Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Bessarabia bĕsərāˈbēə [key], historic region, c.17,600 sq mi (45,600 sq km), largely in Moldova and Ukraine. It is bounded by the Dniester River on the north and east, the Prut on the west, and ...

(Encyclopedia) Tay-Sachs disease tāˈ-săksˈ [key], rare hereditary disease caused by a genetic mutation that leaves the body unable to produce an enzyme necessary for fat metabolism in nerve cells, producing cent...

(Encyclopedia) Salzburg zältsˈbo͝ork [key], province (1991 pop. 482,365), c.2,760 sq mi (7,150 sq km), W central Austria, bordering Germany in the north and northwest. It is a predominately mountainous region, wi...

(Encyclopedia) Hamburg hämˈbo͝orkh [key], officially Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg (Free and Hanseatic Cit...

(Encyclopedia) Azerbaijan äˌzĕrbījänˈ, ăˌzər– [key], Iran. Azarbayejan, region, c.34,280 sq mi (88,785 sq km), NW Iran, divided into the provinces of East Azerbaijan, ...

(Encyclopedia) reparations, payments or other compensation offered as an indemnity for loss or damage. Although the term is used to cover payments made to Holocaust survivors and to Japanese Americans interned durin...

(Encyclopedia) Romanian literature, the literature of Romania. Until the 16th cent. most writing by Romanians was in Slavonic. In 1541 a catechism in Romanian was issued at Sibiu, and from 1560 liturgical works were...

(Encyclopedia) Sharon, Ariel ärˈēĕl shärōnˈ [key], 1928–2014, Israeli general and politician, b. Kfar Malal as Ariel Scheinerman. As a teenager he joined the Haganah, the underground Zionist military brigad...

(Encyclopedia) Thessaloníki sălənēˈkə, səlŏnˈĭkə [key], also known as Thessalonike, Thessalonica, Salonika, and Saloniki, city (1991 pop. 383,967), capital of Thessaloníki prefecture, N Greece, in Macedo...

(Encyclopedia) John Paul II, Saint 1920–2005, pope (1978–2005), a Pole (b. Wadowice) named Karol Józef Wojtyła; successor of John Paul I. He was the first non-Italian pope elected since the Dutch Adrian VI (15...