Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) sunfish, common name for members of the family Centrachidae, comprising numerous species of spiny-finned, freshwater fishes with deep, laterally flattened bodies found in temperate North America. All ...

(Encyclopedia) Voice of America, broadcasting service of the United States Information Agency, est. 1942. Originally set up as a means of fighting the cold war, the Voice of America produces and broadcasts radio pro...

(Encyclopedia) Arawak äˈräwäk [key], linguistic stock of indigenous people who came from South America and, at the time of the Spanish Conquest, occupied the islands of the Greater Antilles, the Bahamas, Trinida...

(Encyclopedia) Natives, North American, peoples who occupied North America before the arrival of the Europeans in the 15th cent. They have long been known as Indians because of the belief prevalent at the time of Co...

(Encyclopedia) North American Nebula, bright diffuse nebula in the northern constellation Cygnus about 1000 light-years away; cataloged as NGC 7000. It has a configuration resembling parts of Canada and the United S...

(Encyclopedia) Jerusalem artichoke, tuberous-rooted perennial (Helianthus tuberosus) of the family Asteraceae (aster family), native to North America, where it was early cultivated by the indigenous inhabitants. In ...

(Encyclopedia) Chisholm Trail, route over which vast herds of cattle were driven from Texas to the railheads in Kansas after the Civil War. Its name is generally believed to come from Jesse Chisholm, a part-Cherokee...

(Encyclopedia) primrose, common name for the genus Primula of the Primulaceae, a family of low perennial herbs with species found on all continents, most frequently in north temperate regions. Among the better-known...

(Encyclopedia) Great Lakes, group of five freshwater lakes, central North America, creating a natural border between the United States and Canada and forming the largest body of freshwater in the world, with a combi...

(Encyclopedia) boat people, term used to describe the Indochinese refugees who fled Communist rule after the Vietnam War (1975) in small boats and the many ethnic Chinese who left Vietnam similarly after China's inv...