Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Persian art and architecture, works of art and structures produced in the region of Asia traditionally known as Persia and now called Iran. Bounded by fierce mountains and deserts, the high plateau of...

(Encyclopedia) Saramago, José zho͞ozĕˈ särˌämäˈgo͞o [key], 1922–2010, Portuguese novelist and short-story writer. He became a member of the Communist party in 1969 and was a staunch atheist and a strong ...

(Encyclopedia) Badakhshan bädäkhshänˈ, bədəkhshänˈ [key], province (1979 est. pop. 497,000), 17,011 sq mi (44,059 sq km), extreme NE Afghanistan, between the Hindu Kush Mts. and the Amu Darya River. The capi...

(Encyclopedia) Portsmouth, city and unitary authority (2011 pop. 205,056), S England, on Spithead Channel. The city includes Portsea (naval station), Southsea (residential district and resort), and the old town of P...

(Encyclopedia) chipmunk, rodent of the family Sciuridae (squirrel family). The chipmunk of the E United States and SE Canada is of the genus Tamias. The body of the common Eastern chipmunk, Tamias striatus, is about...

(Encyclopedia) jade, common name for either of two minerals used as gems. The rarer variety of jade is jadeite, a sodium aluminum silicate, NaAl(SiO3)2, usually white or green in color; the green variety is the more...

(Encyclopedia) Johor Baru , jə– [key], city (1991 pop. 561,071), capital of Johor, Malaysia, S Malay Peninsula, opposite Singapore. The city is connected with Singapore by a stone causeway across the narrow Johor...

(Encyclopedia) Kherson khĕrsônˈ [key], city (1989 pop. 355,000), capital of Kherson region, S Ukraine, on the Dnieper River near its mouth on the Black Sea. It is a rail junction and a sea and river port, exporti...

(Encyclopedia) Ptolemy V (Ptolemy Epiphanes) ĭpĭfˈənēz [key], d. 180 b.c., king of ancient Egypt (205–180 b.c.), of the Macedonian dynasty, son of Ptolemy IV. He succeeded to the throne as a small boy, and hi...

(Encyclopedia) Utica, city (1990 pop. 68,637), seat of Oneida co., central N.Y., on the Mohawk River and the Erie Canal, in a large dairy region; inc. 1862. It is a port of entry, and its manufactures include electr...