Encyclopædia Britannica Australia -

Encyclopedias since 1768

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Sahil, As- ... Saint Clair, Lake

Sahil, As-: coastal plain in the eastern Mediterranean littoral of Tunisia, comprising a sandy coast with large bays and lagoons of the Mediterranean and situated between the sea and the steppe country of central Tunisia. The region extends from the town of ...
Sahiwal: city, east-central Punjab province, east-central Pakistan. The city was founded in 1865 and named for Sir Robert Montgomery, then lieutenant governor of the Punjab. It is connected by rail and road with Lahore and is an important cotton centre, with ...
Sahle Selassie: ruler (1813-47) of the kingdom of Shewa (Shoa), Ethiopia. He was the grandfather of Emperor Menilek II (reigned 1889-1913) and the great-grandfather of Emperor Haile Selassie I. His name means "Clemency of the Trinity."
Saho: language spoken by several peoples, most of whom inhabit the coastal plains of southern Eritrea. Saho is generally classified as an Eastern Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic (formerly Hamito-Semitic) language family. The Saho-speaking peoples are bordered to the north by ...
Sahuayo: city, northwestern Michoacan estado ("state"), west-central Mexico. It lies on the central plateau, at 5,085 feet (1,550 m) above sea level. Although the climate is temperate, rainfall is only moderate. Irrigation has opened up land for the cultivation of corn ...
Sahul Shelf: submarine stable structural shelf or platform of the ocean floor, extending from the north coast of Australia to the island of New Guinea. A continental shelf, it was once above sea level, and its surface still bears erosional features formed ...
Sai Ong Hue: ruler (1700?-35) of the Lao kingdom of Lan Xang which, during his reign, was divided into two rival kingdoms at Vientiane and Luang Prabang.
Saicho: posthumous name Dengyo Daishi monk who established the Tendai sect of Buddhism in Japan.
Said, Edward: Palestinian American academic, political activist, and literary critic who examined literature in light of social and cultural politics and was an outspoken proponent of the political rights of the Palestinian people and the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
Saida: city, northwestern Algeria, on the southern slopes of the Tell Atlas and the northern fringe of the High Plateaus (Hauts Plateaux). The city's site has been of military importance since the construction there of a Roman fort. Saida was a ...
Saidpur: city, northwestern Bangladesh. A jute-processing and export centre, it is a major railway terminus containing large railway workshops. It has a college affiliated with the University of Rajshahi. Pop. (2001) 110,151.
saiga: (Saiga tatarica), medium-sized hoofed mammal, family Bovidae (order Artiodactyla), that lives in herds in treeless steppe country. Once common from Poland to western Mongolia, it was greatly reduced by hunting and no longer exists in Eastern Europe. It was given ...
Saigo Takamori: a leader in the overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate who later rebelled against the weaknesses he saw in the Imperial government that he had helped to restore. Although his participation in the restoration made him a legendary hero, it also, ...
Saigon River: river in southern Vietnam that rises near Phum Daung, southeastern Cambodia, and flows south and south-southeast for about 140 miles (225 km). In its lower course it embraces Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) on the east and forms an ...
Saigon, Treaty of: (June 1862), agreement by which France achieved its initial foothold on the Indochinese Peninsula. The treaty was signed by the last precolonial emperor of Vietnam, Tu Duc, and was ratified by him in April 1863.
Saigyo: Japanese Buddhist priest-poet, one of the greatest masters of the tanka (a traditional Japanese poetic form), whose life and works became the subject matter of many narratives, plays, and puppet dramas. He originally followed his father in a military career, ...
Saijo: city, Ehime ken (prefecture), Shikoku, Japan, in the Kamo River delta. A castle town in the 17th century, it served later as a local administrative and commercial centre. The construction of two large power plants was followed rapidly by the ...
