Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Volga vŏlˈgə, Rus. vôlˈgə [key], river, c.2,300 mi (3,700 km) long, central and E European Russia. It is the longest river of Europe and the principal waterway of Russia, being navigable (with l...

(Encyclopedia) Open Door, maintenance in a certain territory of equal commercial and industrial rights for the nationals of all countries. As a specific policy, it was first advanced by the United States, but it was...

(Encyclopedia) dam, barrier, commonly across a watercourse, to hold back water, often forming a reservoir or lake; dams are also sometimes used to control or contain rockslides, mudflows, and the like in regions whe...

(Encyclopedia) desert, arid region, usually partly covered by sand, having scanty vegetation or sometimes almost none, and capable of supporting only a limited and specially adapted animal population. The so-called ...

(Encyclopedia) George III, 1738–1820, king of Great Britain and Ireland (1760–1820); son of Frederick Louis, prince of Wales, and grandson of George II, whom he succeeded. He was also elector (and later king) of...

(Encyclopedia) Silurian period sĭlo͝orˈēən, sī– [key] [from the Silures, ancient tribe of S Wales, where the period was first studied; named by the British geologist R. I. Murchison], third period of the Pal...

(Encyclopedia) llanos yäˈnōs [key], Spanish-American term for prairies, specifically those of the Orinoco River basin of N South America, in Venezuela and E Colombia. The llanos of the Orinoco are a vast, hot reg...

(Encyclopedia) arapaima ărˌəpīˈmə [key], tropical fish, genus Arapaima, of the Amazon basin. Arapaimas are perhaps the largest of the strictly freshwater fishes, reportedly reaching a length of 15 ft (4.5 m), ...

(Encyclopedia) Susquehanna səskwĭhănˈə [key], river, 444 mi (715 km) long, rising in Otsego Lake, at Cooperstown, N.Y., and zigzagging SE and SW through E central Pa. to Chesapeake Bay near Havre de Grace, Md. ...

(Encyclopedia) Bahariya or Baharia bäˌhärēˈə [key], oasis (1996 est. pop. 25,000), in the Libyan Desert, central Egypt, c.200 mi (322 km) south-southwest of Alexandria. Connected by numerous caravan routes wit...