annelid: Annotated classification: …examples of genera: Eurythoe (fireworm), Euphrosyne. Order Spintherida Body oval; median antenna on prostomium; pharynx retractable; dorsal surface with membranous ridges; ventral setae strongly curved; found on sponges; small; single genus, Spinther. Order Phyllodocida

John Lyly: …Anatomy of Wit (1578) and Euphues and His England (1580), which together made him the most fashionable English writer of the 1580s. Euphues is a romantic intrigue told in letters interspersed with general discussions on such topics as religion, love, and epistolary style. Lyly’s preoccupation with the exact arrangement and…

John Lyly: …publication of two prose romances, Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit (1578) and Euphues and His England (1580), which together made him the most fashionable English writer of the 1580s. Euphues is a romantic intrigue told in letters interspersed with general discussions on such topics as religion, love, and epistolary style.…

euphuism, an elegant Elizabethan literary style marked by excessive use of balance, antithesis, and alliteration and by frequent use of similes drawn from mythology and nature. The word is also used to denote artificial elegance. It was derived from the name of a character in the prose romances

conservation: Surviving but threatened small populations: …long-term study of the Bay checkerspot butterfly (Euphydryas editha bayensis) in the grasslands above Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. In 1960 scientists began following the fate of several local populations of the butterfly at a time when grasslands around San Francisco Bay were being lost to housing developments. The…

Venus’s flower basket, any of several sponges of the genus Euplectella, especially E. aspergillum (class Hexactinellida, glass sponges). The name Venus’s flower basket derives from the sponges’ delicate, white, latticelike skeletons made of silica. In the living animal the skeleton is covered by a

Venus’s flower basket: …of the genus Euplectella, especially E. aspergillum (class Hexactinellida, glass sponges). The name Venus’s flower basket derives from the sponges’ delicate, white, latticelike skeletons made of silica. In the living animal the skeleton is covered by a thin layer of cells. E. aspergillum is found in a small area of…

bishop, any of several small African birds belonging to the family Ploceidae (order Passeriformes) and constituting the genus Euplectes. The breeding males are black-bellied and reddish or yellow above, with rufflike head feathering and fluffy rump feathers nearly covering their stumpy tails. The

bishop: The 13-centimetre (5-inch) red bishop (E. orix), also called grenadier weaver, displays by flying about and clapping its wings. Red bishops have become established in southern Australia.

runaway selection hypothesis: …dramatic examples is the African long-tailed widowbird (Euplectes progne); the male possesses an extraordinarily long tail. This feature can be explained by the females’ preference for males with the longest tails. This preference can be demonstrated experimentally by artificially elongating the tails of male widowbirds. Similarly, male European sedge warblers…

mongoose: Classification: Family Eupleridae (Malagasy mongooses, fossas, falanoucs, and fanalokas)8 species in 7 genera belonging to 2 subfamilies of Madagascar.Subfamily Galidiinae (Malagasy mongooses)5 species in 4 genera found only on Madagascar.Genus Galidictis (striped

mongoose: Classification: Subfamily Euplerinae (fossas, falanoucs, and fanalokas)3 species in 3 genera found only in Madagascar.Genus Cryptoprocta (fossa)1 species.Genus Eupleres (falanoucs)1 species.Genus Fossa

nervous system: Organelle systems: …coordination comes from another ciliate, Euplotes, which has a specialized band of ciliary rows (membranelles) and widely separated tufts of cilia (cirri). By means of the coordinated action of these structures, Euplotes is capable of several complicated movements in addition to swimming (e.g., turning sharply, moving backward, spinning). The five…

Marattiaceae: >Eupodium (the latter two having been formerly placed in Marattia) have the sporangia united in clusters called synangia, which are paired along each side of certain leaf veins and open toward the leaflet axis in this genus. Danaea has single synangia, sometimes extending from the…

Heraeum: …order designed by the architect Eupolemos (423 bc). It housed a famous gold and ivory statue of the goddess by Polyclitus the Elder. Other major heraea were at Olympia and Samos in Greece, and at Lacinium, near Crotone, in southern Italy. Only ruins of any of these sanctuaries survive.

