Chatham

Chatham, city, Canada

Chatham, city (1991 pop. 43,557), S Ont., Canada, E of Detroit, Mich., on the Thames River. It is an industrial center in a rich mixed farming and fruit-raising region. It was a northern terminus for the Underground Railroad prior to the American Civil War.

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Chatham, city, England

Chatham, city (1991 pop. 65,035), Kent, SE England, on the Medway River. Chatham, Rochester, and Gillingham form a contiguous urban area known as the Medway Towns. Chatham is a major naval station, with well-equipped dockyards, dry docks, and shipbuilding and repairing equipment. There are also flour mills and timber works. The Royal Naval Dockyard is the largest installation. The first dockyard was established by Elizabeth I in 1588. The Roman Watling Street ran through Chatham.

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Chatham¹

1st Earl of title of the elder (William) Pitt

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Chatham²

1. a town in SE England, in N Kent on the River Medway: formerly royal naval dockyard. Pop.: 73 468 (2001)

2. a city in SE Canada, in SE Ontario on the Thames River. Pop.: 44 156 (2001)

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Chatham 

a city in Great Britain, in the county of Kent; situated on the Medway River, which empties into the Thames estuary. Population, 144,500 (1976). Together with the city of Rochester, Chatham forms the adminstrative district of Medway. Chatham is the site of a major naval base.

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Chatham 

a group of volcanic islands in the Pacific Ocean, east of New Zealand. The Chatham Islands—which include Pitt Island and Chatham Island—belong to New Zealand. The group has a total area of 963 sq km and a combined population of 500 (1968). The maximum elevation is 291 m. The islands have an oceanic climate, and there are vast swamps, meadows, and heaths. The economy is based on sheep raising. The Chatham Islands were discovered in 1791 by the British navigator W. R. Broughton.

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Chatham 

a strait in the Alexander Archipelago, in the northeastern part of the Pacific Ocean. Chatham Strait separates Baranof Island and Chichagof Island from Kuiu Island and Admiralty Island. The strait has a length of 203 km, a width of 7 to 25 km, and depths ranging from 530 to 691 m. The coasts are steep and occasionally precipitous, with elevations of as much as 1,000 m above sea level. The velocity of the tidal currents reaches 2 km per hr. Chatham Strait was discovered in 1741 by the Russian navigator A. I. Chirikov.