George Cross: The George Medal, instituted at the same time as the George Cross, is analogous to it but is awarded for services not quite so outstanding as those which merit the George Cross. Recipients of this medal can add G.M. after their names. The medal is silver;…

coin: Gold coinage: …and sixpence, and introduced the George noble—so called from its type of St. George and the Dragon—to take the angel’s old value. In 1544 he issued the base shilling, or teston, of 12 pence and debased the silver coinage. When Edward VI again restored a coinage of fine silver, he…

Roger II: Roger’s navy: …the greatest of its admirals, George of Antioch, it subdued much of what is now Tunisia to form a profitable, if short-lived, North African empire; it captured Corfu; it harassed the Greek coast, abducting the best of the Theban silk workers to found the court workshop at Palermo; and in…

George Of Cappadocia was an opponent of and controversial successor (357) to Bishop Athanasius the Great of Alexandria, whom the Roman emperor Constantius II had exiled for attacking Arianism. As an extreme Arian, George was detestable both to the orthodox and to the Semi-Arians. A violent and

Gregory II Cyprius was a Greek Orthodox patriarch of Constantinople (1283–89) who strongly opposed reunion of the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches. In the beginning of his career as a cleric in the Byzantine imperial court, Gregory supported the policy of both his emperor, Michael VIII

George of Laodicea was a bishop of Laodicea who was one of the principal champions of the homoiousian, or moderate Arian, theological position of the early Christian church. George was ordained in Alexandria by Bishop Alexander but was excommunicated on charges of immorality and advocacy of

George was the king of Bohemia from 1458. As head of the conservative Utraquist faction of Hussite Protestants, he established himself as a power when Bohemia was still under Habsburg rule, and he was thereafter unanimously elected king by the estates. A nationalist and Hussite king of a prosperous

George Of Trebizond was a Byzantine humanist, Greek scholar, and Aristotelian polemist. His academic influence in Italy and within the papacy, his theories on grammar and literary criticism, and his Latin translations of ancient Greek works, although at times strongly criticized, contributed

William, prince of Wales: Marriage and children: The couple’s first son, Prince George Alexander Louis of Cambridge, was born on July 22, 2013. They subsequently had a daughter, Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana of Cambridge (born May 2, 2015), and a second son, Prince Louis Arthur Charles of Cambridge (born April 23, 2018).

Vanderbilt University: In 1979 Vanderbilt acquired George Peabody College for Teachers, which originated in 1785 as Davidson Academy and developed into a leading teacher-training school. The Blair School of Music, founded in 1964, became a part of the university in 1981.

George Philip and Son, British publishing house, one of the oldest in the United Kingdom, located in London. The company, specializing in maps and atlases, was founded in 1834. Some of its well-known publications are the Philip International Atlas and A Philip Management Planning Atlas. Its chief

John W. Bricker: The George Resolution, finally voted on, provided that treaties and other international agreements must not conflict with the Constitution, that votes on treaty ratification in the Senate must be determined by yeas and nays, and that “executive agreements” shall not become effective as internal law except…

George River, river in Nord-du-Québec region, northeastern Quebec province, Canada. It rises near the Labrador (Newfoundland) border, flows northward parallel to the boundary for 350 miles (563 km), and empties into the eastern side of Ungava Bay. Named after King George III by Moravian

George Patton: Controversies and appraisal of George Patton: …was sharply criticized for a pair of incidents in August 1943, when he physically struck hospitalized soldiers who exhibited no outward signs of injury. On August 3 Patton visited the 15th Evacuation Hospital outside Nicosia, Sicily, where he encountered Pvt. Charles Kuhl, who appeared to be unwounded. When asked what…

George S. Patton was only a middling student at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., from which he graduated in 1909. He was, however, an excellent athlete, with a talent that served him well when he participated in the 1912 Stockholm Games as a pentathlon competitor. That Patton

George the Monk was a Byzantine historian, author of a world chronicle that constitutes a prime documentary source for mid-9th-century Byzantine history, particularly the iconoclast (Greek: “image destroyer”) movement. George’s chronicle records events from the Creation to the reign of the emperor

