Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Stephen Báthory bäˈtôrĭ [key], Pol. Stefan Batory, 1533–86, king of Poland (1575–86), prince of Transylvania (1571–75), son of Stephen Báthory (1477–1534). He was elected to succeed John...

(Encyclopedia) Narva, river, c.50 mi (80 km) long, rising in Lake Peipus (Chudskoye), E Estonia, and flowing northeast past the city of Narva into the Gulf of Finland. It forms the border between Estonia and Russia....

(Encyclopedia) Bustamante, Anastasio änästäˈsyō bo͞ostämänˈtā [key], 1780–1853, Mexican general and president (1830–32, 1837–41). He served in the royalist army against Hidalgo y Costilla and Morelos...

(Encyclopedia) Rasputin, Grigori Yefimovich răspyo͞oˈtĭn, Rus. grĭgôˈrē yĭfēˈməvĭch rəspo͞oˈtyĭn [key], 1869–1916, Russian holy man and courtier, a notorious figure at the court of Czar Nicholas I...

(Encyclopedia) Saint Petersburg, formerly Leningrad, Rus. Sankt-Peterburg, city (1990 est. pop. 5,036,000), capital of the Leningrad region (although not administratively part of it) and the administrative center of...

(Encyclopedia) Oka, river, c.600 mi (970 km) long, rising in the Sayan Mts., Buryat Republic, S central Siberian Russia. It flows N through Irkutsk oblast to join the Angara River below Bratsk. The lower Oka valley ...

(Encyclopedia) Don dŏn, Rus. dôn [key], river, SW European Russia. It rises SE of Tula and flows c.1,200 mi (1,930 km), first SE past Voronezh, then SW into the Sea of Azov. At its eastern bend the Don is linked b...

(Encyclopedia) Ishim, river, c.1,130 mi (1,819 km) long, W Siberian Russia and Kazakhstan. It rises N of Qaraghandy in Kazakhstan (where it is known as the Esil), flows W past Atbasar, N past Petropavl, and then joi...

(Encyclopedia) Polish Succession, War of the, 1733–35. On the death (1733) of Augustus II of Poland, Stanislaus I sought to reascend the Polish throne. He was supported by his son-in-law, Louis XV of France. The r...

(Encyclopedia) Mari El mäˈrē ĕlˈ [key], constituent republic (1990 pop. 760,000), c.8,900 sq mi (23,100 sq km), E central European Russia, in the middle Volga valley. Yoshkar-Ola is the capital. The region is a...