Encyclopædia Britannica Australia -

Encyclopedias since 1768

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El Al Israel Airlines ... elbow

El Al Israel Airlines: Israeli airline founded by Israel in November 1948 after the establishment of the new nation. It flew its first commercial scheduled flights-to Rome and Paris-in July 1949, and by the 1980s it was flying routes from Jerusalem and Tel Aviv ...
El Argar: culture characterized by a flourishing metallurgy of bronze, silver, and gold that appeared at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC in the Almeria (southeastern) region of the Iberian Peninsula. The culture, which developed a lively trade with centres in ...
El Banco: city, northern Colombia, at the junction of the Magdalena and Cesar rivers. The conquistador Gonzalo Jimenez de Quezada arrived at the site in 1537 and found the Indian village of Sompallon; he called it Barbudo ("Bearded One") because of its ...
El Callao: town, Bolivar estado ("state"), eastern Venezuela, on the right bank of the Yuruari River, about 135 miles (272 km) east-southeast of Ciudad Bolivar in the Venezuelan Guiana Highlands. The town has been a gold-mining centre since 1871, following the discovery ...
El Centro: city, seat (1907) of Imperial county, southeastern California, U.S. It lies 120 miles (200 km) east of San Diego and 10 miles (16 km) north of Mexicali, Mexico. A desert community located some 50 feet (15 metres) below sea level, ...
El Cerrito: city, Contra Costa county, California, U.S. El Cerrito lies on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay, north of Oakland and 15 miles (25 km) northeast of San Francisco via the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The early village-named Rust for ...
El Dorado: city, seat (1843) of Union county, southern Arkansas, U.S., 100 miles (160 km) south of Little Rock. The site was selected in 1843 by county commissioners Robert Black, John Hampton, and Green Newton, who were instructed to locate centrally the ...
El Escorial: village, western Madrid provincia (province) and comunidad autonoma (autonomous community), central Spain, in the Guadarrama mountains, 26 miles (42 km) northwest of Madrid. It is the site of the Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo ...
El Ferrol: city, La Coruna provincia (province), in the northern section of the comunidad autonoma (autonomous community) of Galicia, in extreme northwestern Spain. It is located on the Ferrol Inlet of the Atlantic Ocean. Named for ...
El Guerrouj, Hicham: Moroccan middle-distance runner, who became the first man to hold world records in the mile and the 1,500-metre races both indoors and outdoors.
El Malpais National Monument: high-valley lava flow area, Cibola county, west-central New Mexico, U.S., about 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Grants. The area covered by black lava flow extends about 133 square miles (344 square km), although the monument itself covers 179 square ...
El Monte: city, Los Angeles county, California, U.S. El Monte lies 12 miles (20 km) east of downtown Los Angeles. Spanish missionaries and soldiers inhabited the area in the 18th and early 19th centuries and named the location for its meadows (an ...
El Morro National Monument: rock formation and archaeological site in west-central New Mexico, U.S., 12 miles (19 km) southeast of Ramah. The monument was established in 1906 and has an area of 2 square miles (5 square km).
El Nino: (Spanish: "The Christ Child"), in oceanography and climatology, the anomalous appearance, every few years, of unusually warm ocean conditions along the tropical west coast of South America. This event is associated with adverse effects on fishing, agriculture, and local weather ...
El Oriente: region of eastern Ecuador, comprising the eastern slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes and the lowland areas of rain forest in the Amazon basin. It is bounded on the north by San Miguel and Putumayo rivers and on the east and ...
El Paraiso: Late Preceramic site in the present-day Chillon Valley on the central Peruvian coast, generally believed to date just before the beginning of the Initial Period (c. 2100-1800 BC). It is notable for its large mud and rock apartment-like dwelling units. ...
El Paso: city, seat (1850) of El Paso county, extreme western Texas, U.S., on the Rio Grande, there bridged to Juarez, Mexico, just south of the New Mexico line. The largest of the U.S.-Mexican border cities, it lies at the foot of ...
El Progreso: city, northwestern Honduras, on the Ulua River, southeast of San Pedro Sula. The city, founded in 1927 as a banana trade centre, grew in the 1970s into a commercial and transshipment centre for the Caribbean ports and the interior. Industries ...
El Puerto de Santa Maria: port city, Cadiz provincia, in Andalusia comunidad autonoma ("autonomous community"), southern Spain, at the mouth of Guadalete River on Bahia (bay) de Cadiz, southwest of Jerez de la Frontera. The Roman Portus Menesthei, it was once the site of naval ...
El Reno: city, seat (1907) of Canadian county, central Oklahoma, U.S., on the North Canadian River, immediately west of Oklahoma City. Settled in 1889 when the Rock Island Railroad arrived, the town was named for old Fort Reno (established as a fort ...
El Salvador: country of Central America. With a total area of 8,124 square miles (21,041 square kilometres), it is the smallest and most densely populated of the seven Central American countries. Its territory is situated entirely on the western side of the ...
El Salvador, history of: history of the area from colonial times to the present.
El Seibo: city, eastern Dominican Republic, on the Soco River. Founded in 1502, the city serves as a trading centre for the agricultural hinterland. The region yields cacao, coffee, sugarcane, and corn (maize), in addition to beeswax and medicinal plants. Cattle are ...
El Sherana: rural community, north-central Northern Territory, Australia. It serves as the base for uranium mining; the ore, discovered in 1953 and found in ridges far above the floor of the South Alligator River valley, is brought to the town for treatment ...
El Teniente: mining settlement, O'Higgins region, Machali commune, central Chile. The site of the world's largest underground copper mine, it lies in the Andes Mountains about 60 miles (100 km) southeast of Santiago. It accounts for much of Chile's annual copper production. ...