George the Pisidian was a Byzantine epic poet, historian, and cleric whose classically structured verse was acclaimed as a model for medieval Greek poetry, but whose arid, bombastic tone manifested Hellenism’s cultural decline. A deacon and archivist of Constantinople’s cathedral Hagia Sophia,

George the Monk was a Byzantine historian, author of a world chronicle that constitutes a prime documentary source for mid-9th-century Byzantine history, particularly the iconoclast (Greek: “image destroyer”) movement. George’s chronicle records events from the Creation to the reign of the emperor

George The Syncellus was a Byzantine historian and author of a world chronicle of events from the creation to the reign of the Roman emperor Diocletian (reigned 284–305). Together with the parallel work by Eusebius of Caesarea, George’s work constitutes the prime instrument for interpreting

George Town, leading port of Malaysia, situated on a triangular promontory in the northeastern sector of the island of Penang (Pinang). Its sheltered harbour is separated from the west coast of Peninsular (West) Malaysia by a 3-mile (5-km) channel through which international shipping approaches

Haʿapai Group: …an eruption, the Tongan king George Tupou I ordered the island evacuated; few people live there today. Uninhabited, well-wooded Kao Island (5 square miles [13 square km]) is a volcanic cone rising to 3,389 feet (1,033 metres) to form the highest point in Tonga. Nomuka is the centre of a…

Tonga: History of Tonga: …was succeeded by his great-grandson George II, who died in 1918. During his reign the kingdom became a British protectorate (1900) to discourage German advances. Under the treaty with Great Britain (amended in 1905), Tonga agreed to conduct all foreign affairs through a British consul, who had veto power over…

Tonga: History of Tonga: …accession to the throne, King George Tupou V began divesting himself of ownership in many of the state assets that constituted much of the wealth of the monarchy. That process was completed prior to his coronation in August 2008. At the same time, the king announced the cession of much…

George V was the last king of Hanover (1851–66), the only son of Ernest Augustus, king of Hanover and Duke of Cumberland. His youth was passed in England and in Berlin until 1837, when his father became king of Hanover. He lost sight in one eye during a childhood illness and in the other by an

George V was the king of the United Kingdom from 1910 to 1936, the second son of Prince Albert Edward, later King Edward VII. He served in the navy until the death (1892) of his elder brother, Prince Albert Victor, brought the need for more specialized training as eventual heir to the throne.

George VI was the king of the United Kingdom from 1936 to 1952. The second son of the future king George V, the prince served in the Royal Navy (1913–17), the Royal Naval Air Service (1917–19), and the Royal Air Force (1919) and then attended Trinity College, Cambridge (1919–20). On June 3, 1920,

Robert A.M. Stern: …also selected to design the George W. Bush Presidential Center (2013) at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, and the Museum of the American Revolution (2017), Philadelphia. Acutely aware of the expectations for a building based on its location or function, Stern worked in a variety of styles, designing structures that…

Douglas Southall Freeman: …John Steward Bryan (1947); and George Washington, 7 vol. (1948–57), the final volume of which was prepared by his assistants after his death—the whole work earning him a second, posthumous Pulitzer Prize in 1958.

submarine: Strategic submarines: George Washington class, which became operational in 1959. These 5,900-ton, 382-foot (116-metre) vessels carried 16 Polaris missiles, which had a range of 1,200 nautical miles (2,200 km). In 1967 the first of the Soviet Union’s 8,000-ton Yankee-class submarines were delivered, which carried 16 SS-N-6 missiles…

George Washington, full-length oil portrait of George Washington created in 1796 by his most famous portraitist, Gilbert Stuart. It shows Washington during his last year as president of the United States and is a strong demonstration of Stuart’s skills. This portrait of the gentlemanly planter who

Abraham Lincoln Battalion: …a second American force, the George Washington Battalion, but the casualties of both were so heavy that in mid-year the two were merged. As time went on, other nationalities were admitted to the Lincoln Battalion so that, by late 1938, Spaniards outnumbered Americans in the battalion three to one. Its…

