Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

aluminum

(Encyclopedia)aluminum ălˌyo͞omĭnˈēəm [key], metallic chemical element; symbol Al; at. no. 13; at. wt. 26.98154; m.p. 660.37℃; b.p. 2,467℃; sp. gr. 2.6989 at 20℃; valence +3. Aluminum is a silver-white...

New Caledonia

(Encyclopedia)New Caledonia, Fr. Nouvelle Calédonie, officially Territory of New Caledonia and Dependencies, internally self-governing dependency of France (2015 est. pop. 269,000), land area 7,241 sq mi (18,760 s...

modem

(Encyclopedia)modem [modulator/demodulator], an external device or internal electronic circuitry used to transmit and receive digital data over a communications line normally used for analog signals. A modem attach...

Mongolia, region, Asia

(Encyclopedia)Mongolia mŏn-gōˈlēə, mŏng– [key], Asian region (c.906,000 sq mi/2,346,540 sq km), bordered roughly by Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China, on the west; the Manchurian provinces of China on...

Sumer

(Encyclopedia)Sumer so͝o-mērˈēən [key]. The term Sumer is used today to designate the southern part of ancient Mesopotamia. From the earliest date of which there is any record, S Mesopotamia was occupied by a ...

Newfoundland and Labrador, province, Canada

(Encyclopedia) CE5 Newfoundland and Labrador nyo͞oˈfənlənd, nyo͞ofənlăndˈ; lăbˈrədôrˌ [key], province (2001 pop. 512,930), 156,185 sq mi (404,519 sq km), E Canada. The province consists of the island...

barnacle

(Encyclopedia)barnacle, common name of the sedentary crustacean animals constituting the infraclass Cirripedia. Barnacles are exclusively marine and are quite unlike any other crustacean because of the permanently ...

Permian period

(Encyclopedia)Permian period pûrˈmēən [key] [from Perm, Russia], sixth and last period of the Paleozoic era (see Geologic Timescale, tablegeologic timescale, table) from 250 to 290 million years ago. Many ma...

Great Basin

(Encyclopedia)Great Basin, semiarid, N section of the Basin and Range province, the intermontane plateau region of W United States and N Mexico. Lying mostly in Nevada and extending into California, Oregon, Idaho, ...

Andalusia, region, Spain

(Encyclopedia)Andalusia änˌdälo͞othēˈä [key], autonomous community, 33,821 sq mi (87,596 sq km), S Spain, on the Mediterranean Sea, the Strait of Gibraltar, and the Atlantic Ocea...
 

Browse by Subject