La Hontan \la-o n -'ta n \, Louis-Armand de Lorn d'Arce, baron
de (b. June 9, 1666, Mont-de-Marsan, France—d. 1715, Hannover, Hanover) French army officer and explorer. He served in New France (1683-93), commanded Ft.-St.-Joseph (now Niles, Mich.), and explored territory along the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers (1688-89). In 1692 he stopped at Newfoundland and defended the French colonists at Plai- sance against the English; after the governor there accused him of insub¬ ordination, he fled to Portugal in 1693 and thereafter remained in Europe.
His New Voyages to North-America (1703) influ¬ enced the works of Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Jonathan Swift.
La Nina Cyclic counterpart to El Nino, consisting of a cooling of surface waters of the Pacific Ocean along the western coast of South America. While its local effects on weather and climate are generally the oppo¬ site of those associated with El Nino, its global effects can be more com¬ plex. La Nina events often follow El Ninos, which occur at irregular intervals of about 5-10 years.
La Paz \la-‘pas\ City (pop., 2001: city, 789,558; 2003 metro, area est., 1,477,000), administrative capital of Bolivia. Located in west-central Bolivia, it is the world’s highest capital, built over 12,000 ft (3,650 m) above sea level. The city centre lies in a canyon formed by the La Paz River. Founded in 1548 by the Spanish on the site of an Inca village, it was originally called Nuestra Senora de La Paz (“Our Lady of Peace”). Following the Battle of Ayacucho (1824), the decisive battle in the colo¬ ny’s wars of independence, the city was renamed La Paz de Ayacucho, though informally it continues to be called La Paz. Since 1898 it has been the administrative capital of Bolivia, though Sucre remains the judicial capital. It is Bolivia’s principal industrial centre and also the site of the University of San Andres (1830), the National Museum of Art, and the National Museum of Archaeology.
La Paz City (pop., 2000: 162,954), capital of Baja California Sur state, northwestern Mexico. Situated on La Paz Bay of the Gulf of California, it is a popular resort and the largest urban centre in the state. The bay was discovered by the Spanish in 1596; the town was established in the early 1800s and served as the capital of Baja California (1828-87). When the peninsula was divided between the U.S. and Mexico (1887), La Paz became the capital of the Mexican region.
La Perouse \,la-pa-Tuz\ Strait Japanese Soya-kaiky6 Russian Proliv Laperuza International waterway between the Russian island of Sakhalin and the Japanese island of Hokkaido. The strait, named for the French explorer count de La Perouse, separates the Sea of Okhotsk from the Sea of Japan (East Sea). It is 27 mi (43 km) wide at its narrowest part, and it varies in depth from 167 to 387 ft (51 to 118 m). Noted for its extremely strong currents, it is closed by ice in the winter.
La Plata City (pop., 1999 est.: 556,308), eastern Argentina. After Bue¬ nos Aires became the national capital, La Plata was chosen (1882) as the new seat of Buenos Aires province and was modeled on the U.S. capital of Washington, D.C. It was renamed for Argentine first lady Eva Peron in 1952, but after the overthrow of Pres. Juan Peron in 1955 it resumed its original name. Located near the Rio de la Plata estuary, it is a seaport with a large artificial harbour. Its industries include meatpacking and oil refining.
La Plata River River, eastern central Puerto Rico. It flows about 45 mi (70 km) northwest and north, to empty into the Atlantic Ocean. Part of it is dammed to create a lake which provides hydroelectric power.
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La Rioja ► laboratory I 1063
La Rioja \,la-re-'o-ha\ Autonomous community (pop., 2001: 276,702), province, and historical region, north-central Spain. Covering 1,944 sq mi (5,035 sq km), it was known until 1980 as Logrono; its capital is Logrono city. Historically belonging to old Castile, La Rioja’s population is concentrated in the irrigated farmland (grapes, cereals, horticultural produce) along the Ebro River and its affluents. Upper Rioja produces some of Spain’s finest wines. A highway runs through Lower Rioja linking Bil¬ bao, Zaragoza, and Barcelona.
La Rochefoucauld \la-r6sh-fu-'ko\, Francois VI, duke de (b.
Sept. 15, 1613, Paris, France—d. March 16/17, 1680, Paris) French writer. Of a noble family, he joined the army at an early age and was wounded several times. He later played a leading part in the Fronde but gradually won his way back into royal favour. He turned his energies to intellec¬ tual pursuits and became the leading exponent of the maxime, a French form of epigram that concisely expresses a harsh or paradoxical truth. Maximes (five eds., 1665-78), his principal achievement, consists of 500 reflections on human behaviour. His Memoires (1664) recount the plots and campaigns of mutinous nobles during the Fronde.
La Salle \l9-'sal\, Rene-Robert Cavelier, sieur de (b. Nov. 22, 1643, Rouen, France—d. March 19, 1687, near Brazos River [now in Texas, U.S.]) French explorer. In 1666 he left France for North America and was granted land near Montreal. He explored the Ohio River region (1669) and then worked with the count de Frontenac to extend French influence. He helped establish Fort Frontenac on Lake Ontario, where as seigneur he controlled the fur trade. He obtained authority from Louis XIV to explore the western frontier of New France and build new forts. He sailed down the Illinois River and with Henri de Tonty (16507-1704) canoed down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. There in 1682 La Salle claimed the entire Mississippi Basin for France, naming it Loui¬ siana after Louis XIV. Back in France, he received authority to build a fort at the mouth of the Mississippi. Beset by losses of men and ships, he mistakenly landed at Matagorda Bay, Texas. After fruitless attempts to locate the Mississippi, he was killed by mutineers.
La Sea la Opera house in Milan, Italy. Built in 1776 by Empress Maria Theresa of Austria (which country then ruled Milan), it replaced an ear¬ lier theatre that had burned. With the works of 19th-century composer Gioacchino Rossini, Italian opera regained international attention, and La Scala, as the site of many of Rossini’s premieres, had by the 1830s become the opera landmark it has remained ever since. Associated with the main theatre are a smaller theatre, La Piccola Scala; a ballet company and bal¬ let school; and a singing school.
La Tene \la-'ten\ French "The Shallows" Archaeological site at the eastern end of Lake Neuchatel,
Switz. The name by extension applies to a late Iron Age culture of European Celts. La Tene culture originated in the mid-5th century bc, when the Celts came into contact with Greeks and Etruscans. It passed through several phases and regional variations during the next 400 years, as the Celts populated northern Europe and the British Isles, and ended in the mid-1st century bc, when most of the Celts came under Roman control. Objects of the early period are characterized by orna¬ mental S-shapes, spirals, and round patterns. The middle period is notable for long iron swords, heavy knives, and burial in coffins or under stone heaps; findings with a later date, but still of the middle period, include decorated scabbards, broad- bladed spearheads, and wooden shields with iron supports. The final period, showing Roman influence, is distinguished by peasant’s imple¬ ments, such as iron sickles, scythes, axes, saws, and plowshares.
La Tour \l9-'tur\, Georges de (b. March 19, 1593, Vic-sur-Seille, Lorraine, Fr.—d. Jan. 30, 1652, Luneville) French painter. He was well known in his lifetime, especially for his depictions of candlelit subjects, then was forgotten until the 20th century, when the identification of works previously misattributed established his reputation as a giant of French painting. His early works were painted in a realistic manner and influ¬