Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

450 results found

laissez-faire

(Encyclopedia)laissez-faire lĕsˌā fârˈ [key] [Fr.,=leave alone], in economics and politics, doctrine that an economic system functions best when there is no interference by government. It is based on the belie...

Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, 1st duke of

(Encyclopedia)Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, 1st duke of, 1769–1852, British soldier and statesman. Wellington, “the iron duke,” with the soldier's taste for discipline and order and the aristocrat's distrus...

wheat

(Encyclopedia)wheat, cereal plant of the genus Triticum of the family Poaceae (grass family), a major food and an important commodity on the world grain market. Wheat is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, ...

Thrace

(Encyclopedia)Thrace thrās [key], region, 3,310 sq mi (8,575 sq km), SE Europe, occupying the southeastern tip of the Balkan Peninsula and comprising NE Greece, S Bulgaria, and European Turkey. Its boundaries have...

Huang He

(Encyclopedia)Huang He, Hwang Ho both: hwängˈ ho͝oˈ [key], or Yellow River, great river of N China, c.3,000 mi (4,830 km) long, rising in the twin lakes Gyaring and Ngoring in the Kunlun Mts., NW Qinghai prov....

Navajo, indigenous people of North America

(Encyclopedia)Navajo or Navaho both: näˈvəhō [key], Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Athabascan branch of the Nadene linguistic stock (see Native American languages). A migration from the No...

Sumatra

(Encyclopedia)Sumatra so͝omäˈtrə [key], island (1990 pop. 36,471,731), c.183,000 sq mi (473,970 sq km), Indonesia, in the Indian Ocean along the equator, S and W of the Malay Peninsula (from which it is separat...

Barrymore

(Encyclopedia)Barrymore, Anglo-American family of actors. Lionel and Ethel's younger brother, John Barrymore,John Barrymore, 1882–1942, b. Philadelphia, tried his hand at painting and cartooning before turning ...

Mindanao

(Encyclopedia)Mindanao mĭndənäˈō, –nouˈ [key], island (1990 pop. 13,535,738), 36,537 sq mi (94,631 sq km), second largest of the Philippine islands, NE of Borneo. About one fifth of the island's population ...

Zululand

(Encyclopedia)Zululand zo͞oˈlo͞olăndˌ [key], historic region and home of the Zulus, c.10,000 sq mi (25,900 sq km), NE KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Zululand is bordered by the Indian Ocean on the east, by Mozam...