Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) West Chicago, city (1990 pop. 14,796), Du Page co., NE Ill.; inc. 1906. Mostly residential, the city has food-processing plants and produces horticultural products, specialty tapes, and plastics. ...

(Encyclopedia) West Florida Controversy, conflict between Spain and the United States concerning possession of Florida. By the Treaty of Paris of 1763, Britain received Florida from Spain, and from France that porti...

(Encyclopedia) West Bend, industrial city (1990 pop. 23,916), seat of Washington co., E Wis., on the Milwaukee River; inc. 1885, consolidated with Barton in 1961. Farm implements, dairy products, electronic componen...

(Encyclopedia) West, Benjamin, 1738–1820, American historical painter who worked in England. He was born in Springfield, Pa., in a house that is now a memorial museum at Swarthmore College. After some instruction ...

(Encyclopedia) Key West, city (1990 pop. 24,832), seat of Monroe co., S Fla., on an island at the southwestern extremity of the Florida Keys; inc. 1828. About 150 mi (240 km) from Miami (but only 90 mi/145 km from C...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 West Indies, archipelago, between North and South America, curving c.2,500 mi (4,020 km) from Florida to the coast of Venezuela and separating the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico from the ...

(Encyclopedia)  West, Kanye Omari, 1977- , African American rapper, b. Atlanta (some sources give Douglasville), Al. West’s father, Ray, was a Black Panther who ...

(Encyclopedia) French West Indies: see West Indies. ...

(Encyclopedia) West Monroe, city (1990 pop. 14,096), Ouachita parish, N La., on the Ouachita River, opposite Monroe, in a forest and lake area; inc. 1851. Its chief products are lumber, paper, metal and plastic prod...

(Encyclopedia) North West Company, fur-trading organization in North America in the late 18th and early 19th cent.; it was composed of Montreal trading firms and fur traders. After 1810 the rivalry between the Nor...