Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Badía y Leblich, Domingo

(Encyclopedia)Badía y Leblich, Domingo dōmēngˈgō bäᵺēˈä ē lāblēkˈ [key], 1766–1818, Spanish traveler, known as Ali Bey. Posing as a Muslim, he set out from Cádiz (1803) and traveled through N Afri...

Shire

(Encyclopedia)Shire or Shiré both: shēˈrā [key], river, c.250 mi (400 km) long, flowing from the southern end of Lake Nyasa, Malawi, SE Africa, to the Zambezi River in central Mozambique. It is navigable to Nsa...

Rufiji

(Encyclopedia)Rufiji ro͞ofēˈjē [key], river, c.375 mi (600 km) long, rising in the highlands of SW Tanzania, E Africa, and flowing NE then E to the Indian Ocean opposite Mafia Island. The Great Ruaha River is i...

Paardeberg

(Encyclopedia)Paardeberg pärˈdəbərg, –bĕrk [key], historic location, Free State prov., South Africa. In Feb., 1900, during the South African War, Gen. Piet Cronje and his Boer (Afrikaner) troops were forced ...

Giraud, Henri Honoré

(Encyclopedia)Giraud, Henri Honoré äNrēˈ ōnôrāˈ zhērōˈ [key], 1879–1949, French general. He served in World War I and in the campaign in Morocco (1925–26). A commander in World War II, he was capture...

aloe

(Encyclopedia)aloe ălˈō [key] [Gr.], any species of the genus Aloe, succulent perennials of the family Lilaceae (lily family), native chiefly to the warm dry areas of S Africa and also to tropical Africa, but cu...

duiker

(Encyclopedia)duiker dīˈkər, dāˈ– [key], name for members of a group of small, light antelopes, found in thick brush and forest over most of Africa. All stand under 25 in. (64 cm) high at the shoulder. They ...

Johnson, Martin Elmer

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Martin Elmer, 1884–1937, American explorer and author, b. Rockford, Ill. He left home at 14 to work his way to Europe on a cattle boat, returning as a stowaway. He then joined the crew of J...

lapwing

(Encyclopedia)lapwing, common name for some members of the family Charadriidae, which includes the plovers. Lapwings are almost all inland or upland birds, found in all temperate and tropical regions except North A...

Mpumalanga

(Encyclopedia)Mpumalanga, province (2011 pop. 4,039,939), 29,535 sq mi (76,495 sq km), E South Africa. In 1994, under South Africa's post-apartheid constitution, Mpumalanga was created from the eastern portion of t...
 

Browse by Subject