orange

Orange tree bearing fruit and blossom. The fruit of the orange is rich in vitamin C, sugars, and acids.

Round orange-coloured juicy citrus fruit of several species of evergreen trees, which bear white blossom and fruits at the same time. Thought to have originated in Southeast Asia, orange trees are commercially cultivated in Spain, Israel, the USA, Brazil, South Africa, and elsewhere. The sweet orange (C. sinensis) is commonly eaten fresh; the Jaffa, blood, and navel orange are varieties of this species. (Genus Citrus, family Rutaceae.)

Tangerines and mandarins belong to a related species (C. reticulata). The sour or Seville orange (C. aurantium) is the bitter orange used in making marmalade. Oranges yield several essential oils.

Orange

River in South Africa, rising at the Mont-aux-Sources in the Maluti Mountains in Lesotho and flowing west to the Atlantic Ocean; length 2,100 km/1,300 mi. It runs along the southern boundary of the Free State Province. Water from the Orange is diverted via the Orange-Fish River Tunnel (1975) to irrigate the semi-arid Eastern Cape Province. It was named in 1779 after William of Orange.

The Orange flows through a deep channel for almost its entire length; only in the Boegoeberg–Augrabies Falls section does the valley open out, and almost all the irrigable alluvial land is concentrated here. The watershed cannot be determined accurately in the Kalahari, but the drainage basin is about 850,000 sq km/328,000 sq mi. Tributaries include the Vaal and the Caledon. In its lower course the Orange forms the boundary between South Africa and Namibia.

Orange

French town in the département of Vaucluse, 21 km/13 mi north of Avignon; population (1999) 28,000. It has the remains of a Roman theatre, a triumphal arch and an amphitheatre. It was a medieval principality from which came the European royal House of Orange.

History A large Roman army was destroyed here in 105 BC by two Germanic tribes. A synod held here in AD 529 was of importance in the Pelagian controversy, in which the Catholic Church condemned the Christian doctrine of the Briton Pelagius.

The town was the capital of the county, later the principality, of Orange from the 11th to the 16th centuries; in 1544 it passed to William the Silent, and hence gave its name to the ruling family of Holland (see Orange, House of). It was taken in 1672 by Louis XIV, and was confirmed as a French possession by the Treaties of Ryswick in 1697 and Utrecht in 1713.

Orange

City in Orange County, southwestern California, USA, 48 km/30 mi southeast of Los Angeles, and adjoining Santa Ana to the north; population (1990) 110,700. Founded before 1870, it lies in an irrigated area long known for its oranges. Residential and business development replaced the last groves in the city in the 1960s, but the packing and shipping of fruits, nuts, and vegetables remain important. Orange has a wide range of manufactures, along with wholesale and other businesses. It is the seat of Chapman College (1861).

Orange

Town in New Haven County, southwestern Connecticut, USA, on the west bank of the Housatonic River, immediately southwest of New Haven; population (1990) 12,800. It has always been primarily residential, with some manufacturing. Settled in 1639 on land bought from the Paugusset people, it joined with part of New Haven to form the town of Orange in 1822. Part of the town seceded in 1921 to become West Haven.

Orange

Township in Essex County, northeastern New Jersey, USA, 5 km/3 mi northeast of Newark; population (1990) 29,900. With East, South, and West Orange, it forms the suburban complex known as the Oranges. Now primarily a residential commuter suburb, Orange was formerly a manufacturing centre. Surviving industries produce office machines, pharmaceuticals, textiles, electrical supplies, and clothing.

The town was founded as Mountain Plantations in 1678. It was separated from Newark in 1806 and from East, South, and West Orange during 1861–63.

Orange

Seat of Orange County, eastern Texas, USA, on the Sabine River, at the Louisiana border, 175 km/110 mi east of Houston; population (1990) 19,400. It has a deepwater harbour, and is part of an oil-producing triangle with Beaumont to the west and Port Arthur to the southwest. In addition to oil and petrochemicals, Orange manufactures fabricated steel, paper products, and cement. A branch of Lamar University opened here in 1969.

Orange was founded in 1836, and prospered with the lumber, cattle, and rice trade in the 19th century. Its deepwater harbour, once a haven to the privateer Jean Lafitte, also made it a shipbuilding centre; the US Navy subsequently maintained a laid-up fleet here.