Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) seal, carnivorous aquatic mammal with front and hind feet modified as flippers, or fin-feet. The name seal is sometimes applied broadly to any of the fin-footed mammals, or pinnipeds, including the wa...

(Encyclopedia) Ustyurt o͝ostˌyo͞ortˈ [key], desert plateau, c.62,000 sq mi (160,600 sq km), Central Asia, between the Caspian and Aral seas. It rises to between c.490 and 980 ft (150–300 m). It occupies the so...

(Encyclopedia) Caucasus kôˈkəsəs [key], Rus. Kavkaz, region and mountain system, SE European Russia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. Armenia is not crossed by the Caucasus range but is considered part of the greater re...

(Encyclopedia) diving, deep-sea, act of descending into deep water, generally with some form of breathing apparatus, and remaining there for an extended period. It is used in fishing for sponges, coral, and pearls; ...

(Encyclopedia) Gunbad-e-Qabus gōnbädˈ-ĕ kôvo͞osˈ [key], city, Mazandaran prov., N Iran, on th...

(Encyclopedia) Assassin əsăsˈĭn [key], European name for the member of a secret order of the Ismaili sect of Islam. They are known as Nizaris after Nizar ibn al-Mustansir, whom they supported as caliph; the Euro...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Turkmenistan to͞orkmyĕˌnyĭstänˈ [key], republic (2015 est. pop. 5,565,000), 188,455 sq mi (488,100 sq km), central Asia. It borders on Afghanistan and Iran in the south, Uzbekistan in the...

(Encyclopedia) Ashgabat əshkhəbätˈ [key], formerly Ashkhabad, city (2020 pop. 846,000), capital of Turkmenistan, near the border with Iran, on the Trans-Caspian RR. The city has text...

(Encyclopedia) Turkistan-Siberia Railroad, abbreviated as Turk-Sib, important railroad in Central Asia, providing the shortest link between Siberia and Central Asia. Completed in 1931, it runs from the Trans-Siberia...

(Encyclopedia) Bakı bəko͞oˈ [key], city (2021 est. pop. 2,371,000), capital of Azerbaijan, on the Caspia...