Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Kingston, city, Jamaica

(Encyclopedia)Kingston, city (1991 pop. 97,424), capital and largest city of Jamaica, SE Jamaica. The country's chief port, it has one of the finest harbors in the West Indies and exports sugar, rum, molasses, and ...

Saint Eustatius

(Encyclopedia)Saint Eustatius sānt yo͞ostāˈshəs [key], island (1989 pop. 1,861), 8 sq mi (20.7 sq km), a special municipality of the Netherlands, one of the Leeward Islands, West Indies. Called Statia by its i...

Netherlands Antilles

(Encyclopedia)Netherlands Antilles, former autonomous country in the Kingdom of the Netherlands consisting of several islands in the West Indies. Earlier known as the Dutch West Indies and Netherlands West Indies, ...

Kingstown, town, St. Vincent and the Grenadines

(Encyclopedia)Kingstown, town (1989 est. pop. 19,300), capital of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, West Indies. The chief port of St. Vincent, Kingstown is an export center for the island's agricultural industry as ...

Jay's Treaty

(Encyclopedia)Jay's Treaty, concluded in 1794 between the United States and Great Britain to settle difficulties arising mainly out of violations of the Treaty of Paris of 1783 and to regulate commerce and navigati...

Charlestown, town, St. Kitts-Nevis

(Encyclopedia)Charlestown, town on the island of Nevis, St. Kitts and Nevis, West Indies. Charlestown is the chief town and port of the island. Sugar processing is th...

Kent, Edward Augustus, duke of

(Encyclopedia)Kent, Edward Augustus, duke of, 1767–1820, fourth son of George III of Great Britain and father of Queen Victoria. Most of his mature life was spent in military service at Gibraltar, in Canada, and ...

bay rum

(Encyclopedia)bay rum, aromatic liquid used chiefly as a cosmetic and a perfume. It originated in the West Indies, where it was prepared by distillation from rum and bay leaves. It is now commonly a mixture of oil ...

Bobadilla, Francisco de

(Encyclopedia)Bobadilla, Francisco de fränthēsˈkō dā bōbädēˈlyä [key], d. 1502, Spanish colonial governor. He superseded Columbus in the West Indies (1500) and sent him home as a prisoner. Recalled in 150...

Field, Cyrus West

(Encyclopedia)Field, Cyrus West, 1819–92, American merchant, promoter of the first Atlantic cable, b. Stockbridge, Mass.; brother of David Dudley Field and Stephen J. Field. As head of a paper business, he accumu...