Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Dili dēˈlē [key], city (2002 est. pop. 49,900), capital of East Timor. on the N coast of Timor, on Ombai Strait. Dili is the largest city and chief port and commercial center of East Timor. Soap, p...

(Encyclopedia) Northumbria, kingdom of nôrthŭmˈbrēˈə [key], one of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in England. It was originally composed of two independent kingdoms divided by the Tees River, Bernicia (including mod...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Chinese abacus: Numbers are represented by moving beads to the central crossbar. abacus ăbˈəkəs, əbăkˈ– [key], in mathematics, simple device for performing arithmetic calculations. Th...

(Encyclopedia) oryx ôrˈĭks [key], name for several small, horselike antelopes, genus Oryx, found in deserts and arid scrublands of Africa and Arabia. They feed on grasses and scrub and can go without water for lo...

(Encyclopedia) Shevardnadze, Eduard Amvrosiyevich ĕdˈwärd shəvˈärdnädˈzyə [key], 1928–2014, Georgian politician and diplomat. Known for pragmatism rather than polemicism, Shevardnadze served as the head o...

(Encyclopedia) caravan, group of travelers or merchants banded together and organized for mutual assistance and defense while traveling through unsettled or hostile country. Caravan trade is associated with the hist...

(Encyclopedia) cemetery, name used by early Christians to designate a place for burying the dead. First applied in Christian burials in the Roman catacombs, the word cemetery came into general usage in the 15th cent...

(Encyclopedia) crown, circular head ornament, symbolizing sovereign dignity. (For crowns worn by nobles, see coronet.) The use of the crown as a symbol of royal rank is of ancient tradition in Egypt and the Middle E...

(Encyclopedia) Ankara ăngˈkərə, Turk. ängˈkärä [key], city (2021 pop. 4,587,558), capital of Turkey and Ankara prov., W central Turkey, at an elevation of c.3,000 ft (910 m). Tur...

(Encyclopedia) Safra, family of Brazilian bankers with Sephardic Jewish roots. They began as merchant bankers in Syria and Lebanon, financing caravans throughout the Middle East. The Safras are also noted philanthro...