Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) skeleton, in winter sports, a type of small, very low, steel-frame sled on which one person, lying face down, slides headfirst down snowy hillsides or down steeply banked, curving, iced chutes similar...

(Encyclopedia) World Economic Forum (WEF), independent international organization that seeks to improve the state of the world by encouraging partnerships between the public and private sectors, est. 1971 by the Ger...

(Encyclopedia) Toggenburg tôgˈənbo͝orkh [key], region in the Thur valley, St. Gall canton, NE Switzerland. Dairying, livestock breeding, and textile production are its main industries, and tourism is significant...

(Encyclopedia) Universal Postal Union (UPU), specialized agency of the United Nations since 1948, with headquarters at Bern, Switzerland. Established in 1875 following adoption of the Universal Postal Convention, it...

(Encyclopedia) Buisson, Ferdinand Édouard fĕrdēnäNˈ ādwärˈ büēsôNˈ [key], 1841–1932, French educator and Nobel Peace Prize winner. He studied at the Sorbonne and later taught (1866–70) in Switzerland...

(Encyclopedia) Einaudi, Luigi lwēˈjē ānouˈdē [key], 1874–1961, president of Italy (1948–55). A noted economist, a senator for life from 1919, and an opponent of Fascism after 1924, Einaudi taught at the Un...

(Encyclopedia) Engadine ĕnjädēˈnä [key], valley of the upper Inn River, Grisons canton, E Switzerland, in the Rhaetian Alps. It extends for c.60 mi (100 km) NE from Maloja Pass to the Austrian border and consis...

(Encyclopedia) Geneva Conventions, series of treaties signed (1864–1949) in Geneva, Switzerland, providing for humane treatment of combatants and civilians in wartime. The first convention, signed by 16 nations, c...

(Encyclopedia) Ginastera, Alberto älbārˈtō hēnästāˈrä [key], 1916–83, Argentinean composer, b. Buenos Aires. Ginastera is considered among the most prominent Latin American composers of the 20th cent. His...

(Encyclopedia) Glarus gläˈrəs [key], Fr. Glaris, canton, 264 sq mi (684 sq km), E central Switzerland. Lo...