George Washington Birthplace National Monument, historical area consisting of 538 acres (218 hectares) of plantation land in Westmoreland county, eastern Virginia, U.S. It lies along the Potomac River 38 miles (61 km) east-southeast of Fredericksburg. The monument was established in 1930–32 through

George Washington Bridge, vehicular suspension bridge crossing the Hudson River, U.S., between The Palisades park near Fort Lee, New Jersey, and Manhattan Island, New York City (between 178th and 179th streets). The original structure was built (1927–31) by the Swiss-born engineer Othmar H. Ammann

Joplin: George Washington Carver National Monument (1943), immediately southeast, preserves the birthplace of the eminent agricultural scientist. The poet Langston Hughes was born in Joplin about 1902. Prairie State Park is 25 miles (40 km) to the north.

Washington Crossing the Delaware, oil painting created by German-American artist Emanuel Leutze in 1851. It is among the best known and most popular paintings of an American historical event. No visitor to the American Wing in New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art could forget seeing

Diane Wakoski: In The George Washington Poems (1967), Wakoski addressed Washington as an archetypal figure. She dedicated The Motorcycle Betrayal Poems (1971) to “all those men who betrayed me at one time or another, in hopes they will fall off their motorcycles and break their necks.” Waiting for…

William Keighley: Nearly as funny was George Washington Slept Here (1942), which was based on another popular Kaufman-Hart play; it starred Jack Benny, Ann Sheridan, and Charles Coburn.

The George Washington University, private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Washington, D.C., U.S. It consists of the Columbian College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Elliott School of International Affairs, the National Law Center, the School of Medicine and Health

Ethel Merman: …followed by an appearance in George White’s Scandals (1931), in which her rendition of “Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries” became another hit. She starred in both stage (1934) and screen (1936) versions of Porter’s Anything Goes. She gave several other memorable performances in such shows as Red, Hot…

George William was the elector of Brandenburg (from 1619) through much of the Thirty Years’ War. Though a Calvinist, George William was persuaded by his Roman Catholic adviser Adam von Schwarzenberg to stay out of the struggle between the Holy Roman emperor and the German Protestant princes. His

George III was the king of Great Britain and Ireland (1760–1820) and elector (1760–1814) and then king (1814–20) of Hanover, during a period when Britain won an empire in the Seven Years’ War but lost its American colonies and then, after the struggle against Revolutionary and Napoleonic France,

György Martinuzzi was a Hungarian statesman and later cardinal who worked to restore and maintain the national unity of Hungary. Born of a Croatian father and a mother of the patrician Venetian family of Martinuzzi, György became a Paulist friar at the age of 28 after a brief military career. A

David Lloyd George was a British prime minister (1916–22) who dominated the British political scene in the latter part of World War I. He was raised to the peerage in the year of his death. Lloyd George’s father was a Welshman from Pembrokeshire and had become headmaster of an elementary school in

Eddie George was a British economist and banker who, as governor (1993–2003) of the Bank of England (BOE), guided the British central bank to independence and thus full control over the country’s monetary policy. After studying economics at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, George served briefly in the

Eddie George was a British economist and banker who, as governor (1993–2003) of the Bank of England (BOE), guided the British central bank to independence and thus full control over the country’s monetary policy. After studying economics at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, George served briefly in the

Elizabeth George is an American novelist who created the popular Inspector Lynley mystery series. George was a prolific writer from childhood. She studied at Foothill Community College (now Foothill College) in Los Altos Hills, California, and at the University of California, Riverside, receiving a

György Martinuzzi was a Hungarian statesman and later cardinal who worked to restore and maintain the national unity of Hungary. Born of a Croatian father and a mother of the patrician Venetian family of Martinuzzi, György became a Paulist friar at the age of 28 after a brief military career. A

William A. Brady: …the stage and film star Grace George, starred in many of these productions. As a manager, Brady numbered among his clients his wife, Helen Hayes, Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., and Tallulah Bankhead, as well as the heavyweight boxers James J. Corbett and James J. Jeffries.