El Tigre: city, central Anzoategui estado ("state"), northeastern Venezuela, situated in the highlands east of the Barcelona gap. The city is a commercial centre in the Oficina oil fields. Oil is piped 100 miles (160 km) north-northeastward to Puerto La Cruz, which ...
Elaeagnaceae: the oleaster family of dicotyledonous flowering plants, which together with the family Proteaceae constitutes the order Proteales. The oleaster family comprises three genera of shrubs and small trees of the Northern Hemisphere, especially in steppe and coastal regions.
elaenia: (genus Elaenia), any of about 20 species of plain-coloured New World flycatchers, family Tyrannidae (order Passeriformes), with a short bill and modest, ragged crest, usually concealing a white or yellow crown patch. Found in Central America, South America, and the ...
Elagabalus: Roman emperor from 218 to 222, notable chiefly for his eccentric behaviour.
Elam: ancient country in southwestern Iran approximately equivalent to the modern region of Khuzestan. Four prominent geographic names within Elam are mentioned in ancient sources: Awan, Anshan, Simash, and Susa. Susa was Elam's capital, and in classical sources the name of ...
Elamite language: extinct language spoken by the Elamites in the ancient country of Elam, which included the region from the Mesopotamian plain to the Iranian Plateau. Elamite documents from three historical periods have been found. The earliest Elamite writings are in a ...
eland: either of two species of easily tamed, oxlike antelopes that constitute the genus Taurotragus of the family Bovidae (order Artiodactyla). They are found in herds on the open plains or in lightly wooded areas of central and southern Africa.
elapid: any of about 200 venomous species of the snake family Elapidae, characterized by short fangs fixed in the front of the upper jaw. Otherwise, elapids resemble the more abundant colubrids. Most species lay eggs; a few, chiefly in Australia, bear ...
Elasmotherium: extinct genus of rhinoceros found as a fossil in Pleistocene deposits in northern Eurasia (the Pleistocene Epoch began 1,600,000 years ago and ended 10,000 years ago). Its popular name derives from the very large horn on its forehead, which reached ...
elastic fibre: any of the yellowish branching fibres composed primarily of the protein elastin, frequently arranged in plates or perforated membranes, as in the walls of the large arteries. Unlike collagenous fibres, they show no orderly fibrous subunits under microscopic examination but ...
elastic limit: maximum stress or force per unit area within a solid material that can arise before the onset of permanent deformation. When stresses up to the elastic limit are removed, the material resumes its original size and shape. Stresses beyond the ...
elastic wave: motion in a medium in which, when particles are displaced, a force proportional to the displacement acts on the particles to restore them to their original position. If a material has the property of elasticity and the particles in a ...
elasticity: ability of a deformed material body to return to its original shape and size when the forces causing the deformation are removed. A body with this ability is said to behave (or respond) elastically.
elastomer: any rubbery material composed of long, chainlike molecules that are capable of recovering their original shape after being stretched to great extents. Under normal conditions the long molecules making up an elastomeric material are irregularly coiled. With the application of ...
elastomer: any member of a class of polymeric substances that possess the quality of elasticity, i.e., the ability to regain shape after deformation. Elastomers are the base material for all rubber products, both natural and synthetic, and for many adhesives.
Elat: port city, southern extremity of Israel. It lies at the south tip of the Negev and at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba (Hebrew, Mifratz Elat), the eastern arm of the Red Sea. Al-'Aqabah, Jordan, also located on the ...
Elatinaceae: family of flowering plants, in the tea order (Theales), comprising two genera of mostly aquatic herbs. Members of the family have opposite or whorled leaves and small flowers with two to five overlapping petals. Waterwort (Elatine hexandra) and two similar ...
Elazar, David: Israeli army commander who was accused of bad judgment and lack of preparedness in the Yom Kippur War of 1973.
Elazig: city, eastern Turkey. It lies at the foot of a plateau overlooking a fertile plain. Originally founded as an Ottoman military garrison and administrative centre after the mid-19th century, the city grew rapidly as a result of its favourable location. ...
Elba: island off the west coast of Italy, in the Tyrrhenian Sea. Elba has an area of 86 square miles (223 square km) and is the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago. It is famous as Napoleon's place of exile in ...
Elbasan: town, central Albania. It lies on the north bank of the Shkumbin River, in the highlands at the eastern end of a fertile, well-watered plain. It was founded in 1466 by the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II, on the site of ...
Elbe River: one of the major waterways of central Europe. It runs from the Czech Republic through Germany to the North Sea, flowing generally to the northwest. The river rises on the southern side of the Krkonose (Giant) Mountains near the border ...
Elbert, Mount: mountain in Lake county, Colorado, U.S., whose peak is the highest point (14,433 feet [4,399 metres]) in Colorado and in the American Rocky Mountains. Mount Elbert lies 12 miles (19 km) southwest of Leadville, in the Sawatch Range and the ...
Elbeuf: town, Seine-Maritime departement, Haute-Normandie region, northwestern France. It lies on the left bank of the Seine River, 12 miles (19 km) south of Rouen. Wooded hills and high cliffs surround the town. Built on the site of a Roman city, ...
Elblag: city, Warminsko-Mazurskie wojewodztwo (province), north-central Poland. It lies along the Elblag River near the Nogat River, which is the eastern mouth of the Vistula River.
elbow: in human anatomy, hinge joint formed by the meeting of the humerus (bone of the upper arm) and the radius and ulna (bones of the forearm). The elbow allows the bending and extension of the forearm, and it also allows ...