Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) fan, device for agitating air or gases or moving them from one location to another. Mechanical fans with revolving blades are used for ventilation, in manufacturing, in winnowing grain, to remove dust...

(Encyclopedia) Lahore ləhôrˈ [key], city (1998 pop. 5,063,499), capital of Punjab prov., E central Pakistan, on the Ravi River. It is the second largest city of Pakistan. A railway and air transport center near t...

(Encyclopedia) Northern Territory, territory (2016 pop. 228,833), 520,280 sq mi (1,347,525 sq km), N central Australia. It is bounded on the N by the Timor Sea, the Arafura Sea, and the Gulf of Carpentaria. Darwin i...

(Encyclopedia) Steinbeck, John, 1902–68, American writer, b. Salinas, Calif., studied at Stanford. He is probably best remembered for his strong sociological novel The Grapes of Wrath, considered one of the great ...

(Encyclopedia) Guantánamo gwäntäˈnämō [key], city (1994 est. pop. 200,000), capital of Guantánamo prov., SE Cuba, on the Guaso River. It is the processing center for a rich sugar- and coffee-producing region ...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Hawaii həwīˈē, häväˈē [key], 50th state of the United States, comprising a group of eight major islands and numerous islets in the central Pacific Ocean, c.2,100 mi (3,380 km) SW of San...

(Encyclopedia) isolationism, a national policy of abstaining from political, military, or economic alliances or agreements with other countries. Isolationism may be adopted in order to devote a country's energies to...

(Encyclopedia) onion, plant of the family Liliaceae (lily family), of the same genus (Allium) as the chive (A. schoenoprasum), garlic (A. sativum), leek (A. porrum), and shallot (A. ascalonium). These plants are cha...

(Encyclopedia) Indochina, Fr. Indochine, former federation of states, SE Asia. It comprised the French colony of Cochin China and the French protectorates of Tonkin, Annam, Laos, and Cambodia (Cochin China, Tonkin, ...

(Encyclopedia) Bethlehem bĕthˈlĭhĕm, –lēəm [key] [Heb.,=house of bread or house of Lahm, a g...