Saiki: city, Oita ken (prefecture), Kyushu, Japan, facing Saiki Bay. It developed as a castle town on the small delta of the Banjo River during the Muromachi era (1338-1573) and came into the possession of the Mori daimyo family in 1601. ...
sail: an extent of fabric (such as canvas) by means of which wind is used to propel a ship through water.
Sailer, Anton: Austrian Alpine skier who, in the 1956 Olympic Winter Games held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, was the first to sweep the gold medals in the Alpine competition, which at that time consisted of the slalom, giant slalom, and downhill events. ...
sailfish: (genus Istiophorus), valued food and game fish of the family Istiophoridae (order Perciformes) found in warm and temperate waters around the world. The sailfish has a long, rounded spear extending from its snout but is distinguished from related species, such ...
sailing: the sport or pastime of cruising or racing in a sailboat or, more generally, in any large craft propelled by either sail or motor. See yacht.
Saimaa, Lake: lake in southeastern Finland. It lies just northwest of the Russian border and is northeast of Helsinki. Covering parts of the laanit (provinces) of Mikkeli and Kymi, it has an area of 443 square miles (1,147 square km) and is ...
saint: a holy person believed to have a special relationship to the sacred as well as moral perfection or exceptional teaching abilities. The phenomenon is widespread in the religions of the world, both ancient and contemporary. Various types of religious personages ...
Saint Abb's Head: promontory on the North Sea in the Scottish Borders council area, historic county of Berwickshire, southeastern Scotland. It is located about 12 miles (19 km) northwest of Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland, England. St. Abb's is a sheer headland with cliffs some 300 ...
Saint Albans: city, seat of Franklin county, northwestern Vermont, U.S., 24 miles (39 km) north of Burlington. St. Albans town (township), surrounding the city, is on St. Albans Bay of Lake Champlain. The area was part of the French seigniory of La ...
Saint Albans: town and city (district), administrative and historic county of Hertfordshire, England, in the valley of the River Ver about 20 miles (32 km) northwest of London.
Saint Albans Raid: (Oct. 19, 1864), in the American Civil War, a Confederate raid from Canada into Union territory; the incident put an additional strain on what were already tense relations between the United States and Canada.
Saint Albans, battles of: (May 22, 1455, and Feb. 17, 1461), battles during the English Wars of the Roses. The town of St. Albans, situated on the old Roman Watling Street and lying 20 miles (32 km) northwest of London, dominated the northern approaches ...
Saint Albans, Charles Beauclerk, 1st duke of, Baron Heddington, earl of Burford: illegitimate son of Charles II, the eldest of two illegitimate sons born to Nell Gwyn, an English actress.
Saint Albans, Henry Jermyn, Earl of, 1st Baron Jermyn Of Saint Edmundsbury: courtier, favourite of Henrietta Maria, queen of Charles I of England. It was rumoured, probably falsely, that he became her husband after the king's execution (1649).
Saint Albert: city, central Alberta, Canada, immediately northwest of Edmonton, on the Sturgeon River, in a mixed-farming district. The settlement developed around a mission that was built in 1861 by Father Albert Lacombe, a heroic religious figure, who named it after his ...
Saint Andrews: city, royal burgh (1160), university town, golfing mecca, and former fishing port in Fife council area and historic county, Scotland. Located on St. Andrews Bay of the North Sea 13 miles (20 km) southeast of Dundee, it occupies a plateau ...
Saint Andrews, University of: oldest university in Scotland, founded in 1411, located in Fife region. The university buildings, many of which date from the Middle Ages, include St. Salvator's College (1450), St. Leonard's College (1512), and the University Library, refounded by James VI in ...
Saint Anthony: town, north of the entrance to Hare Bay, on the northern peninsula of Newfoundland, Canada, 306 miles (492 km) northeast of Corner Brook. An old fishing settlement with dry docks, ship-repair yards, and cold-storage plants, it is the home of ...
Saint Asaph: cathedral village, Denbighshire (Sir Ddinbych) county, historic county of Flintshire (Sir Fflint), Wales. It stands beween the Rivers Clwyd and Elwy, from which its Welsh name derives. Asaph, the Celtic ecclesiastic to whom the cathedral is dedicated, was bishop there ...
