Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Torrijos Espino, Martín Erasto, 1963–, Panamanian political leader, president of Panama (2004–), b. Panama City. The son of Gen. Omar Torrijos Herrera, he studied economics and political science ...

(Encyclopedia) Windward Passage, strait, c.50 mi (80 km) wide, between Cuba and Haiti, connecting the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. It provides a direct route from the E United States to the Panama Canal. ...

(Encyclopedia) Love Canal, section of Niagara Falls, N.Y., that formerly contained a canal that was used as chemical disposal site. In the 1940s and 50s the empty canal was used by a chemical and plastics company to...

(Encyclopedia) Portobelo, Porto Bello pwārˈtō bāˈyō [key], town, central Panama, on the Caribbean Sea. The site, an excellent harbor, was visited by Columbus. The town was founded in 1597. A thriving colonial...

(Encyclopedia) Goethals, George Washington gōˈthəlz [key], 1858–1928, U.S. army engineer, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., grad. West Point, 1880. After serving on various inland water projects, he was appointed chief engine...

(Encyclopedia) Albert Canal, waterway, c.80 mi (130 km) long, N Belgium, from the Meuse River to the Scheldt River; constructed 1930–39. The canal connects the important industrial region around Liège with the po...

(Encyclopedia) Lynn Canal, natural inlet, c.90 mi (145 km) long, 7–12 mi (11–19 km) wide, SE Alaska. It connects in the S with Chatham Strait and Stephens Passage and thrusts north between mountains to break fin...

(Encyclopedia) Caledonian Canal, waterway, c.60 mi (100 km) long, cutting across Highland, N Scotland, from Moray Firth to Loch Linnhe by way of the Great Glen. It was built in two phases (1803–22 and 1843–47; o...

(Encyclopedia) All-American Canal, 80 mi (129 km) long, SE Calif.; part of the federal irrigation system of the Hoover Dam. Built between 1934 and 1940 across the Colorado Desert, the canal is entirely within the Un...

(Encyclopedia) Rove Tunnel rōv, Fr. rôv [key], southern section of the Marseilles-Rhône Canal, 4.5 mi (7.2 km) long and 72 ft (22 m) wide, Bouches-du-Rhône dept., SE France; opened 1927. Starting near the villag...