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badlands

(Encyclopedia)badlands, area of severe erosion, usually found in semiarid climates and characterized by countless gullies, steep ridges, and sparse vegetation. Badland topography is formed on poorly cemented sedime...

North West

(Encyclopedia)North West, province (2011 pop. 3,509,953), 40,495 sq mi (104,882 sq km), N central South Africa. In 1994, under South Africa's post-apartheid constitution, North West was created from parts of the fo...

Leicestershire

(Encyclopedia)Leicestershire lĕsˈtərshĭr [key], county (1991 pop. 860,500), 832 sq mi (2,155 sq km), central England. The county seat is at Glenfield; it was formerly Leicester, which is now administratively se...

milkweed

(Encyclopedia)milkweed, common name for members of the Asclepiadaceae, a family of mostly perennial herbs and shrubs characterized by milky sap, a tuft of silky hairs attached to the seed (for wind distribution), a...

Mainland

(Encyclopedia)Mainland. 1 Island (1991 pop. 14,150), 178 sq mi (461 sq km), N Scotland. The largest of the Orkney Islands, it is also called Pomona. Kirkwall, the seat of the Orkney Islands council area, is on the ...

Majorca

(Encyclopedia)Majorca mälyôrˈkä [key], island (1991 pop. 602,074), 1,405 sq mi (3,639 sq km), Spain, largest of the Balearic Islands, in the W Mediterranean. Palma is the chief city. Majorca is mountainous in t...

lupine

(Encyclopedia)lupine or lupin lo͞oˈpĭn [key], any species of the genus Lupinus, annual or perennial herbs or shrubs of the family Leguminosae (pulse family). These leguminous plants have been cultivated in the M...

Kodiak Island

(Encyclopedia)Kodiak Island kōˈdēăkˌ [key], 5,363 sq mi (13,890 sq km), c.100 mi (160 km) long and 10–60 mi (16–96 km) wide, off S Alaska, separated from the Alaska Peninsula by Shelikof Strait. Alaska's l...

Khíos

(Encyclopedia)Khíos kīˈŏs [key], island (1991 pop. 51,060), c.350 sq mi (910 sq km), E Greece, in the Aegean Sea, just W of Asia Minor. It is mountainous and is famous for its scenic beauty and good climate. Th...

Gorno-Badakhshan

(Encyclopedia)Gorno-Badakhshan gôrˈnə-bädäkhshänˈ, –bədəkhshänˈ [key] or Badakhshan, Tajik Kuhistoni Badakhshon, autonomous province (1991 est. pop. 167,100), c.24,600 sq mi (63,710 sq km), roughly con...