Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

snow line

(Encyclopedia)snow line, altitude above which or latitude beyond which snow does not melt in summer (usually called the permanent snow line), or, in winter, the line to which snow extends at a given point in time. ...

base line

(Encyclopedia)base line: see geodesy.

Maginot Line

(Encyclopedia)Maginot Line măzhˈĭnō, Fr. mäzhēnōˈ [key], system of fortifications along the eastern frontier of France, extending from the Swiss border to the Belgian. It was named for André Maginot, who w...

Line Islands

(Encyclopedia)Line Islands or Equatorial Islands, coral group, 43 sq mi (111 sq km), central and S Pacific. Once valuable for their guano deposits, the islands now have coconut groves, airfields, and meteorological...

fall line

(Encyclopedia)fall line, boundary between an upland region and a coastal plain across which rivers from the upland region drop to the plain as falls or rapids. A fall line is formed in an area where the rivers have...

Wallace's line

(Encyclopedia)Wallace's line, imaginary line postulated by A. R. Wallace as the dividing line between Asian and Australian fauna in the Malay Archipelago. It passes between Bali and Lombok islands and between Borne...

Tadić, Boris

(Encyclopedia)Tadić, Boris, 1958–, Serbian political leader, president of Serbia (2004–), b. Sarajevo, Yugoslavia (now in Bosnia and Herzegovina). A student activist while attending Belgrade Univ., Tadić join...

Levitt, William Jaird

(Encyclopedia)Levitt, William Jaird lĕvˈət [key], 1907–94, American builder, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. After studying at New York Univ., he (and his brother) joined his father's construction company; it became (1929) ...

Lee Myung Bak

(Encyclopedia)Lee Myung Bak lē myŭng bäk [key], 1941–, South Korean business executive and politician, president of South Korea (2008–13), b. Osaka, Japan. He began his business career with Hyundai Construct...
 

Browse by Subject