Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

376 results found

Shaanxi

(Encyclopedia)Shaanxi shĕnˈsēˈ [key] [west of the mountain passes], province (2010 pop. 37,327,378), c.76,000 sq mi (196,840 sq km), N central China. Xi'an is the capital. From north to south Shaanxi has four m...

Tunguska

(Encyclopedia)Tunguska to͝on-go͞osˈkə [key], is the name given to the lower course of the Angara River. It flows generally west and joins the Yenisei at Strelka. The area of the three rivers is the home of the...

Bogotá

(Encyclopedia)Bogotá bōgōtäˈ [key], city (2021 metro area est. pop. 11,167,000), central Colombia, cap...

Mughal

(Encyclopedia)Mughal mōˈgəl, mōgŭlˈ [key], Muslim empire in India, 1526–1857. The dynasty was founded by Babur, a Turkic chieftain who had his base in Afghanistan. Babur's invasion of India culminated in th...

Scott, Robert Falcon

(Encyclopedia)Scott, Robert Falcon, 1868–1912, British naval officer and antarctic explorer. He commanded two noted expeditions to Antarctica. The first expedition (1901–4), in the Discovery, organized jointly ...

Pliocene epoch

(Encyclopedia)Pliocene epoch plīˈəsēn [key], fifth epoch of the Cenozoic era of geologic time (see Geologic Timescale, tablegeologic timescale, table), from 5.1 to 2 million years ago. By the beginning of the P...

Nez Percé

(Encyclopedia)Nez Percé nĕz pûrs, nā pĕrsāˈ [key] [Fr.,=pierced nose], Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Sahaptin-Chinook branch of the Penutian linguistic stock (see Native American langu...

Yunnan

(Encyclopedia)Yunnan or Yun-nan both: yünˈnän [key] [south of the clouds], province (2010 pop. 45,966,239), c.162,000 sq mi (419,600 sq km), SW China. It borders Myanmar on the west and Laos and Vietnam on the s...

Cappadocia

(Encyclopedia)Cappadocia kăpədōˈshə [key], ancient region of Asia Minor, watered by the Halys River (the modern Kizil Irmak), in present E central Turkey. The name was applied at different times to territories...

Free State

(Encyclopedia)Free State, formerly Orange Free State, province, 50,126 sq mi (129,825 sq km), E central South Africa. It was renamed Free State shortly after the 1994...