Saint Augustine: oldest continuously settled city in the United States, seat (1822) of St. Johns county, northeastern Florida, about 40 miles (65 km) southeast of Jacksonville. It is situated on a peninsula between two saltwater rivers, the San Sebastian (west) and Matanzas ...
Saint Augustine grass: (Stenotaphrum secundatum), low, mat-forming perennial grass of the family Poaceae, native to central and southeastern North America and Central America and naturalized along many seacoasts of the world. It is a coarse-textured, vigorous warm-season grass that roots readily along its ...
Saint Austell: town, Restormel borough, administrative and historic county of Cornwall, southwestern England. St. Austell was originally called Trenance and takes its present name from a hermit named St. Austol. England's most important kaolin (china clay) deposits are dug in the area, ...
Saint Bartholomew's Day, Massacre of: (August 24/25, 1572), massacre of French Huguenots (Protestants) in Paris plotted by Catherine de Medicis and carried out by Roman Catholic nobles and other citizens. It was one event in the series of civil wars between Roman Catholics and Huguenots ...
Saint Bartholomew's Hospital: oldest hospital in London. It lies just southeast of the Central Markets in the Smithfield area of the City of London. It was founded in 1123 by the Augustinian monk Rahere, who also founded the adjacent priory (the surviving part ...
Saint Basil the Blessed: church constructed on Red Square in Moscow between 1554 and 1560 by Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible, as a votive offering for his military victories over the khanates of Kazan and Astrakhan. The church was dedicated to the protection and ...
Saint Bernard: working dog credited with saving the lives of some 2,500 people in 300 years of service as pathfinder and rescue dog at the hospice founded by St. Bernard of Montjoux in Great St. Bernard Pass in the Pennine Alps. Probably ...
Saint Boniface: historic district of Winnipeg, southern Manitoba, Canada, at the confluence of the Seine and Red rivers. It was founded in 1818 by a group of French missionaries led by Bishop Joseph Norbert Provencher upon the site of an earlier, unsuccessful ...
Saint Catharines: city, Regional Municipality of Niagara, southeastern Ontario, Canada, on the south shore of Lake Ontario, at the entrance to the Welland Ship Canal. Named after the first wife of Robert Hamilton, member of the first legislative council of Upper Canada, ...
Saint Catherine's: Greek Orthodox monastery situated on Mount Sinai more than 5,000 feet (1,500 m) above sea level in a narrow valley north of Mount Musa in the Sinai peninsula. Often incorrectly called the Sinai Independent Greek Orthodox Church, the monastic foundation ...
Saint Charles: city, seat of St. Charles county, eastern Missouri, U.S., on bluffs overlooking the Missouri River, there bridged to St. Louis, 22 miles (35 km) southeast. One of the earliest settlements on the Missouri, it was founded in 1769 by Louis ...
Saint Clair River: outlet for Lake Huron, forming part of the boundary between Michigan, U.S. (west), and Ontario, Can. (east). Flowing southward into Lake Saint Clair, with a fall of 5.7 feet (1.7 m) in 39 miles (63 km), the river discharges through ...
Saint Clair's Defeat: (November 4, 1791), one of the worst defeats ever suffered by U.S. forces in Indian warfare, precipitated by British-Indian confrontation with settlers and militia in the Northwest Territory following the American Revolution. Despite specific provisions in the Treaty of 1783 ...
Saint Clair, Lake: lake in west-central Tasmania, Australia, lying at the southern boundary of Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park at the terminus of a 53-mile [85-kilometre] walking track from the mountain. It has an area of 11 square miles (28 square km), ...
Saint Clair, Lake: expansive shallow basin, forming part of the boundary between Michigan, U.S., and Ontario, Can. Roughly circular, with a surface area of 467 square miles (1,210 square km), it connects with the St. Clair River and Lake Huron (north) and with ...