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Roraima

(Encyclopedia) Roraima ro͝orīˈmə [key], state (1996 pop. 247,724), 88,843 sq mi (230,103 sq km), NW Brazil, on the border of Venezuela and Guyana. Boa Vista is the capital. Located almost entirely in the Guiana ...

guinea pig

(Encyclopedia) guinea pig gĭnˈē [key], domesticated form of the cavy, Cavia porcellus, a South American rodent. It is unrelated to the pig; the name may refer to its shrill squeal. Guinea pigs were raised by the ...

Merian, Maria Sibylla

(Encyclopedia) Merian, Maria Sibylla märēˈä zĭbüˈlä māˈrēän [key], 1647–1717, German naturalist, entomologist, and painter of insects and flowers, b. Frankfurt; daughter of Matthäus Merian, the elder....

Orinoco

(Encyclopedia) Orinoco ōrēnōˈkō [key], river of Venezuela, estimated to be from 1,500 to 1,700 mi (2,410–2,735 km) long. Rising near Mt. Delgado Chalbaud in the Guiana Highlands, S Venezuela, the Orinoco flow...

Jagan, Cheddi

(Encyclopedia) Jagan, Cheddi chĕdˈē jäˈgän [key], 1918–97, prime minister of British Guiana (1961–64) and president (1992–97) of independent Guyana. Of South Asian descent, he was trained at Northwestern...

electric fish

(Encyclopedia) electric fish, name for various fish that produce electricity by means of organs usually developed from modified muscle tissue. The electric eels of South America are freshwater knifefish unrelated to...

Dutch West India Company

(Encyclopedia) Dutch West India Company, trading and colonizing company, chartered by the States-General of the Dutch republic in 1621 and organized in 1623. Through its agency New Netherland was founded. The phenom...

African literature

(Encyclopedia) African literature, literary works of the African continent. African literature consists of a body of work in different languages and various genres, ranging from oral literature to literature written...
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