CONTINENTAL DIVIDE • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Continental divide

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/kˌɑntənˈɛntəl dɪvˈaɪd/ Listen

Continental divide

noun

The watershed of a continent (especially the watershed of North America formed by a series of mountain ridges extending from Alaska to Mexico).

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Etymology of 'Continental divide'

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"Continental divide" Quotes from Famous Books

... contribution to linguistic science. They represent "one or more dialects of every Indian language spoken on the Pacific slope from the Columbia River north to the Tshilkat River, and beyond, in Alaska; and from the outermost sea-board to the main continental divide in the Rocky Mountains." A colored map shows the area occupied ...

— Indian Linguistic Families Of America, North Of Mexico • John Wesley Powell

... agricultural territory of Dakota (1861) for the up-river Missouri country, where in a few more years were revealed the riches of the Black Hills. In 1863 the mines of the lower Colorado River gave excuse for Arizona Territory. Those of the northern Continental Divide were grouped in Idaho in the same year, and divided in 1864 when Montana was created. Wyoming, the last of the subdivisions, was the product of mines and railroads in 1868. Oklahoma was not named for twenty years more, ...

— The New Nation • Frederic L. Paxson

... island of Tierra del Fuego was to be divided between them. At the same time the Strait of Magellan was declared a neutral waterway, open to the ships of all nations. Ere long, however, it was ascertained that the crest of the Andes did not actually coincide with the continental divide. Thereupon Argentina insisted that the boundary line should be made to run along the crest, while Chile demanded that it be traced along the watershed. Since the mountainous area concerned was of little value, the question at bottom was simply one of power ...

— The Hispanic Nations of the New World - Volume 50 in The Chronicles Of America Series • William R. Shepherd

Words linked to "Continental divide" : divide, North America, watershed, Great Divide, water parting