Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) naturalization, official act by which a person is made a national of a country other than his or her native one. In some countries naturalized persons do not necessarily become citizens but may merely...

(Encyclopedia) state of emergency, situation in which a government or a government body is empowered to act with enhanced powers in order to respond to a crisis. The enhanced or emergency powers, and in many cases i...

(Encyclopedia) Strafford, Thomas Wentworth, 1st earl of, 1593–1641, English statesman. Regularly elected to Parliament from 1614 on, he became one of the critics of George Villiers, 1st duke of Buckingham, and of ...

(Encyclopedia) pressure group, body, organized or unorganized, that actively seeks to promote its particular interests within a society by exerting pressure on public officials and agencies. Pressure groups direct t...

(Encyclopedia) Schiavo case, the legal battles over the guardianship and rights of Theresa Maria Schindler Schiavo (1963–2005). Terri Schiavo was incapacitated and hospitalized in 1990, after she collapsed when he...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Andorra äNdôrˈ [key], officially Principality of Andorra, autonomous parliamentary co-principality (2020 est. pop. 77.265), 179 sq mi (464 sq km), high in the E ...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Congo, Republic of the, republic (2015 est. pop. 4,996,000), 132,046 sq mi (342,000 sq km), W central Africa; also known as the Congo Republic. Congo is bordered on the west by Gabon; on the no...

(Encyclopedia) criminal law, the branch of law that defines crimes, treats of their nature, and provides for their punishment. A tort is a civil wrong committed against an individual; a crime, on the other hand, is ...

(Encyclopedia) London Company, corporation composed of stockholders residing in and about London, which, together with the Plymouth Company (see Virginia Company), was granted (1606) a charter by King James I to fou...

(Encyclopedia) Cook Islands, island group (2021 est. pop. 17,564), 90 sq mi (234 sq km), S Pacific, SE of Samoa; a self-governing state in free association with New Ze...