Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Silver Springs, mineral spring, N central Fla., source of the Silver River. The limestone spring, one of the world's largest and most famous, has a basin 80 ft (24 m) deep and 300 ft (91 m) wide. The ...

(Encyclopedia) Williston, city (1990 pop. 13,131), seat of Williams co., NW N.Dak., on the Missouri River; inc. 1904. An early riverboating town, its importance increased with the arrival of the Great Northern Railw...

(Encyclopedia) Great South Bay, arm of the Atlantic Ocean, c.45 mi (72 km) long, between the southern shore of Long Island and offshore barrier islands, SE N.Y. With the rapid population growth along its shores, the...

(Encyclopedia) Great Wall of China, series of fortifications, c.3,890 mi (6,260 km) long (not including trenches and natural defensive barriers), winding across N China from Gansu prov. to Liaoning prov. The wall, r...

(Encyclopedia) Columbia, river, c.1,210 mi (1,950 km) long, rising in Columbia Lake, SE British Columbia, Canada. It flows first NW in the Rocky Mt. Trench, then hooks sharply about the Selkirk Mts. to flow S throug...

(Encyclopedia) Cordilleras kôrdĭlˈərəz, Span. kōrdēyāˈräs [key] [Span., originally=little string], general name for the entire chain of mountain systems of W North America, extending from N Alaska to Nicar...

(Encyclopedia) Great Australian Bight, wide bay of the Indian Ocean, indenting the southern coast of Australia in Western Australia and South Australia. An unbroken line of cliffs c.200 ft (60 m) high runs along muc...

(Encyclopedia) Cyrus the Great sīˈrəs [key], d. 529 b.c., king of Persia, founder of the greatness of the Achaemenids and of the Persian Empire. According to Herodotus, he was the son of an Iranian noble, the eld...

(Encyclopedia) Great Southern Reef, rocky reef complex, c. 27,000 sq mi (70,000 sq km), extending almost 5,000 mi (8,100 km) along S and SW Australia coast, from Brisbane to Perth. The reef's temperate marine ecosys...

(Encyclopedia) Fort Peck Dam, 21,430 ft (6,531 m) long and 250 ft (76 m) high, on the Missouri River, NE Mont.; one of the world's largest earth-filled dams. The dam was built (1933–40) by the U.S. Army Corps of E...