Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) grease, mixture of lubricant and thickener. It is used to reduce friction between surfaces from which oils would leak away or cause damage by dripping, or where lubrication must be assured for extende...

(Encyclopedia) Nicaragua Canal, proposed waterway between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. One often considered route would be 172.8 mi (278 km) long and would generally follow the San Juan River, then go throug...

(Encyclopedia) treaty port, port opened to foreign trade by a treaty. The term is usually confined to ports in those countries that formerly strongly objected to foreign trade or attempted altogether to exclude it. ...

(Encyclopedia) Japanese art, works of art created in the islands that make up the nation of Japan. In the mid-19th cent. a few print designers attained distinction, but no masters appeared to equal their p...

(Encyclopedia) Leh lā [key], town (2011 pop. 30,870), Ladakh, E Kashmir, N India. It is the headquarters of Ladakh union territory and of the Leh district in Indian-controlled Kashmir. It lies at an altitude of c.1...

(Encyclopedia) Yalu yäˈlo͞oˈ [key], Korean Amnok, river, c.500 mi (800 km) long, rising in the Changbai Mts. in Jilin prov., NE China, and flowing SW to the Bay of Korea at Dandong; forms part of the China–Nor...

(Encyclopedia) Taiwan Strait, Chinese Taiwan haixia, arm of the Pacific Ocean, between China's Fujian coast and Taiwan, linking the East and South China seas. It contains the Pescadores. It is also called the Formos...

(Encyclopedia) warlord, in modern Chinese history, autonomous regional military commander. In the political chaos following the death (1916) of republican China's first president and commander in chief, Yüan Shih-k...

(Encyclopedia) Buck, Pearl Sydenstricker sīˈdənstrĭkˌər [key], 1892–1973, American author, b. Hillsboro, W.Va., grad. Randolph-Macon Women's College, 1914, the first American woman to receive (1938) the Nobe...

(Encyclopedia) Dongting or Tungting both: do͝ongˈtĭngˈ [key], shallow lake, Hunan prov., SE China; one of China's largest lakes. It is fed by the Yuan, Zi, Xiang, and many smaller rivers; a canal connects it wit...