The Columbia Gazetteer of the World (3 Volume Set) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0231110405 ISBN 13: 9780231110402

Publisher: Columbia University Press, 1998

Synopsis

Unmatched in scope, authority, and usefulness, The Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer continues to serve as the standard source of information about the geography of the world.

This definitive encyclopedia includes:
* Physical descriptions

* Economic, political, historical, cultural descriptions--from natural resources to landmarks and key events.

* Population

* Latitude, longitude, and elevation

* Pronunciations

* Changed or variant names and spellings

There are entries on every type of place:

* The physical world--continents, regions, oceans,seas, lakes, lagoons, rivers, mountain ranges, valleys, rain forests, deserts, islands, and more

* The political world--countries, provinces, states, counties, regions, cities, towns, neighborhoods, historical and archaeological sites.

* And all the special places--from national parks and monuments to airports, harbors, dams, shopping malls, canals, mines, nuclear plants, and much more.

About this title

About the Authors

This is the fully revised and expanded edition of the original Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer of the World. Now the Gazetteer is ready to serve a new generation -- completely updated and including 25,000 new entries, this classic reference is unparalleled source of information about the places of the world.

Features:

165,000 entries, 25,000 of them new to this edition

physical, political, economic, historical, and cultural description

population data, latitude/longitude coordinates

name changes, spelling variations, and pronunciations

Saul B. Cohen is University Professor Emeritus at Hunter College, City University of New York; President Emeritus of Queens College, C.U.N.Y.; former director of the Graduate School of Geography at Clark University; and a past president of the Association of American Geographers.

Reviews

Last year saw the publication of two good geographical dictionaries: The Houghton Mifflin Dictionary of Geography: Places and Peoples of the World [RBB Mr 15 98], covering more than 10,000 places, and Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary [RBB Ag 97], with more than 48,000 entries. Now comes the long-awaited successor to the classic Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer of the World, published in 1952. Dwarfing the 1997 titles in size and coverage, the Columbia Gazetteer contains 165,000 entries, including 30,000 new entries which reflect the dramatic changes in the world over the past 40-plus years. The new gazetteer will assume its predecessor's place as the definitive English-language encyclopedia of places and geographical features, and will be an essential reference for all types of libraries that can afford its price tag.

Gazetteer entries were selected to provide maximum coverage of places and features while achieving a balanced profile of each country. Accordingly, there are 21 entries for Andorra, 3,742 for Japan, and, in a nod to its largest potential market, 40,000 for the U.S. In addition to political subdivisions and physical features, the gazetteer includes entries for national parks, monuments, resorts, airports, ports, dams, nuclear plants, military bases, shopping malls, theme parks, and mythic places. Entries include information on the following, where appropriate: demography; physical geography; political boundaries; industry, trade, and service activities; agriculture; cultural, historical, and archeological points of interest; transportation lines; longitude, latitude, and elevations; distance to relevant places; pronunciations; official local government place names; and changed or variant names and spellings. Length varies from a few lines for small towns to more than a page for most countries.

Editor Cohen is university professor emeritus at Hunter College of the City University of New York and one of the world's most distinguished geographers. He was assisted by an editorial board of 150 geographical scholars from all over the world, who not only reviewed material for accuracy but also wrote new entries and developed pronunciation systems.

The Columbia Gazetteer focuses strictly on the alphabetical arrangement of places; there are no appendixes or maps as are often found in geographical dictionaries. The three volumes contain copious amounts of information, useful not only for finding the location, population, spelling, or pronunciation of a specific place but also for discovering its history and political, economic, and social conditions. Accordingly, students, travelers, businesspeople, the press, and researchers will all find this title valuable, and it is recommended for all libraries. Given the price, smaller libraries that already own the newest edition of Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary may find that title sufficient for their needs.

If you have the budget, you can now replace your disintegrating copy of the 1952 Columbia-Lippincott Gazetteer of the World with this behemoth. For each of the 165,000 place names, there is location information (e.g., latitude, longitude, relationship to another geographical place) and a paragraph of text. (LJ 6/15/98)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0231110405
• ISBN 13: 9780231110402
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 3616
• Editor: Saul B. Cohen