Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Pyrenees pĭrˈənēz [key], Span. Pirineos, Fr. Pyrénées, mountain chain of SW Europe, 21,380 sq mi (55,374 sq km), between France and Spain, a formidable barrier between the Iberian Peninsula and ...

(Encyclopedia) Gujarat go͝ojərätˈ [key], state (2001 provisional pop. 50,596,992), c.75,686 sq mi (196,077 sq km), W India, on the Arabian Sea. It is comprised of almost all of the Kathiawar peninsula, the desol...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Greece, Gr. Hellas or Ellas, officially Hellenic Republic, republic (2015 est. pop. 11,218,000), 50,944 sq mi (131,945 sq km), SE Europe. It occupies the southernmost part of the Balkan Peninsu...

(Encyclopedia) Renaissance rĕnəsänsˈ, –zänsˈ [key] [Fr.,=rebirth], term used to describe the development of Western civilization that marked the transition from medieval to modern times. This article is conc...

(Encyclopedia) Maccabees or Machabees both: măkˈəbēz [key], Jewish family of the 2d and 1st cent. b.c. that brought about a restoration of Jewish political and religious life. They are also called Hasmoneans or ...

(Encyclopedia) Sufism so͞oˈfĭzəm [key], an umbrella term for the ascetic and mystical movements within Islam. While Sufism is said to have incorporated elements of Christian monasticism, gnosticism, and Indian m...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 weights and measures, units and standards for expressing the amount of some quantity, such as length, capacity, or weight; the science of measurement standards and methods is known as metrology...

(Encyclopedia) Samarkand sămərkăndˈ, Rus. səmərkäntˈ [key], city (1991 pop. 395,000), capital of Samarkand region, in Uzbekistan, on the Trans-Caspian RR. It is one of the oldest existing cities in the world...

(Encyclopedia) Gauguin, Paul pôl gōgăNˈ [key], 1848–1903, French painter and woodcut artist, b. Paris; son of a journalist and a French-Peruvian mother. Today Gauguin is recognized as a highly influential fo...

(Encyclopedia) Sumerian and Babylonian art, works of art and architecture created by the Sumerian and Babylonian peoples of ancient Mesopotamia, civilizations which had an artistic tradition of remarkable antiquity,...