|
Lachlan Macquarie
Lachlan Macquarie , 1761-1824, governor (1809-21) of the British colonies in Australia. Sent to replace the corrupt rule of the officers of the original convict guard, he established a sensible and humane administration, stressing public building, land reform, and fair treatment of convicts and free...
Read more
|
|
Sydney
Sydney city (1991 pop. 3,097,956), capital of New South Wales, SE Australia, surrounding Port Jackson inlet on the Pacific Ocean. Sydney is Australia's largest city, chief port, and main cultural and industrial center. The city serves as the center for retail and wholesale trade as well as public a...
Read more
|
|
|
Tasmania
Tasmania , island state (1991 pop. 359,286), 26,383 sq mi (68,332 sq km), SE Commonwealth of Australia. It is separated from Australia by the Bass Strait and lies 150 mi (240 km) south of the state of Victoria. Tasmania includes many offshore islands, among which are Bruny, the Hunter Islands, the ...
Read more
|
|
|
Antarctica
Antarctica , the fifth largest continent, c.5,500,000 sq mi (14,245,000 sq km), asymmetrically centered on the South Pole and almost entirely within the Antarctic Circle.
Geology and Geography
Antarctica consists of two major regions: W Antarctica (c.2,500,000 sq mi/6,475,000 sq km), a mou...
Read more
|
|
|
Andes
Andes , mountain system, more than 5,000 mi (8,000 km) long, W South America. The ranges run generally parallel to the Pacific coast and extend from Tierra del Fuego northward, across the equator, as the backbone of the entire continent. The Falkland Islands are a continuation of the Andes, and ev...
Read more
|
|
Aconcagua
Aconcagua , peak, 22,835 ft (6,960 m) high, Mendoza prov., W Argentina, in the Andes, near the Chilean border. It is the highest peak of the Western Hemisphere. The snowcapped Aconcagua was first scaled in 1897. Uspallata Pass is nearby. See also Ojos del Salado .
...
Read more
|
|
|
Cotopaxi
Cotopaxi , active volcano, 19,347 ft (5,897 m) high, N central Ecuador. A symmetrical snowcapped cone in the Andes, it is one of the highest volcanoes in the world. It is continuously active, and frequent eruptions have caused severe damage. Cotopaxi was first scaled by Wilhelm Reiss in 1872.
...
Read more
|
|
|
Loa
Loa , longest river of Chile, 275 mi (443 km) long, flowing S from the Andes, N Chile, then W and N through the Atacama Desert, before turning W to the Pacific Ocean. It is not navigable but affords some water supply and hydroelectric power for copper and nitrate-mining communities in its vicinity. ...
Read more
|
|
|
Cordilleras
Cordilleras [Span., originally=little string], general name for the entire chain of mountain systems of W North America, extending from N Alaska to Nicaragua. The Cordilleras include the Rocky Mts., the ranges of the Great Basin, the Sierra Nevada, the Coast Ranges, and the Sierra Madre. The name C...
Read more
|
|
carnauba
carnauba , wax obtained from the wax palm, or carnauba ( Copernicia cerifera ), of Brazil. It is secreted by the leaves, apparently in defense against the hot winds and droughts of its native habitat, and the resultant coating is removed by drying and flailing. The hardest, highest-melting natural...
Read more
|
