīēˈbə [key], river, c.500 mi (800 km) long, rising in W Minas Gerais state, Brazil. It flows generally westward through an agricultural region before joining the Rio Grande to fo...

Avellaneda

(Encyclopedia)Avellaneda ävāyänāˈᵺä [key], city, Buenos Aires prov., E central Argentina, across the Riachuelo River from the Buenos Aires federal district. It is one of the mos...

Browse by Subject