Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

schistosomiasis

(Encyclopedia)schistosomiasis bĭlˌhärzīˈəsĭs [key], or snail fever, parasitic disease caused by blood flukes, trematode worms of the genus Schistosoma. Three species are human parasites: S. mansoni, S. japon...

Twenty-one Demands

(Encyclopedia)Twenty-one Demands (1915), instrument by which Japan secured temporary hegemony over China. Japan used its declaration of war against Germany (Aug., 1914) as grounds for invading Kiaochow, the German ...

Somalia

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Somalia sōmäˈleə [key], officially Federal Republic of Somalia, country (2015 est. pop. 10,616,000), 246,200 sq mi (637,657 sq km), extreme E Africa. It is directly south of the Arabian pen...

totalitarianism

(Encyclopedia)totalitarianism tōtălˌĭtârˈēənĭzəm [key], a modern autocratic government in which the state involves itself in all facets of society, including the daily life of its citizens. A totalitarian...

reclamation of land

(Encyclopedia)reclamation of land, practice of converting land deemed unproductive into arable land by such methods as irrigation, drainage, flood control, altering the texture and mineral and organic content of so...

Palestine Liberation Organization

(Encyclopedia)Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), coordinating council for Palestinian organizations, founded (1964) by Egypt and the Arab League and initially controlled by Egypt. Composed of various guerrill...

Bengal

(Encyclopedia)Bengal bĕng-gôlˈ, bĕn– [key], region, 77,442 sq mi (200,575 sq km), E India and Bangladesh, on the Bay of Bengal. The inland section is mountainous, with peaks up to 12,000 ft (3,660 m) high in ...

Livadiya

(Encyclopedia)Livadiya lyĭväˈdyēə [key], town, S Crimea near Yalta, on the Black Sea. From 1954 part of Ukraine (then the Ukrainian SSR), it passed to Russian control in 2014 after the occupation and annexatio...

Malabar Coast

(Encyclopedia)Malabar Coast mălˈəbär [key], SW coast of India stretching c.525 mi (845 km) from Goa to the southern tip of the peninsula at Kanniyakumri (Cape Comorin), primarily in Kerala state and the norther...

Kamyanets-Podilskyy

(Encyclopedia)Kamyanets-Podilskyy kəmyänˈyĭts-pôdyĭlˈskyē [key], Rus. Kamenets-Podolski, city (1989 pop. 102,000), Khmelnytskyy region, Ukraine. It is a rail terminus and has industries that produce foodstu...

Browse by Subject