Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Falkland Islands fôkˈlənd [key], Span. Islas Malvinas, group of islands (2015 est. pop. 3,000), 4,618 sq mi (11,961 sq km), S Atlantic, c.300 mi (480 km) E of the Strait of Magellan. The islands ar...

(Encyclopedia) minority, in international law, population group with a characteristic culture and sense of identity occupying a subordinate political status. Religious minorities were known from ancient times, but e...

(Encyclopedia) Nunavut no͞oˈnəvo͞otˌ [key] [Inuktituk,=our land], territory (2001 pop. 26,745), 772,260 sq mi (2,000,671 sq km), NE Canada. The capital and largest town is Iqaluit on Baffin Island at Frobisher ...

(Encyclopedia) oceanography, study of the seas and oceans. The major divisions of oceanography include the geological study of the ocean floor (see plate tectonics) and features; physical oceanography, which is conc...

(Encyclopedia) Greenland, Green. Kalaallit Nunaat, Dan. Grønland, the largest island in the world (2015 est. pop. 56,000), 836,109 sq mi (2,166,086 sq km), self-governing overseas administrative division of Denmark...

(Encyclopedia) Pierce, Franklin, 1804–69, 14th President of the United States (1853–57), b. Hillsboro, N.H., grad. Bowdoin College, 1824. Admitted to the bar in 1827, he entered politics as a Jacksonian Democrat...

(Encyclopedia) Union Pacific Railroad, transportation company chartered (1862) by Congress to build part of the nation's first transcontinental railroad line. Under terms of the Pacific Railroads Act, the Union Paci...

(Encyclopedia) Disraeli, Benjamin, 1st earl of Beaconsfield dĭzrāˈlē [key], 1804–81, British statesman and author. He is regarded as the founder of the modern Conservative party. Disraeli succeeded the earl ...

(Encyclopedia) Booker Prize, an award of £50,000 (originally £5,000) for the best novel of the year published in English in Great Britain; prior to 2014, it was only given to a British, Irish, or Commonwealth writ...

(Encyclopedia) silverwork, utilitarian objects and works of art created from silver. Silverwork includes ecclesiastical and domestic plate, flatware, jewelry, buttons, buckles, boxes, toilet articles, weapons, furni...