Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Acre äkˈrə, äkˈrā [key], state (1990 est. pop. 1,125,100), 58,915 sq mi (152,590 sq km), W Brazil, on the borders of Peru and Bolivia. Rio Branco is the capital. ...

(Encyclopedia) Lease, Mary Elizabeth, 1853–1933, American agrarian reformer and temperance advocate, b. Ridgeway, Pa. The daughter of an Irish political refugee, she first gained recognition for a series of lectur...

(Encyclopedia) city-state, in ancient Greece, Italy, and Medieval Europe, an independent political unit consisting of a city and surrounding countryside. The first city-states were in Sumer, but they reached their p...

(Encyclopedia) illiteracy, inability to meet a certain minimum criterion of reading and writing skill. Throughout most of history most people have been illiterate. In feudal society, for example, the ability to re...

(Encyclopedia) Cooperative Extension Service, in the United States, former agency of the Dept. of Agriculture, est. 1914 by the Smith-Lever Act. Designed to provide Americans with the understanding and skills essent...

(Encyclopedia) Ireland, National University of, founded 1908 to provide higher education for Irish Roman Catholics. It consists of three colleges: University College, Galway; University College, Cork; and University...

(Encyclopedia) Islamic State in Iraq and Syria: see Islamic State. ...

(Encyclopedia) Oldenburg ôlˈdənbo͝orkh [key], former state, NW Germany. It is now included in the state of Lower Saxony. The city of Oldenburg was the capital. The former state consisted of three widely separate...

(Encyclopedia) French Community, established in 1958 by the constitution of the Fifth French Republic to replace the French Union. Its members consisted of the French Republic, which included metropolitan France (co...

(Encyclopedia) Brunswick brounˈshfīk [key], former state, central Germany, surrounded by the former Prussian provinces of Saxony, Hanover, and Westphalia. The region of Braunschweig is situated on the North German...