Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Williams, John, English missionary

(Encyclopedia)Williams, John, 1796–1839, English missionary, called the Apostle of Polynesia. Under the London Missionary Society he went (1817) to the Society Islands. He discovered Rarotonga in 1823 and founded...

Sporades

(Encyclopedia)Sporades spôrˈədēz, spŏrˈ– [key], islands, E and SE Greece, in the Aegean Sea. They have been grouped variously at different times. The Northern Sporades are generally understood to include Sk...

Oceania

(Encyclopedia)Oceania ōshēănˈĭkə [key], collective name for the approximately 25,000 islands of the Pacific, usually excluding such nontropical areas as the Ryukyu and Aleutian islands and Japan, as well as T...

Hyères

(Encyclopedia)Hyères yĕr [key], city, Var dept., SE France, in Provence, on the Mediterranean Sea. A port...

Wonsan

(Encyclopedia)Wonsan wŭnˈsän [key], Jap. Gensan, city (1993 pop. 300,148), capital of Kangwon prov., SE North Korea, on the Sea of Japan (or East Sea). It is a major port and naval base, with a natural harbor pr...

Bogoslof Island

(Encyclopedia)Bogoslof Island bōˈgəslôf [key], volcanic islet, c.1.2 mi (.75 km) long, SW Alaska, Aleutian Islands, in the Bering Sea, 61 mi (98 km) NW of Unalaska. The island first appeared in 1796 and has gro...

Goto-retto

(Encyclopedia)Goto-retto gōtōˈ-rĕtˈtō [key], group of more than 125 islands, 249 sq mi (645 sq km), Nagasaki prefecture, in the East China Sea, off W Kyushu, Japan. Fukue is the largest island. Whaling and fi...

Ireland, John, English composer

(Encyclopedia)Ireland, John, 1879–1962, English composer. Inspired by visits to the Channel Islands, he wrote music of a simple, rugged beauty. His many songs include the cycle Songs of a Wayfarer (1903) and Sea ...

Bransfield, Edward

(Encyclopedia)Bransfield, Edward, 1795–1852, English sea captain and antarctic explorer. In 1820, Bransfield sailed from Chile to the South Shetland Islands off the N Antarctic Peninsula. After claiming King Geor...

Limfjørd

(Encyclopedia)Limfjørd lēmˈfyördˌ [key], waterway, c.110 mi (180 km) long, cutting across N Jutland, Denmark, and connecting the North Sea with the Kattegat. It is very irregular in shape, forming Løgstør, a...