Eupolis was one of the leading Athenian poets of the vigorous and satirical Old Comedy, and a rival of Aristophanes. Eupolis grew up during the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta, and his first play was produced in 429 bc. Of his work 19 titles and more than 460 fragments survive. Objects

damselfish: …about 30 cm long; the beau gregory (Eupomacentrus leucostictus), a blue-and-yellow Atlantic species; and the sergeant major (Abudefduf saxatilis), a black-banded, bluish and yellow fish of the tropical Atlantic.

magnoliid clade: Ecology and habitats: The Eupomatiaceae (Magnoliales), another family quite isolated taxonomically from others, contains two species of Eupomatia, both of which occur in eastern Australia and one of which is also in New Guinea. Eupomatia species are pollinated by a single genus of beetles (Elleschodes); if the beetles become…

Magnoliales: Distribution and abundance: The other species, Eupomatia bennettii, is much less common and is restricted to Australia, where it occurs near the coastal regions of northern New South Wales and Queensland.

Magnoliales: Distribution and abundance: Eupomatia laurina is a common rainforest shrub in New Guinea and Australia, from southern Australia along the eastern coast as far north as tropical Queensland. The other species, Eupomatia bennettii, is much less common and is restricted to Australia, where it occurs near the coastal…

Magnoliales: Eupomatiaceae: Members of Eupomatiaceae are shrubs to small trees. Eupomatia laurina reaches heights of up to 5 metres (16 feet). At the other end of the scale, E. bennettii rarely exceeds 50 cm (20 inches). It often has only one leafy shoot, which produces a single flower each…

pumpkinseed, popular food and sport fish and a species of sunfish

frog and toad: Coloration: …American leptodactylids of the genus Eupsophus have a pair of brightly coloured “eyespots” on the rump. When approached by a potential predator, the frog lowers its head and elevates the rump, thus confronting the predator with a seemingly much larger head.

Eupteleaceae: polyandra, native to Japan, and E. pleiosperma, native to southwestern China and to Assam, India, are sometimes grown as ornamentals mainly for their foliage, which is red when young and green at maturity. In the autumn the deciduous leaves turn bright red or yellow.

Eupteleaceae: Its members, E. polyandra, native to Japan, and E. pleiosperma, native to southwestern China and to Assam, India, are sometimes grown as ornamentals mainly for their foliage, which is red when young and green at maturity. In the autumn the deciduous leaves turn bright red or yellow.

Eupteleaceae, family of dicotyledonous flowering plants (order Ranunculales) with one genus, Euptelea, and two species of trees or large shrubs. Its members, E. polyandra, native to Japan, and E. pleiosperma, native to southwestern China and to Assam, India, are sometimes grown as ornamentals

Carboniferous Period: Paleogeography: The principal landmass of Laurussia was made up of present-day North America, western Europe through the Urals, and Balto-Scandinavia. Much of Laurussia lay near the paleoequator, whereas the cratons of Siberia, Kazakhstania, and most of China existed as separate continents occupying positions at high latitudes. During this time, the…

gregale, strong and cold wind that blows from the northeast in the western and central Mediterranean region, mainly in winter. Most pronounced on the island of Malta, the gregale sometimes approaches hurricane force and endangers shipping there; in 1555 it is reported to have caused waves that

Eurasia, geological and geopolitical term that relates in the former sense to the single enormous landmass composed of the continents of Europe and Asia and in the latter sense to the sociopolitical entity within that landmass whose exact borders are debated by scholars. The term is a portmanteau

Arctic Ocean: Origin: …and seismic data that the Eurasia Basin was formed by seafloor spreading along the axis of the Nansen-Gakkel Ridge. The focus of spreading began under the edge of the Asian continent, from which a narrow splinter of its northern continental margin was separated and translated northward to form the present…

badger: The European badger (Meles meles) is omnivorous, consuming earthworms, insects, small mammals, birds and their eggs, and also fruits and nuts. It is grayish, with large black-and-white facial stripes. It is 30 cm tall and 56–81 cm long, excluding the 12–20-cm tail, and weighs 8–10 kg…

beaver: Eurasian beavers (Castor fiber) were once found throughout temperate and boreal forests of the region (including Britain) except for the Mediterranean area and Japan. By the early 20th century this range had contracted, and at the beginning of the 21st century indigenous populations survived only…

bittern: …of the genus is the Eurasian bittern (B. stellaris), to 75 cm (30 inches), ranging from the British Isles to southeastern Asia and occurring also in South Africa. The American bittern (B. lentiginosus), known locally as “stake driver” or “thunder pumper,” is slightly smaller. Other forms are the Australian bittern…

