Ridge, Tom (Thomas Joseph Ridge), 1945-, U.S. politician and government official, first secretary of the Dept. of Homeland Security (2003-5), b. Munhall, Pa. A graduate of Harvard (1967) and the Dickinson School of Law (1972) who served (1968-70) in the infantry in Vietnam, Ridge worked in private law practice and became active in the Republican party. In 1982 he was elected to the House of Representatives from Pennsylvania and served six terms. Elected governor of his home state in 1994, he was in his second term when President George W. Bush asked him to head the Office of Homeland Security in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks (see Pentagon, the; World Trade Center). Chosen to head the newly established Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2003, Ridge oversaw the integration of the 22 agencies that were consolidated and reorganized in the DHS.

Continuous, submarine mountain chain extending approximately 50,000 mi (80,000 km) through all the world's oceans, separating them into distinct basins. The main ridge extends down the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, passes between Africa and Antarctica, turns north to the Indian Ocean, then continues between Australia, New Zealand, and Antarctica and across the Pacific basin to the mouth of the Gulf of California. Lateral ridges extend from islands on the axis of the oceanic ridge to coasts of adjacent continents. The oceanic ridge system is the largest feature of the Earth's surface after the continents and the ocean basins themselves; it is explained by the theory of plate tectonics as a boundary between diverging plates where molten rock is brought up from deep beneath the Earth's crust. Seealso subduction zone.

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Submarine ridge lying along the floor of the central Atlantic Ocean. It is a long mountain chain running about 10,000 mi (16,000 km) in a general but curving north-south direction from the Arctic Ocean to the southern tip of Africa. The mountains sometimes reach above sea level, forming such islands or island groups as Ascension, the Azores, St. Helena, and Tristan da Cunha.

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or Blue Ridge Mountains

Section of the Appalachian Mountains, eastern U.S. The range extends southward from Carlisle, Pa., through parts of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina to Mt. Oglethorpe in Georgia. The highest peaks are in the Black Mountains of North Carolina; the average elevation is 2,000–4,000 ft (600–1,200 m). The scenic Blue Ridge Parkway, established in 1936 and administered by the National Park Service, runs 469 mi (755 km) along the crest.

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Bel-Ridge is a northern suburban village in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 3,082 at the 2000 census. Bel-Ridge is part of the Normandy School System and borders the affluent villages of Bel-Nor, and Bellerive.

Geography

Bel-Ridge is located at (38.714868, -90.328081).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.8 square miles (2.1 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 3,082 people, 1,180 households, and 748 families residing in the village. The population density was 3,799.0 people per square mile (1,469.1/km²). There were 1,288 housing units at an average density of 1,587.7/sq mi (614.0/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 17.55% White, 79.66% African American, 0.23% Native American, 0.39% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.13% from other races, and 2.01% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.17% of the population.

There were 1,180 households out of which 36.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 23.7% were married couples living together, 34.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.6% were non-families. 30.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.26.

In the village the population was spread out with 32.5% under the age of 18, 12.3% from 18 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 18.8% from 45 to 64, and 7.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 28 years. For every 100 females there were 85.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 74.0 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $47,500, and the median income for a family was $53,550. Males had a median income of $49,844 versus $49,576 for females. The per capita income for the village was $39,073. About 13.5% of families and 9.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.1% of those under age 18 and 7.8% of those age 65 or over.

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