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Pizarro, Juan

(Encyclopedia)Pizarro, Juan pēthärˈrō [key], d. 1536, Spanish conquistador, brother of Francisco Pizarro. He aided Francisco in the conquest of Peru. With his other brothers, Gonzalo and Hernando, he fought ag...

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...

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...

Central American Federation

(Encyclopedia)Central American Federation or Central American Union, political confederation (1825–38) of the republics of Central America—Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Salvador. United under ...

human rights

(Encyclopedia)human rights, universal rights held to belong to individuals by virtue of their being human, encompassing civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights and freedoms, and based on the notion ...

coca

(Encyclopedia)coca kōˈkə [key], common name for shrubs of the genus Erythroxylum, particularly E. coca, of the family Erythroxylaceae, and found abundantly in upland regions and on mountain slopes of South Ameri...

Quito

(Encyclopedia)Quito kēˈtō [key], city (1990 pop. 1,100,847), N central Ecuador, capital of Ecuador and of Pichincha prov. After Guayaquil it is Ecuador's largest city. The setting of Quito is visually splendid: ...

yucca

(Encyclopedia)yucca yŭkˈə [key], any plant of the genus Yucca, stiff-leaved stemless or treelike succulents of the family Liliaceae (lily family), native chiefly to the tablelands of Mexico and the American Sout...

Mallea, Eduardo

(Encyclopedia)Mallea, Eduardo āˌᵺwärˈᵺō mäyāˈä [key], 1903–82, Argentine novelist and essayist. Mallea is considered one of the outstanding Latin American literary figures. Existentialist thought, pa...

Escalante, Silvestre Vélez de

(Encyclopedia)Escalante, Silvestre Vélez de sēlvāˈstrā vāˈlāth dā āskälänˈtā [key], fl. 1769–79, Spanish explorer in the American Southwest and Far West, a Franciscan missionary. He was in charge of...