Henry George was a land reformer and economist who in Progress and Poverty (1879) proposed the single tax: that the state tax away all economic rent—the income from the use of bare land but not from improvements—and abolish all other taxes. Leaving school before his 14th birthday, George worked for

East African lakes: Physiography: …northeast it is connected with Lake George by the 3,000-foot- (915-meter-) wide Kazinga Channel. At an elevation of approximately 3,000 feet above sea level, the surfaces of both lakes are nearly 1,000 feet (300 meters) higher than that of Lake Albert.

Lake George, freshwater lake in southeastern New South Wales, Australia. It is located about 25 miles (40 km) northeast of Canberra, just east of the Lake George Range, a low ridge in the Great Dividing Range. Occupying a structural trough formed by faulting during the Miocene Epoch (i.e., about 23

Lake George, lake, northeastern New York state, U.S. It is 32 miles (51 km) long, 1–3 miles (1.6–5 km) wide, and extends northward from Lake George village to Ticonderoga, where it is connected to Lake Champlain through a narrow channel that descends 220 feet (67 metres) in a series of cataracts

Farmers’ Alliance: …in 1880 by farm journalist Milton George in Chicago. Numerous local chapters were formed and organized into state groupings of the National Farmers’ Alliance.

Congress of the People: …in 2008 by Mbhazima Shilowa, Mluleki George, and Mosiuoa Lekota, former high-ranking members of South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), who disagreed with the direction of that organization. The new party positioned itself as “progressive” and diverse, pledging to reach out to minorities and women, and promised…

Al Benson: Critic and historian Nelson George called Al Benson, who worked at several Chicago radio stations beginning in the mid-1940s, one of the most influential black deejays of all time. While many of his African-American peers were indistinguishable from white deejays over the airwaves, Benson, who was nicknamed “Yo’…

Paul George is an American basketball player known for his graceful athleticism and versatility as a top scorer and premier defender for several teams in the NBA. A 6-foot 8-inch (2.03-meter) forward, George has thrived as a multidimensional player who can shoot from a distance, drive to the

Paul George is an American basketball player known for his graceful athleticism and versatility as a top scorer and premier defender for several teams in the NBA. A 6-foot 8-inch (2.03-meter) forward, George has thrived as a multidimensional player who can shoot from a distance, drive to the

Kaillie Humphries: …a new brakewoman, Olympic sprinter Phylicia George, for the 2018 Winter Olympics in P’yŏngch’ang, South Korea, where the pair won a bronze medal. Shortly thereafter Humphries filed a complaint with Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton (BCS) alleging verbal and mental abuse by her coach. A subsequent investigation, however, was unable to substantiate…

William, prince of Wales: Marriage and children: The couple’s first son, Prince George Alexander Louis of Cambridge, was born on July 22, 2013. They subsequently had a daughter, Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana of Cambridge (born May 2, 2015), and a second son, Prince Louis Arthur Charles of Cambridge (born April 23, 2018).

Eleuthérios Venizélos: Early career: When Prince George, second son of King George I of Greece, was made high commissioner of the great European powers in autonomous Crete, Venizélos, at the age of 35, was appointed his minister of justice (1899–1901). He was soon in conflict with the absolutist prince George,…

Stefan George was a lyric poet responsible in part for the emergence of Aestheticism in German poetry at the close of the 19th century. After attending a Gymnasium in Darmstadt, George traveled to England, Switzerland, and France. He studied philosophy and the history of art in Paris, becoming

Elizabeth George is an American novelist who created the popular Inspector Lynley mystery series. George was a prolific writer from childhood. She studied at Foothill Community College (now Foothill College) in Los Altos Hills, California, and at the University of California, Riverside, receiving a

Stefan George: …school of his own, the George-Kreis, held together by the force of his personality. Many well-known writers (e.g., Friedrich Gundolf, Karl Wolfskehl, and Georg Simmel) belonged to it or contributed to its journal, Blätter für die Kunst, published from 1892 to 1919. The chief aim of the journal was to…

fungus: Annotated classification: Order Georgefischeriales Parasitic on plants; holobasidia; may reproduce sexually in teleomorphic phase; example genera include Georgefischeria, Phragmotaenium, Tilletiaria, and Tilletiopsis. Order Malasseziales Symbiotic on skin of animals but can become pathogenic, mainly affecting dogs and

