Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Prester John, legendary Christian priest and monarch of a vast, wealthy empire in Asia or in Africa. The legend first appeared in the latter part of the 12th cent. and persisted for several centuries....

(Encyclopedia) Timan tyēmänˈ [key], mountain ridge, c.350 mi (560 km) long, Komi Republic, NE European Russia. The low Timan ridge divides the extensive Dvina-Pechora lowland into the E Pechora River basin and th...

(Encyclopedia) value-added tax (VAT), levy imposed on business at all levels of the manufacture and production of a good or service and based on the increase in price, or value, provided by each level. Because the c...

(Encyclopedia) Whittaker, Charles Evans, 1901–73, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1957–62), b. Troy, Kans. He received his law degree from the Univ. of Kansas City in 1924 and practiced law for many...

(Encyclopedia) Salair Ridge sələērˈ [key], range, c.200 mi (320 km) long, E Siberian Russia. Extending along the northern border of the Altai Territory, it rises to more than 2,000 ft (610 m) and forms the weste...

(Encyclopedia) Table Bay, inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, 6 mi (9.7 km) wide, lying off Western Cape, South Africa. Table Mt. overlooks the bay, which was visited in the late 15th cent. by Portuguese voyagers to India....

(Encyclopedia) Table Mountain, 3,567 ft (1,087 m) high, Western Cape, South Africa. It overlooks Cape Town and Table Bay. The summit is flat, and the dense white mist that often covers it is called the “tablecloth...

(Encyclopedia) Tampa Bay, inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, 25 mi (40 km) long and 7 to 12 mi (11.3–19 km) wide, W Fla., separated from the Gulf by numerous small islands; it receives the Hillsborough River. St. Peters...

(Encyclopedia) Port Jackson or Sydney Harbour, inlet of the Pacific Ocean, 22 sq mi (57 sq km), 12 mi (19 km) long and 1.5 mi (2.4 km) wide at its mouth, New South Wales, Australia, forming Australia's finest harbor...

(Encyclopedia) San Clemente săn klĭmĕnˈtē [key], city (1990 pop. 41,100), Orange co., S Calif., on the Pacific coast; inc. 1928. Camp Pendleton, a large U.S. marine base, adjoins the city, which is chiefly resi...