Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) alpine plants, high-altitude representatives of various flowering plants (chiefly perennials) that because of their dwarf habit, profuse blooming, and the preference of many for shady places are culti...

(Encyclopedia) Machu Picchu mäˈcho͞o pēkˈcho͞o [key], Inca site in Peru, about 50 mi (80 km) NW of Cuzco. It is perched high upon a rock in a narrow saddle between two sharp mountain peaks and overlooks the Ur...

(Encyclopedia) puma ko͞oˈgər [key], New World member of the cat family, Puma concolor. Also known as mountain lion, catamount, panther, and painter, it ranges from S British Columbia to the southern tip of South ...

(Encyclopedia) Altai or Altay both: ăltīˈ, äl–, ălˈtī, Rus. əltīˈ [key], geologically complex mountain system of central Asia; largely in the Altai Republic, Russia, and in Kazakhstan, but extending into...

(Encyclopedia) Milarepa mĭlärˈəpə [key], 1040–1143, saint and poet of Tibetan Buddhism. He was the second patriarch of the Kargyupa sect, the first being Milarepa's guru Marpa (1012–97), who studied under N...

(Encyclopedia) Nakhon Ratchasima kōrätˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 204,121), capital of Nakhon Ratchasima prov., S central Thailand, on the Mun River. Strategically located near the mountain pass leading from the cen...

(Encyclopedia) Norwegian elkhound, breed of compact hound whose origins in Norway go back more than 5,000 years. It stands about 19 in. (48.3 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs between 40 and 50 lb (18.1–22.7 kg)...

(Encyclopedia) Nuristan no͝orĭstănˈ [key] [Persian,=land of light or the enlightened], region on the southern slopes of the Hindu Kush, NE Afghanistan, bordered on the E by Pakistan. Formerly called Kafiristan [...

(Encyclopedia) Mallory, George Herbert Leigh mălˈərē [key], 1886–1924, English mountain climber. After some spectacular ascents in the Alps, he participated in the Everest expeditions of 1921, 1922, and 1924. ...

(Encyclopedia) Merapi, Mount məräˈpē [key] [Indonesian=mountain of fire], volcano, 9,551 ft (2,911 m) high, central Java, Indonesia, 20 mi (32 km) NNE of Yogyakarta. It is the most active of Indonesia's many vol...