Georges Bank, submerged sandbank in the Atlantic Ocean east of Massachusetts, U.S. It has long been an important fishing ground; scallops are harvested in its northeastern portion. Navigation is made dangerous by crosscurrents and fog. In 1994 large areas of Georges Bank were closed indefinitely to

Pompidou Centre, French national cultural centre on the Rue Beaubourg and on the fringes of the historic Marais section of Paris; a regional branch is located in Metz. It is named after the French president Georges Pompidou, under whose administration the museum was commissioned. The Pompidou

Georgetown, capital city of Guyana. The country’s chief port, Georgetown lies on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Demerara River. Although founded as a settlement by the British in 1781 and named for George III, the town had been largely rebuilt by the French by 1784. Known during the Dutch

George Town, leading port of Malaysia, situated on a triangular promontory in the northeastern sector of the island of Penang (Pinang). Its sheltered harbour is separated from the west coast of Peninsular (West) Malaysia by a 3-mile (5-km) channel through which international shipping approaches

Georgetown, port city, seat of Georgetown county, eastern South Carolina, U.S. It lies near the Atlantic coast where the Great Pee Dee, Waccamaw, Black, and Sampit rivers enter Winyah Bay. An early Spanish settlement there (1526) was abandoned because of fever. The first English settlement on the

Georgetown, town, seat (1867) of Clear Creek county, north-central Colorado, U.S. It lies along the South Fork of Clear Creek, in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of 8,540 feet (2,603 metres), 40 miles (64 km) west of Denver. A historic mining town, it originated in 1864 when

Christoph Waltz: …directed his first feature film, Georgetown, a crime drama in which he starred as a real-life social climber accused of killing his wealthy wife. He later was cast in Woody Allen’s romantic comedy Rifkin’s Festival (2020). In 2021 he appeared in Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch, a dramedy about the…

Georgetown, county, eastern South Carolina, U.S. The Atlantic Ocean is the eastern border, the Great Pee Dee River the irregular northeastern border, and the Santee River the southern border. It also is drained by the Waccamaw, Black, and Sampit rivers, which empty into Winyah Bay. A portion of the

Georgetown, town, port on MacCarthy Island in the Gambia River in central Gambia. It was founded in 1823 by Captain Alexander Grant as a settlement for freed slaves. Georgetown’s Wesleyan Mission (1823) introduced the peanut (groundnut), a crop still exported downstream on the Gambia River.

Georgetown, section of the city of Washington, D.C., U.S., at the confluence of the Potomac River and Rock Creek, about 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of the national Capitol. Georgetown was settled late in the 17th century. It was laid out as a town in 1751, under the name of George. With construction

Georgetown University, private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Washington, D.C., U.S. Though it is affiliated with the Jesuit order of the Roman Catholic Church, Georgetown has always been open to people of all faiths. The university includes the College of Arts and Sciences, the

Georgia, constituent state of the United States of America. Ranking fourth among the U.S. states east of the Mississippi River in terms of total area (though first in terms of land area) and by many years the youngest of the 13 former English colonies, Georgia was founded in 1732, at which time its

Georgia, country of Transcaucasia located at the eastern end of the Black Sea on the southern flanks of the main crest of the Greater Caucasus Mountains. It is bounded on the north and northeast by Russia, on the east and southeast by Azerbaijan, on the south by Armenia and Turkey, and on the west

Erskine Caldwell: …July (1940); the episodic narrative Georgia Boy (1943), a well-told story of boyhood; the literary autobiography Call It Experience (1951); and In Search of Bisco (1965).

buckeye: Species: The painted, or Georgia, buckeye (A. sylvatica) is a rounded shrub or small tree, up to 7.6 metres (25 feet) high, with yellow to reddish flowers. The California buckeye (A. californica) is endemic to California and southwestern Oregon and features sweetly scented white-to-pink flowers. At least…

On August 14, 2023, former U.S. president Donald Trump was charged in Georgia on 13 counts in connection with his attempt to overturn the Georgia results of the 2020 presidential election, which was won by Joe Biden. The indictment by a Fulton county, Georgia, grand jury represents the fourth

Georgia Institute of Technology, public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. The institute consists of the Ivan Allen College (humanities and social sciences), the DuPree College of Management, and colleges of architecture, computing, engineering, and sciences.

