The Columbia Gazetteer of the World , from which this volume derives, is cited in Books for College Libraries, 3rd edition . The present encyclopedia features 50,000 entries on geographical places and features of each region of North America and reflects the input of 58 geographical specialists. It covers every incorporated place and county in the U.S. along with several thousand unincorporated places, special-purpose sites, and physical features. Coverage includes the political world; the physical world; national and state parks, forests, reserves, and monuments; historical and archaeological sites; resorts, theme parks, airports, ports, dams, nuclear plants, mines, canals, shopping malls, industrial zones, stadia, military bases, roads, highways, and expressways. Entries which range from a line or two to several columns of fine print (New York state, for example) comprise identification of location, description of vital statistics, discussion of primary physical and economic features, and a survey of history (for the bigger places). Editor Cohen is professor emeritus, Hunter College. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)