Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Sibley, Henry Hastings

(Encyclopedia)Sibley, Henry Hastings, 1811–91, first governor of Minnesota, b. Detroit. After two years of law study, he was (1830–34) a clerk for the American Fur Company. He later became (1834) a partner and ...

sphere of influence

(Encyclopedia)sphere of influence, term formerly applied to an area over which an outside power claims hegemony with the intention of subsequently gaining more definite control, as in colonization, or with the inte...

Iqaluit

(Encyclopedia)Iqaluit ĭkälo͞oˈĭt [key], town, Nunavut Territory, Canada, at the NE head of Frobisher Bay on ...

Bir Tawil

(Encyclopedia)Bir Tawil, unclaimed territory, c.795 sq mi (2,060 km), along the E Egypt-Sudan border W of the Halayeb Triangle. Its unclaimed status arose from the peculiarities the disputed border: Bir Tawil lies ...

Claiborne, William Charles Coles

(Encyclopedia)Claiborne, William Charles Coles, 1775–1817, governor of Louisiana, b. Sussex co., Va. He began law practice in Sullivan co., Tenn., and was appointed a judge of the state supreme court in 1796. As ...

Mackay, Lake

(Encyclopedia)Mackay, Lake məkīˈ [key], large, usually dry, saline lake, 1,829 sq mi (4,737 sq km), 65 mi (105 km) long, 40 mi (64 km) wide, W central Australia, on the border of Western Australia and the Northe...

Puducherry

(Encyclopedia)Puducherry pôNdēshārēˈ [key], union territory (2001 provisional pop. 973,829), 183 sq mi (474 sq km), India. It comprises the noncontiguous enclaves of former French India: Puducherry (formerly P...

Wallis and Futuna Islands

(Encyclopedia)Wallis and Futuna Islands wŏlˈĭs, fo͞oto͞oˈnä [key], officially Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands, French overseas territory (2015 est. pop. 12,000), 106 sq mi (274 sq km), S Pacific, ...

Salza, Hermann von

(Encyclopedia)Salza, Hermann von hĕrˈmän fən zälˈtsä [key], d. 1239, grand master (1210–39) of the Teutonic Knights. A friend and adviser of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, he often mediated between the e...

Lakshadweep

(Encyclopedia)Lakshadweep ləkshädˈwēpˌ [key], union territory (2001 provisional pop. 60,595), 11 sq mi (28 sq km), SW India, consisting of the Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi islands in the Arabian Sea off th...