Georgia Southern University, public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Statesboro, Georgia, U.S., about 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Savannah. It is part of the University System of Georgia. The university consists of six colleges and offers more than 85 bachelor’s degree programs

Ray Charles: Music: …market with the best-sellers “Georgia on My Mind” (1960) and “Hit the Road, Jack” (1961). His album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music (1962) sold more than a million copies, as did its single “I Can’t Stop Loving You.” Other notable hit songs included “Busted” (1963), “Crying Time”…

Ty Cobb was a professional baseball player who is considered one of the greatest offensive players in baseball history and generally regarded as the fiercest competitor in the game. Cobb took to baseball early in his life: by age 14 he was playing alongside adults on the local baseball team in

Georgia Platform, statement of qualified support for the U.S. Union among Georgia conservatives following the Compromise of 1850. Drawn up by Charles J. Jenkins and adopted by a state convention on Dec. 10, 1850, at Milledgeville, the Georgia Platform consisted of a set of resolutions accepting the

J. Edgar Thomson: …was chief engineer for the Georgia Railroad, which constructed an Atlanta-to-Augusta line, the longest line built by one company up to that time.

Garry Marshall: Films: Pretty Woman and The Princess Diaries: Marshall’s later films include Georgia Rule (2007), Valentine’s Day (2010), and Mother’s Day (2016).

Georgia Southern University, public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Statesboro, Georgia, U.S., about 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Savannah. It is part of the University System of Georgia. The university consists of six colleges and offers more than 85 bachelor’s degree programs

Georgia Southern University, public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Statesboro, Georgia, U.S., about 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Savannah. It is part of the University System of Georgia. The university consists of six colleges and offers more than 85 bachelor’s degree programs

Rosalynn Carter: …Institute for Caregiving (RCI) at Georgia Southwestern State University. In 1999 Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter were awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honour in the United States.

Georgia State University, public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. It is part of the University System of Georgia. The university consists of six colleges, including colleges of arts and sciences, business, education, health and human services, and law and the

Georgia State University, public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. It is part of the University System of Georgia. The university consists of six colleges, including colleges of arts and sciences, business, education, health and human services, and law and the

Georgia Institute of Technology, public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. The institute consists of the Ivan Allen College (humanities and social sciences), the DuPree College of Management, and colleges of architecture, computing, engineering, and sciences.

Georgia State University, public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. It is part of the University System of Georgia. The university consists of six colleges, including colleges of arts and sciences, business, education, health and human services, and law and the

Salmon P. Chase: Johnson (1867) and Georgia v. Stanton (1867), Chase spoke for the court in refusing to prohibit Johnson and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton from enforcing the Reconstruction Acts. By disavowing the court’s jurisdiction in Ex parte McCardle (1868), Chase sidestepped the question of whether a U.S. military…

national flag consisting of a white field with a red cross dividing the field into quarters, each of which contains a red formée cross. The flag’s width-to-length ratio is 2 to 3.Historically, there had been a number of independent kingdoms in the Caucasus Mountains that eventually united to form

U.S. state flag consisting of a striped red-white-red field (background) with a blue canton containing the state coat of arms surrounded by a circle of 13 white stars. The flag’s width-to-length ratio is 3 to 5.The so-called Bonnie Blue Flag—a white star in the centre of a blue field—was flown in

Georgia: History: Archaeological findings make it possible to trace the origins of human society on the territory of modern Georgia back to the early Paleolithic and Neolithic periods. A number of Neolithic sites have been excavated in the Kolkhida Lowland, in the Khrami River valley in…

Strait of Georgia, narrow passage of the eastern North Pacific between the central east coast of Vancouver Island and the southwest mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It averages 138 miles (222 km) in length and 17 miles (28 km) in width. To the north the strait ends in a jumble of islands