Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Cavan kăvˈən [key], county, 730 sq mi (1,891 sq km), N Republic of Ireland. The county sea...

(Encyclopedia) cofferdam, temporary barrier for excluding water from an area that is normally submerged. Made commonly of wood, steel, or concrete sheet piling (see pile), cofferdams are used in constructing the fou...

(Encyclopedia) Harvey, George Brinton McClellan, 1864–1928, American journalist and diplomat, b. Peacham, Caledonia co., Vt. After a career in journalism and insurance, he became involved in the construction and a...

(Encyclopedia) Natuna Islands, island group (2010 pop. 69,300), 769 sq mi (1,993 sq km), Riau prov., Indonesia, in the South China Sea between the Malay Peninsula (W) and Borneo (E). The more than 250 islands are pa...

(Encyclopedia) Tsin or Chin both: jhĭn [key], dynasty of China that ruled from 265 to 420, after the period of the Three Kingdoms. It was divided into two phases: the Western Tsin (265–317) and the Eastern Tsin (...

(Encyclopedia) Ricci, Matteo mät-tāˈō rētˈchē [key], 1552–1610, Italian missionary to China. He entered the Society of Jesus, and in Rome he studied under Clavius. Ricci was sent to the Indies (1578), and h...

(Encyclopedia) Argun ärˈgo͞onˈ [key], Mandarin Ergun, river, 950 mi (1,529 km) long, rising in the Da Hinggan Mts., Heilongjiang prov., NE China, as the Hailar River and flowing W to the Russian border, then NE ...

(Encyclopedia) K'ang-hsi käng shē [key], 1654–1722, 2d emperor of the Ch'ing dynasty of China (1661–1722). He extended Manchu control and promoted learning in the arts and sciences. K'ang-hsi conquered the feu...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Hong Kong hŏng kŏng [key], Mandarin Xianggang, special administrative region of China, formerly a British crown colony (2015 est. pop. 7,246,000), land area 422 sq mi (1,092 sq km), adjacent ...

(Encyclopedia) delta [from triangular shape of the Nile delta, like the Greek letter delta], a deposit of clay, silt, and sand formed at the mouth of a river where the stream loses velocity and drops part of its sed...