NEVADA (46), one of the western States of the American Union, occupying a wide stretch of territory on the Great Plateau or Basin, between the Rocky Mountains on the E. and the Cascades and the Sierra Nevada on the W., has Oregon and Idaho on the N., and California on the S. and W.; elevated, cold, dry, and barren, it offers little inducement to settlers, and is in consequence the least in population of the American States; the great silver discoveries of 1859 brought it first into notice, and mining still remains the chief industry; Virginia City and Carson (capital) are the chief towns; was admitted to the Union in 1864.

NEVILLE’S CROSS, BATTLE OF, battle fought near Durham between the Scots and English in 1346, in which the former were defeated and King David taken prisoner.

NEVIS, BEN.  See BEN NEVIS.

NEW BRITAIN or NEU-POMMERN, a large island in the German Bismarck Archipelago, West Pacific, lying off the NE. coast of New Guinea, from which it is separated by Dampier Strait; is 300 m. long, with an average breadth of 40 m.; is mountainous and volcanic in the interior, and thickly clad with forest trees; fruits of various kinds are the chief product; is inhabited by Melanesian savages.

NEW BRUNSWICK (321), a SE. province of Canada, presents a long foreshore to the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the NE. and to the Bay of Fundy on the SE., while directly E. lies Nova Scotia, to which it is joined by the isthmus of Chignecto; the surface is diversified by numerous lakes, magnificent forests of pine and other woods, and the fertile valleys of the Rivers St. John, Restigouche, and Miramichi; timber is the chief export, but only less valuable are its fisheries, while shipbuilding is also an important and growing industry; coal is mined in good quantities, and the chief towns, St. John, Portland, and Fredericton (capital) are busy centres of iron, textile, and other factories; the climate is subject to extremes of heat and cold, but is healthy; many of the inhabitants are of French origin, for New Brunswick formed part of the old French colony of Acadia.

NEW CALEDONIA (63), an island of the South Pacific belonging to France, the most southerly of the Melanesian group, lying about 800 m.  E. of Australia and nearly 1000 m.  N. of New Zealand; is mountainous, produces the usual tropical fruits, and exports some nickel, cobalt, coffee, &c.; is used by the French as a convict station; discovered by Captain Cook in 1774 and annexed by France in 1853; Noumea (5), on the SW., is the capital.

NEW ENGLAND, a name given in 1704 by Captain John Smith to the eastern and most densely populated portion of the United States, which now comprises Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut; was first colonised under the name of North Virginia by the Plymouth Company in 1606; the inhabitants, known distinctively as Yankees, are mostly of Puritan and Scotch descent, and are noted for their shrewdness and industry.