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Dutch West India Company

(Encyclopedia)Dutch West India Company, trading and colonizing company, chartered by the States-General of the Dutch republic in 1621 and organized in 1623. Through its agency New Netherland was founded. The phenom...

Montserrat, island, West Indies

(Encyclopedia)Montserrat mŏntsərătˈ [key], British dependency and island (2015 est. pop. 5,000), 38 sq mi (98 sq km), West Indies, one of the Leeward Islands. It is a rugged, scenic island of volcanic origin. C...

West Highland white terrier

(Encyclopedia)West Highland white terrier, breed of sturdy, compact terrier developed in Scotland in the early 19th cent. It stands about 11 in. (27.9 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs from 13 to 20 lb (5.9–9.1...

Shechem, town, West Bank

(Encyclopedia)Shechem shēˈkəm [key], town, central ancient Palestine, the modern Tell Balatan, between Mts. Gerizim and Ebal, near Nablus. Archaeological excavations indicate a village there c.3500 b.c. Shechem'...

Saba, island, West Indies

(Encyclopedia)Saba säˈbə [key], island (1990 est. pop. 1,100), 5 sq mi (13 sq km), a special municipality of the Netherlands, one of the NW Leeward Islands, West Indies. It was formerly part of the Netherlands A...

tobacco

(Encyclopedia)tobacco, name for any plant of the genus Nicotiana of the Solanaceae family (nightshade family) and for the product manufactured from the leaf and used in cigars and cigarettes, snuff, and pipe and ch...

Fertile Crescent

(Encyclopedia)Fertile Crescent, historic region of the Middle East. A well-watered and fertile area, it arcs across the northern part of the Syrian desert. It is flanked on the west by the Mediterranean and on the ...
 

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