Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

extraterritoriality

(Encyclopedia)extraterritoriality or exterritoriality, privilege of immunity from local law enforcement enjoyed by certain aliens. Although physically present upon the territory of a foreign nation, those aliens po...

internal-combustion engine

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Internal-combustion engines: In the four-stroke reciprocating engine (above), a mixture of fuel and air is taken into the chamber on the down-stroke of the piston, is compressed on the up-strok...

Civitavecchia

(Encyclopedia)Civitavecchia chēˈvētä-vĕkˈkēä [key], city, in Latium, W central Italy, on the Tyrrhenian Sea. The ...

Spanish Town

(Encyclopedia)Spanish Town, city (1991 pop. 110,379), SE Jamaica, on the Cobre River. It is the commercial and processing center of a rich agricultural region, as well as the main rail and highway communications hu...

Transportation, United States Department of

(Encyclopedia)Transportation, United States Department of, executive department of the U.S. government, established by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966. Its chief executive officer, the secretary, is a ...

Yibin

(Encyclopedia)Yibin ē-bĭn [key], city (1994 est. pop. 261,300), S Sichuan prov., China. It is a commercial and communications center at the junction of the Min and the Chang rivers, the last port for upriver traf...

Saône

(Encyclopedia)Saône sōn [key], river, 268 mi (431 km) long, rising in the Vosges Mts. near Épinal, E France, and flowing SW past Gray, Chalon-sur-Saône, and Mâcon to join the Rhône River at Lyons. An importan...

Perm

(Encyclopedia)Perm pyĕrm [key], city (1990 est. pop. 1,090,000), capital of Perm Territory, NE European Russia, on the Kama River. It is a transfer center for rail and river traffic and a major producer of machine...

pollution

(Encyclopedia)pollution, contamination of the environment as a result of human activities. The term pollution refers primarily to the fouling of air, water, and land by wastes (see air pollution; water pollution; s...

ventilation

(Encyclopedia)ventilation, process of supplying fresh air to an enclosed space and removing from it air contaminated by odors, gases, or smoke. Proper ventilation requires also that there be a movement or circulati...