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amphoterism

(Encyclopedia)amphoterism ămˌfətĕrˈĭzm [key], in chemistry, the property of certain substances of acting either as acids or as bases depending on the reaction in which they are involved. Many hydroxide compou...

Midway

(Encyclopedia)Midway, island group (2 sq mi/5.2 sq km), central Pacific, c.1,150 mi (1,850 km) NW of Honolulu, comprising Sand and Eastern islands with the surrounding atoll. Discovered by Americans in 1859, Midway...

Naha

(Encyclopedia)Naha näˈhä [key], city (1990 pop. 304,836), on Okinawa island, in the Ryukyu Islands, Japan. A port on the southwest coast, it is also the chief manufacturing center of the island. Long the economi...

Nakhon Ratchasima

(Encyclopedia)Nakhon Ratchasima kōrätˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 204,121), capital of Nakhon Ratchasima prov., S central Thailand, on the Mun River. Strategically located near the mountain pass leading from the cen...

pelvis

(Encyclopedia)pelvis, bony, basin-shaped structure that supports the organs of the lower abdomen. It receives the weight of the upper body and distributes it to the legs; it also forms the base for numerous muscle ...

Orizaba, city, Mexico

(Encyclopedia)Orizaba ōrēsäˈbä [key], city (1990 pop. 114,216), Veracruz state, E central Mexico. It is the commercial center of a prosperous bean and sugar growing region. The development of water power has s...

liberation theology

(Encyclopedia)liberation theology, belief that the Christian Gospel demands “a preferential option for the poor,” and that the church should be involved in the struggle for economic and political justice in the...

Port Vila

(Encyclopedia)Port Vila pôr vēläˈ [key] or Vila, town (2009 pop. 45,694), capital and largest town of the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu. On the SW coast of Efate island, it is a deep-sea port built around a ...

Cahokia Mounds

(Encyclopedia)Cahokia Mounds, approximately 85 surviving Native American earthworks, most in Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, SW Ill., near East St. Louis; largest group of mounds N of Mexico. Monks' Mound, a re...

Carter, Gary Edmund

(Encyclopedia)Carter, Gary Edmund, 1954–2012, American baseball player, b. Culver City, Calif. A superb catcher and clutch-hitting right-handed slugger, he played in the majors for 19 years. Drafted (1972) by the...