grouse: …Old World member is the black grouse (Lyrurus tetrix), of Wales, Scotland, Scandinavia, and north-central Europe; a related form (L. mlokosiewiczi) occurs in the Caucasus. The male, known as blackcock, may be 55 cm (22 inches) long and weigh almost 2 kg (about 4 pounds). He is iridescent blue-black, with…

brown bear: Eurasian brown bears are generally solitary animals that are able to run and swim well. They are usually 120–210 cm (about 48–83 inches) long and weigh 135–250 kg (300–550 pounds); the exceptionally large Siberian brown bear (U. arctos beringianus), weighing as much as 360 kg…

cat snake: Eurasian cat snakes (Telescopus) inhabit dry regions of southeastern Europe, southwestern Asia, and northern Africa. About 12 species are known; they feed entirely upon lizards, and females lay between 4 and 12 eggs to a clutch. European cat snakes (T. fallax) occur in six subspecies.…

chestnut: Species and uses: The European chestnut (C. sativa), 30 metres (100 feet) tall, is native to Eurasia and northern Africa; it is often called sweet, Spanish, or Eurasian chestnut. The Chinese chestnut (C. mollissima), usually less than 18 metres (about 60 feet) tall, grows at altitudes up to 2,440…

Dipsacales: Adoxaceae: European, or black, elderberry (Sambucus nigra) is commonly used in herbal medicine.

coniferous forest: The northern Eurasian coniferous forest is called the taiga or the boreal forest. Both terms are used to describe the entire circumpolar coniferous forest with its many lakes, bogs, and rivers. Coniferous forests also cover mountains in many parts of the world.

buttercup: Major species: …North American wetlands; and the Eurasian creeping buttercup, or butter daisy (R. repens), widely naturalized in America. Both the pond crowfoot (R. peltatus) and the common water crowfoot (R. aquatilis) have broad floating leaves and finely dissected submerged leaves.

curlew: The common, or Eurasian, curlew (N. arquata), almost 60 cm (24 inches) long including the bill, is the largest European shorebird. This species breeds from Britain to Central Asia.

Armenia: Serzh Sargsyan government: …Armenia would join the Russian-led Eurasian Customs Union. The announcement effectively put an end to Armenia’s efforts to forge closer ties with the European Union (EU), even though the years-long negotiation process for an Association Agreement with the EU had recently been completed. Armenia and the EU reached a more…

dipper: …Eurasian, or white-throated, dipper (Cinclus cinclus), blackish brown with a white breast, found from northern Africa and Europe to Manchuria, and the North American dipper (C. mexicanus), dull gray in colour, found from Alaska to Panama, east to the foothills of the Rockies. The

eagle owl, (Bubo bubo), bird of the family Strigidae (order Strigiformes), characterized by its large size (often 70 centimetres [about 2.3 feet] long), two tufts of feathers on the head (ear tufts), and large orange eyes. The overall coloration is tawny, mottled with brown, lighter below. The

Kazakhstan: Economy: …way to what became the Eurasian Economic Union, consisting of Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan.

moose, (Alces alces), largest member of the deer family Cervidae (order Artiodactyla). Moose are striking in appearance because of their towering size, black colour, long legs, pendulous muzzle, and dangling hairy dewlap (called a bell) and the immense, wide, flat antlers of old bulls. The name

bustard: The best-known bustard is the great bustard (Otis tarda), largest European land bird, the male weighing as much as 14 kg (31 pounds) and having a 120-cm (4-foot) length and a 240-cm (8-foot) wingspread. It is found in grainfields and open steppes from central and southern Europe to Central Asia…

great tit, (Parus major), small, colorful woodland songbird identifiable by its vibrant body coloration and black head and chin, as well as its distinctive two-syllable vocalization, often described as its “tea-cher, tea-cher, tea-cher” call. Great tits have a vast geographic range that stretches

vulture: Old World vultures: The common griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus), or Eurasian griffon, is an Old World vulture of northwestern Africa, the Spanish highlands, southern Russia, and the Balkans. Gray above and reddish brown with white streaking below, it is about one metre (three feet) long. The genus Gyps contains…

