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Bernadette, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Bernadette, Saint bûrnədĕtˈ [key], 1844–79, French peasant girl who reported seeing the Virgin Mary in apparitions at a grotto near Lourdes, her home, in 1858. She was born Marie Bernarde Soubir...

La Pérouse, Jean François de Galaup, comte de

(Encyclopedia)La Pérouse, Jean François de Galaup, comte de zhäN fräNswäˈ də gälōˈ kôNt də lä pāro͞ozˈ [key], 1741–c.1788, French navigator. A naval captain, in 1785 he took command of two frigate...

Outer Barrier

(Encyclopedia)Outer Barrier, series of sandy barrier islands or offshore bars, extending c.75 mi (120 km) along the south shore of Long Island, SE N.Y., from Rockaway Beach at the west to the east end of Shinnecock...

Lofoten and Vesterålen

(Encyclopedia)Lofoten vĕstˈərôlən [key], two contiguous island groups (1995 est. pop. 56,700), Nordland and Troms counties, NW Norway, in the Norwegian Sea. Situated within the Arctic Circle, the islands exten...

lake dwelling

(Encyclopedia)lake dwelling, prehistoric habitation built over the shallow waters of a lake shore or a marsh, usually erected on pile-supported platforms, but sometimes on artificial islands or mounds. Such a site ...

Heard Island

(Encyclopedia)Heard Island, barren, uninhabited subantarctic island, 142 sq mi (368 sq km), S Indian Ocean, located some 300 mi (483 km) SE of the Kerguelen Islands. Mountainous and largely covered by snow and glac...

Yap

(Encyclopedia)Yap yăp, yäp [key], state (1990 pop. 10,886), c.47 sq mi (121 sq km), in the W Caroline Islands, W Pacific. One of four states comprising the Federated States of Micronesia, the island group was for...

Moluccas

(Encyclopedia)Moluccas məlŭkˈəz, mō– [key] or Spice Islands, Bahasa Indonesia Maluku, Du. Molukken, island group and prov. (1990 pop. 1,856,075), c.32,300 sq mi (83,660 sq km), E Indonesia, between Sulawesi ...

Kamehameha

(Encyclopedia)Kamehameha kämāˈhämāˈhä [key], dynasty of Hawaiian monarchs. Kamehameha I (Kamehameha the Great), c.1738–1819, was king of the island of Hawaii after 1790. Through conquest he became (1810) r...

British Indian Ocean Territory

(Encyclopedia)British Indian Ocean Territory, archipelago, c.1,180 mi (1,900 km), NE of Mauritius, in the central Indian Ocean. The more than 50 islands, which form the Chagos Archipelago and are located on the sou...