Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Namib-Naukluft National Park

(Encyclopedia)Namib-Naukluft National Park, 19,216 sq mi (49,768 sq km), W Namibia, encompassing parts of the Namib Desert and the Naukluft mountain range. It was established in 1979 when the Namib Desert Park (beg...

Mariotte, Edme

(Encyclopedia)Mariotte, Edme ĕdˈmə märyôtˈ [key], 1620?–1684, French physicist. His De la nature de l'air (1676) includes a statement of Boyle's law (see gas laws), which he discovered independently and whi...

Bohemian Forest

(Encyclopedia)Bohemian Forest, Czech Český Les, Ger. Böhmerwald, mountain range, extending c.150 mi (240 km) along the S Czech-German border and extending into Austria. The Czech name for its southern section is...

Vaygach

(Encyclopedia)Vaygach or Vaigach both: vīgächˈ [key], island, 1,312 sq mi (3,398 sq km), Nenets Autonomous Area, off NE European Russia, in the Arctic Ocean, between the mainland and Novaya Zemlya. A continuatio...

Plain of Jars

(Encyclopedia)Plain of Jars, region, N Laos, at the northern end of the Annamese Cordillera. Over 300 carved stone jars, c.1,500 to 2,000 years old, are scattered across its landscape. Averaging 272 lbs (600 kg), t...

Central Utah project

(Encyclopedia)Central Utah project, N central Utah; begun 1959 near Vernal, Utah, by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in conjunction with the Colorado River storage project. Water, collected from streams in the Uinta...

Qaidam

(Encyclopedia)Qaidam tsīˈdäm, chī-däm [key], arid basin, c.350 mi (560 km) long and c.100 mi (160 km) wide, between two branches of the Kunlun range, central Qinghai prov., W China. A salt marsh occupies most ...

Pikes Peak

(Encyclopedia)Pikes Peak, 14,110 ft (4,301 m) high, central Colo., in the Front Range of the Rocky Mts.; discovered by U.S. explorer Zebulon Pike in 1806. There are many higher peaks in the Rockies, but this is the...

Ballet Folklórico de México

(Encyclopedia)Ballet Folklórico de México, Mexico's national dance company. It was founded in 1952 by the dancer, choreographer, and teacher Amalia Hernández. Sponsored by the Mexican government, it is headquart...

lynx

(Encyclopedia)lynx, name given to several related small, ferocious members of the cat family. All have small heads, tufted ears, and heavy bodies with long legs and short tails. All are primarily terrestrial, altho...