jay: The Eurasian jay (Garrulus glandarius) occurs over most of the continental Old World except sub-Saharan Africa. About 33 cm (13 inches) long, it is pinkish brown with blue-and-black-barred shoulders, a white rump, and white wing-patches. Among brightly coloured forms in tropical America is the green jay…

kestrel: The common kestrel (F. tinnunculus), ranging over most of the Old World and sometimes called the Old World, Eurasian, or European kestrel, is slightly larger than the American kestrel but less colourful. It is the only kestrel in Britain, where it is called “windhover” from its…

lapwing: …Charadriidae (order Charadriiformes), especially the Eurasian lapwing, Vanellus vanellus, of farmlands and grassy plains. The name lapwing, which refers to the birds’ slow wingbeat, is sometimes applied broadly to members of the subfamily Vanellinae. Lapwings are about 30 cm (12 inches) long, with broad, rounded wings. Several species have crests,…

lynx: Eurasian lynx: The Eurasian lynx (L. lynx) is the largest member of the genus and Europe’s third largest predator. The weight of a full-grown adult ranges from 18 to 36 kg (about 40 to 80 pounds), and its length ranges from 70 to 130 cm…

magpie: …iridescent blue-green tail, and the Eurasian magpie (P. pica), which is has similar coloration, but is slightly larger in size with a shorter tail. The geographic range of the black-billed magpie extends across large parts of North America from Alaska’s Aleutian Islands south and east to the Pacific Northwest and…

songbird: The nightingale of Europe (Erithacus, or Luscinia, megarhynchos), a small thrush, perhaps heads the list of famous songsters of European literature. Also a favourite of the poets was the European skylark (Alaudia arvensis). In North America the mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) is a wonderful performer with a…

nutcracker: The Eurasian nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes) ranges from Scandinavia to Japan and has isolated populations in mountains farther south. It is 32 cm (12.5 inches) long and brownish, with white streaking and a white tail tip. Clark’s nutcracker (N. columbiana) of western North America is pale gray,…

Cenozoic Era: Geologic processes: …Indian Plate collided with the Eurasian Plate. These lofty mountains marked the culmination of the great uplift that occurred during the late Cenozoic when the Indian Plate drove many hundreds of kilometres into the underbelly of Asia. They are the product of the low-angle underthrusting of the northern edge of…

squirrel: In northern Europe the red squirrel (S. vulgaris) is valued for its soft, thick fur. Villagers in tropical forests keep squirrels as pets. Most species are hunted for food.

owl: Form and function: …widespread species, such as the Eurasian scops owl (O. scops) and the screech owl, geographic variation is so great that some divergent races are more different from one another than some species are from one another. In the far north there is only a faint pattern on a whitish background;…

sparrowhawk: The Eurasian sparrowhawk (A. nisus), dark gray above and brown barred white below, is a common inhabitant of wooded areas throughout Europe, in coastal northwestern Africa, and in temperate to sub-Arctic forests of Asia. The Levant sparrowhawk, or shikra (A. brevipes), is gray above and brown…

the Steppe, belt of grassland that extends some 5,000 miles (8,000 km) from Hungary in the west through Ukraine and Central Asia to Manchuria in the east. Mountain ranges interrupt the steppe, dividing it into distinct segments, but horsemen could cross such barriers easily, so that steppe peoples

pine: Major Eurasian pines: The Eurasian stone pine (P. cembra) abounds on the Alps, the Carpathians, and the Siberian mountain ranges. The oily seeds are eaten by the inhabitants of the Alps and Siberia and yield a fine oil used for food. The wood is remarkably even-grained and is used…

folk music: Singing styles: The Eurasian style, which is found mainly in southern Europe and parts of Britain and Ireland, as well as in the Middle East and South Asia, is tense, ornamented, and essentially associated with solo singing. The old European style, characteristic of central, eastern, and parts of…

woodcock: The Eurasian woodcock (Scolopax rusticola) breeds in the temperate Old World from Great Britain to Japan; occasional migrants wander to the eastern United States. Its colouring differs from that of the American woodcock in that the pale underparts of the European species are barred with brown.…

wryneck: The Eurasian wryneck (Jynx torquilla), 16 cm (6.25 inches) long, breeds from England to Japan and winters in the tropics. The red-breasted wryneck (J. ruficollis) is African.

loosestrife: The Eurasian yellow loosestrife (Lysimachia vulgaris), an erect plant 0.6 to 1.2 metres (2 to 4 feet) high, is common on riverbanks in England and grows in eastern North America. The branched stem bears tapering leaves in pairs or whorls and terminal clusters of deep yellow…

European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), international organization established by one of the Treaties of Rome in 1958 to form a common market for the development of the peaceful uses of atomic energy. The original members were Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the

Haute-Normandie: …comprised the northern départements of Eure and Seine-Maritime and encompassed the northeastern portion of historical Normandy.

