Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Cairo kīˈrō [key], Arab. Al Qahirah, city (2021 est. metro. area pop. 21,323,000), capital...

(Encyclopedia) botany, science devoted to the study of plants. Botany, microbiology, and zoology together compose the science of biology. Humanity's earliest concern with plants was with their practical uses, i.e., ...

(Encyclopedia) center, in politics, a party following a middle course. The term was first used in France in 1789, when the moderates of the National Assembly sat in the center of the hall. It can refer to a separate...

(Encyclopedia) Turkistan or Turkestan both: tûrkˌĭstănˈ, –stänˈ [key], historic region of central Asia. Western, or Russian, Turkistan extended from the Caspian Sea in the west to the Chinese frontier in th...

(Encyclopedia) Ramos-Horta, José, 1949–, East Timorese independence advocate and political leader; co-recipient, with Carlos Belo, of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize. After engaging in anti-Portuguese activities, he w...

(Encyclopedia) Kentucky, river, 259 mi (417 km) long, formed by the junction of the North Fork and the Middle Fork rivers, central Ky., and flowing NW to the Ohio River at Carrollton. Frankfort, Ky., is the river's ...

(Encyclopedia) bestiary bĕsˈchēĕrˌē [key], a type of medieval book that was widely popular, particularly from the 12th to 14th cent. The bestiary presumed to describe the animals of the world and to show what ...

(Encyclopedia) Garland, Hamlin, 1860–1940, American author, b. near West Salem, Wis. He grew up in the Middle Western farmlands, the region he later wrote about in verse, stories, and autobiography. His tales, col...

(Encyclopedia) Ordovician period ôrdəvĭshˈən [key] [from the Ordovices, ancient tribe of N Wales], second period of the Paleozoic era of geologic time (see Geologic Timescale, tablegeologic timescale, table) fr...

(Encyclopedia) Satan [Heb.,=adversary], traditional opponent of God and humanity in Judaism and Christianity. In Scripture and literature the role of the opponent is given many names, such as Apolyon, Beelzebub, Sem...