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Washington Island, United States

(Encyclopedia)Washington Island, c.20 sq mi (50 sq km), NE Wis., in NW Lake Michigan, just off the northern tip of the Door Peninsula. The island was visited by the French explorers Pierre Radisson (1657) and Rober...

Tangier, island, United States

(Encyclopedia)Tangier, island, E Va., in S Chesapeake Bay. Capt. John Smith first visited the island in 1608, and in 1620 settlers arrived from Cornwall, England. Isolated from the mainland, the people of Tangier d...

horse racing

(Encyclopedia)horse racing, trials of speed involving two or more horses. It includes races among harnessed horses with one of two particular gaits, among saddled Thoroughbreds (or, less frequently, quarterhorses) ...

Niue

(Encyclopedia)Niue nēo͞oˈā [key], coral island (2015 est. pop. 2,000), c.100 sq mi (260 sq km), South Pacific, freely associated with New Zealand. Alofi is the capital. The inhabitants are mainly Protestant Pol...

Socotra

(Encyclopedia)Socotra səkōˈtrə, sō– [key], island, 1,383 sq mi (3,582 sq km), S Yemen, at the mouth of the Gulf of Aden. With three much smaller islands to the west it forms the Socotra Archipelago governora...

Elephanta

(Encyclopedia)Elephanta ĕlĭfănˈtə [key], island, c.2 sq mi (5.2 sq km), in Mumbai harbor, Maharashtra state, W India. It is noted for six Brahmanic caves, carved (8th cent.) from solid rock some 250 ft (76 m) ...

Hall, Charles Francis

(Encyclopedia)Hall, Charles Francis, 1821–71, American arctic explorer, b. Rochester, N.H. He became interested in the many search expeditions for Sir John Franklin's party, and with Eskimo companions he explored...

Glorioso Islands

(Encyclopedia)Glorioso Islands glōrˌēōˈsō, –zō [key], Fr. Îles Glorieuses, island group, c.2 sq mi (5 sq km), in the Mozambique Channel, W Indian Ocean, 125 mi (200 km) WNW of N Madagascar, part of the Sc...

Outer Banks

(Encyclopedia)Outer Banks or the Banks, chain of sand barrier islands and peninsulas, c.175 mi (280 km), along the Atlantic coast of SE Va. and E N.C. Separated by inlets and enclosing several saltwater lagoons, or...

stagecoach

(Encyclopedia)stagecoach, heavy, closed vehicle on wheels, usually drawn by horses, formerly used to transport passengers and goods overland. Throughout the Middle Ages and until about the end of the 18th cent., th...