Eure River, river in northern France, a left-bank tributary of the Seine, with a length of 140 miles (225 km). From its source in the Perche Hills, Orne département, at an elevation of about 800 feet (240 m), to its confluence with the Seine River above Rouen at Pont de l’Arche, it flows chiefly

Centre: Loir-et-Cher, Loiret, and Eure-et-Loir. Centre is bounded by the régions of Normandy and Île-de-France to the north, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté to the east, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes to the southeast, Nouvelle-Aquitaine to the south, and Pays de la Loire to the west. The capital is Orléans

Eureka, county, central Nevada, U.S. It is drained by the Humboldt River and Pine Creek. The Sulphur Springs, Fish Creek, and Cortez ranges cover the largely mountainous and arid area; the county is sparsely populated. Gold and silver mining is the chief economic activity, although there is some

Eureka, city, port, and seat (1856) of Humboldt county, northern California, U.S. Lying on Humboldt Bay, Eureka is located 275 miles (440 km) north of San Francisco and about 90 miles (145 km) south of the border between Oregon and California. It was laid out in 1850 and named for the Greek motto

Eureka, cooperative organization inaugurated in 1985 by 18 European countries and formally established with a secretariat in Brussels in 1986. Its purpose is to promote high-technology industries by linking the efforts of various companies, universities, and research centres and channeling moneys

Edgar Allan Poe: Last years and death: …also published the lecture “Eureka,” a transcendental “explanation” of the universe, which has been hailed as a masterpiece by some critics and as nonsense by others. In 1849 he went south, had a wild spree in Philadelphia, but got safely to Richmond, where he finally became engaged to Elmira…

landing craft: …in 1939, the 36-foot (11-metre) Eureka boat, manufactured by Andrew Higgins, a New Orleans boatbuilder, proved superior to all others. Still, while this boat met or exceeded the Navy’s criteria, it did not have a bow ramp. In 1941 a Marine Corps officer showed Higgins a picture of a Japanese…

Ronald Reagan: Early life and acting career: At Eureka College in Eureka, Illinois, Reagan played football and was active in the drama society but earned only passing grades. A popular student, he was elected class president in his senior year. Graduating in 1932 with a bachelor’s degree in economics and sociology, he decided…

World War II: The western Allies and Stalin: Cairo and Tehrān, 1943: …to meet Stalin at the Eureka conference of November 28–December 1. Stalin renewed the Soviet promise of military intervention against Japan, but he primarily wanted an assurance that “Overlord” (the invasion of France) would indeed take place in 1944. Reassured about this by Roosevelt, he declared that the Red Army…

Death Valley: Death Valley National Park: …include the 680-foot- (205-metre-) high Eureka Sand Dunes, California’s tallest. The northern section of the park is dotted with volcanic craters such as Ubehebe Crater, 700 feet (215 metres) deep and 0.5 mile (0.8 km) wide. At Racetrack Playa, rocks as large as 700 pounds (320 kg) leave trails as…

Eureka Stockade, rebellion (December 3, 1854) in which gold prospectors in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia—who sought various reforms, notably the abolition of mining licenses—clashed with government forces. It was named for the rebels’ hastily constructed fortification in the Eureka goldfield. The

Cildo Meireles: …Meireles made his first installation, Eureka/Blindhotland (1970–75), which, by his own account, “dealt with the difference between appearance and reality.” It consisted of 200 black balls with the same volume but different mass. Exhibition attendees were invited to interact with the balls and to meditate on the deceptiveness of appearance.…

reptile: Annotated classification: Eureptilia (eureptiles) Late Pennsylvanian to present. Skull typically with temporal openings; prefrontal-palatine contact usually absent; supratemporal small. All taxa except for the captorhinids have diapsid skulls characterized by upper and lower temporal fenestrae. †Family Captorhinidae (captorhinids)

reptile: Annotated classification: Eureptilia (eureptiles) Late Pennsylvanian to present. Skull typically with temporal openings; prefrontal-palatine contact usually absent; supratemporal small. All taxa except for the captorhinids have diapsid skulls characterized by upper and lower temporal fenestrae. †Family Captorhinidae (captorhinids)

eurythmics, harmonious bodily movement as a form of artistic expression—specifically, the Dalcroze system of musical education in which bodily movements are used to represent musical rhythms. Eurythmics was developed about 1905 by Swiss musician Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, a professor of harmony at the

