Columbia - Definition and Overview

Note: The similar sounding country uses a different spelling--see Colombia.

Columbia is a name used in the English language for many things and places. The name is derived from that of Christopher Columbus. The term "Pre-Columbian" is used for American cultures before the arrival of Columbus and other European explorers.

Columbia, late 19th century
from a Columbia Records phonograph cylinder package

The name "Columbia" is/was a poetic name for the United States of America, which largely fell out of use in the early 20th century.

Columbia was also a female personification of the USA, similar to the male Uncle Sam and the British female Britannia, often seen in political cartoons through the early 20th century (see illustration at right) and still used by Columbia Pictures.

The term Columbian has been occasionally used as an alternative word for American when referring to someone from the United States, but has not entered general use, not least because of its confusing similarity to Colombian.

Things named Columbia include:

• Columbia University
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)
• Columbia Motors, early 20th century automobile company
• Columbia Records (now part of Sony Music Entertainment)
• Columbia Pictures, film production company
• Mt. Columbia (4290m/14,073'), mountain in Colorado
• Mt. Columbia (3747m/12,294'), highest point in Alberta
• Space shuttle Columbia
• Columbia, the command module of the Apollo 11 mission, which stayed in orbit around the moon.
• Columbiad, the fictional cannon that was used to travel to the moon in Jules Verne's novel From the Earth to the Moon.
• USS Columbia, several ships of the US Navy
• Columbium, a former name for the element niobium.
• Columbia Data Products was a PC manufacturer founded in 1976 CDP (http://www.cdp.com)
• Columbia Shipmanagement Ltd., shipmanager company in Cyprus CSM (http://www.columbia.com.cy)
• Columbia NX-02, a fictional starship on the television series Star Trek: Enterprise (named in honor of the space shuttle).
• Columbia, a supercomputer owned by NASA.

Places named "Columbia" include:

• Republic of Colombia (note different spelling)
• Columbia River
• British Columbia
• District of Columbia
• Columbia, Connecticut
• Columbia, Illinois
• Columbia, Maryland
• Columbia, Mississippi
• Columbia, Missouri
• Columbia, New Jersey
• Columbia, New York
• Columbia, North Carolina
• Columbia, Pennsylvania
• Columbia, South Carolina
• Columbia, Tennessee
• Columbia City, Indiana
• Columbia County, Arkansas
• Columbia County, New York
• Columbia County, Pennsylvania
• Columbia Heights, Minnesota
• Columbia Heights, Washington, DC
• Columbia Station, Ohio
• Columbia Township, Jackson County, Michigan
• Columbia Township, Tuscola County, Michigan
• Columbia Township, Van Buren County, Michigan

There is also the constellation Columba, the dove.

Columbia is also the name of a character in The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

The term Columbia is also used to identify a type of railroad locomotive. In the Whyte notation, a Columbia is a type 2-4-2.