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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...

Apache

(Encyclopedia)Apache əpăchˈē [key], Native North Americans of the Southwest composed of six culturally related groups. They speak a language that has various dialects and belongs to the Athabascan branch of the...

San Ildefonso, pueblo, United States

(Encyclopedia)San Ildefonso săn ēlˌdəfŏnˈsō [key], pueblo (1990 pop. 447), N central N.Mex., on the Rio Grande, established in the early 1700s. The inhabitants are Pueblo who speak a Tanoan language. The pue...

Sierra Madre, mountain system, Mexico

(Encyclopedia)Sierra Madre dĕl so͝orˈ [key] is a tumbled, broken mass of uptilted mountains that touch the Pacific coast but form into no clearly defined range. It spreads over S Mexico between the volcanic belt...

Taos, town, United States

(Encyclopedia)Taos tous [key], town (1990 pop. 4,065), alt. c.7,000 ft (2,130 m), seat of Taos co., N N.Mex., between the Rio Grande and the Sangre de Cristo Mts.; founded c.1615, inc. 1934. In an area of pueblos a...

Natal, city, Brazil

(Encyclopedia)Natal nətälˈ [key], city (1991 pop. 606,887), capital of Rio Grande do Norte state, NE Brazil, just above the mouth of the Potengi River. A modern city that has retained its colonial flavor and is ...

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...

Rio Branco

(Encyclopedia)Rio Branco, city (1996 pop. 228,907), capital of Acre state, NW Brazil, on the Acre River. Rubber and Brazil nuts are its chief products; there is also some farming. Rio Branco has air connections wit...

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