Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Teresina tārāzēˈnä [key], city (1991 pop. 599,272), capital of Piauí state, NE Brazil, on the Parnaíba River. It is the main commercial and agricultural distribution center in the Parnaíba val...

(Encyclopedia) Pontianak pôntēäˈnäk [key], city (1990 pop. 398,357), capital of West Kalimantan prov., W Borneo, Indonesia, at the mouth of a small stream in the Kapuas delta near the west coast. The chief city...

(Encyclopedia) Rampur rämpo͝orˈ [key], city and former princely state, 893 sq mi (2,313 sq km), N central India. In 1949 the state was merged with Uttar Pradesh state. Rampur, city (1991 pop. 243,742), formerly t...

(Encyclopedia) Gonaïves gōnäēvˈ [key], city (1995 est. pop. 59,000), W Haiti, a port on the Gulf of Gonâve and capital of Artibonite dept. The region's agricultural products (including coffee, cotton, sugar, a...

(Encyclopedia) hydrogen cyanide, HCN, colorless, volatile, and extremely poisonous chemical compound whose vapors have a bitter almond odor. It melts at −14℃ and boils at 26℃. It is miscible in all proportions...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Cross section of a sunflower, a member of the aster family aster [Gr.,=star], common name for the Asteraceae (Compositae), the aster family, in North America, name for plants of the genus Aste...

(Encyclopedia) map projection, transfer of the features of the surface of the earth or another spherical body onto a flat sheet of paper. Only a globe can represent accurately the shape, orientation, and relative ar...

(Encyclopedia) Delany, Samuel R. (Samuel Ray Delany, Jr.), 1942–, African-American wrtier, b. Harlem, New York City. Delany uses science fiction, fantasy, and memoir to explore sexual identity, race, language, and...

(Encyclopedia) Dodd, William Edward, 1869–1940, American historian and diplomat, b. Clayton, N.C. He was professor of history at Randolph-Macon College (1900–1908) and at the Univ. of Chicago (1908–33). From J...

(Encyclopedia) Compton effect [for A. H. Compton], increase in the wavelengths of X rays and gamma rays when they collide with and are scattered from loosely bound electrons in matter. This effect provides strong ve...