Euric was the king of a great Visigothic realm (usually called the kingdom of Toulouse) in the western part of the Roman Empire that included what is now southwestern France (south of the Loire and west of the Rhône) and most of Spain. He is best known for the code of law that bears his name, the

Euric: …that bears his name, the Code of Euric.

Jacopo Peri: …which complete music still exists, L’Euridice (1600); some of the music used in the first performance of L’Euridice was composed by Peri’s rival at court, Giulio Caccini. The impetus for this new style of dramatic singing, quite different from the traditional Renaissance texture of complex polyphony, was cultivated in Peri’s…

Euripides was the last of classical Athens’s three great tragic dramatists, following Aeschylus and Sophocles. It is possible to reconstruct only the sketchiest biography of Euripides. His mother’s name was Cleito; his father’s name was Mnesarchus or Mnesarchides. One tradition states that his

Euripus, narrow strait in the Aegean Sea (an arm of the Mediterranean Sea), between the Greek island of Euboea (Modern Greek: Évvoia) and the mainland of central Greece. It is 5 miles (8 km) long and varies from 130 feet (40 metres) to 1 mile (1.6 km) in width. It has strong tidal currents (often

Euripus, narrow strait in the Aegean Sea (an arm of the Mediterranean Sea), between the Greek island of Euboea (Modern Greek: Évvoia) and the mainland of central Greece. It is 5 miles (8 km) long and varies from 130 feet (40 metres) to 1 mile (1.6 km) in width. It has strong tidal currents (often

Aegean Sea: The euripus phenomenon—characterized by violent and uncertain currents—has been studied since the time of Aristotle, who first provided an interpretation of the term. Aegean currents generally are not smooth, whether considered from the viewpoint of either speed or direction. They are chiefly influenced by blowing winds.…

European Championship, in football (soccer), a quadrennial tournament held between the member countries of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The European Championship is second in prestige to the World Cup among international football tournaments. The first final of the European

wallaroo, either of two species of kangaroo-like mammals native to Australia and belonging to the genus Macropus. They are closely related to wallabies and

euro, monetary unit and currency of the European Union (EU). It was introduced as a noncash monetary unit in 1999, and currency notes and coins appeared in participating countries on January 1, 2002. After February 28, 2002, the euro became the sole currency of 12 EU member states, and their

Estonia: Independence restored: …for Estonia to join the euro zone in 2011. Ansip, his personal popularity slipping, stepped down in February 2014. He was succeeded as prime minister by Taavi Rõivas, who formed a coalition government with the centre-left Social Democratic Party. In foreign affairs, the country sought to improve its often tense…

al-Waleed bin Talal: …value of the parent company, Euro Disney S.C.A., had fallen by 20 percent, and the theme park had lost more than $1 billion since its opening in 1992. His plan was to turn the park around financially by investing another $100 million in the construction of a nearby convention centre,…

euro sign, €, symbol for the euro, the official currency of the European Union and several areas outside the EU, including Andorra, Montenegro, Kosovo, San Marino, and the U.K. sovereignty base areas of Akrotiri and Dhekélia. The sign is based on the uncial Greek epsilon (ε), the first letter in

Estonia: Independence restored: …for Estonia to join the euro zone in 2011. Ansip, his personal popularity slipping, stepped down in February 2014. He was succeeded as prime minister by Taavi Rõivas, who formed a coalition government with the centre-left Social Democratic Party. In foreign affairs, the country sought to improve its often tense…

The euro-zone debt crisis was a period of economic uncertainty in the euro zone beginning in 2009 that was triggered by high levels of public debt, particularly in the countries that were grouped under the acronym “PIIGS” (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and Spain). The debt crisis was preceded

gregale, strong and cold wind that blows from the northeast in the western and central Mediterranean region, mainly in winter. Most pronounced on the island of Malta, the gregale sometimes approaches hurricane force and endangers shipping there; in 1555 it is reported to have caused waves that