Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Bulgaria bŭlgârˈēə [key], Bulgarian Balgarija, officially Republic of Bulgaria, r...

(Encyclopedia) learning, in psychology, the process by which a relatively lasting change in potential behavior occurs as a result of practice or experience. Learning is distinguished from behavioral changes arising ...

(Encyclopedia) Zaporizhzhya zäpˌərĭzhˈə [key], Rus. Zaporozhye, city (1989 pop. 884,000), capital of Zaporizhzhya region, in Ukraine, a port on the Dnieper River, opposite the island of Khortytsya. The city, f...

(Encyclopedia) Riga rēˈgə [key], city (2011 provisional pop. 657,424), capital of Latvia, on the Daugava (Western Dvina) River near its entry into the Gulf of Riga. A major Baltic port, it is also a rail junction...

(Encyclopedia) Russian art and architecture, the artistic and architectural production of the geographical area of Russia. Around the turn of the century Mir Iskusstva (World of Art Group) was initiated, a movemen...

(Encyclopedia) secret police, policing organization operating in secrecy for the political purposes of its government, often with terroristic procedures. Many states, including Chile, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Romania,...

(Encyclopedia) Tolstoy, Leo, Count, Rus. Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoi (lyĕf), 1828–1910, Russian novelist and philosopher, considered one of the world's greatest writers. About 1876 the doubts that had beset Tols...

(Encyclopedia) Russian literature, literary works mainly produced in the historic area of Russia, written in its earliest days in Church Slavonic and after the 17th cent. in the Russian language. During World War ...

(Encyclopedia) serf, under feudalism, peasant laborer who can be generally characterized as hereditarily attached to the manor in a state of semibondage, performing the servile duties of the lord (see also manorial ...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 CE5 Byzantine Empire (c.1000) Byzantine Empire, successor state to the Roman Empire (see under Rome), also called Eastern Empire and East Roman Empire. It was named after Byzantium, which Emp...