canyon Very narrow, deep valley cut by a river through resistant rock and having steep, almost vertical sides. Canyons occur most often in arid or semiarid regions. Some canyons (e.g., the Grand Canyon) are spec¬ tacular natural features. See also submarine canyon.
Canyon de Chelly \do-'sha\ National Monument Preserve, northeastern Arizona, U.S. Located on the Navajo Indian reservation immediately east of Chinle, the preserve was established in 1931 and occupies 131 sq mi (339 sq km). It includes several hundred pre- Columbian cliff dwellings, some of them built in caves on the canyon walls. They represent a broader time span than any other ruins in the Southwest, with many dating from the 11th century. Modern Navajo homes and farms occupy the canyon floor.
Canyonlands National Park Park, southeastern Utah, U.S. The park, established in 1964, occupies a wilderness of water-eroded sand¬ stone spires, canyons, and mesas extending over 527 sq mi (1,366 sq km). Some of its rock walls display Indian petroglyphs. The Needles section in its southern part contains the Angel and Druid arches, gigantic balanced rock formations.
Cao Cao \'tsau-'tsau\ or Ts'ao Ts'ao (b. ad 155, Boxian, China—d. 220, Luoyang) Chinese general who, at the end of the Han dynasty, assumed imperial prerogatives. Cao Cao rose to prominence when he suppressed the Yellow Turban rebellion in the last years of the Han. Though the rebellion was suppressed, the dynasty was irreparably weakened, and in the ensuing chaos Cao Cao occupied the strategic northern section of China around the capital of Luoyang. His domain was known as the king¬ dom of Wei (see Three Kingdoms). Confucian historians and popular leg¬ ends alike describe him as the archetypal unscrupulous villain; he is portrayed as such in the famous 14th-century novel Sanguozhi yanyi (“Romance of the Three Kingdoms”). His son, Cao Pei, founded the Wei dynasty (220-265/266).
Cao Dai \'kau-'dl\ Syncretist modern Vietnamese religious movement with a strongly nationalist political character. Cao Dai draws on ethical precepts from Confucianism, occult practices from Daoism, theories of karma and rebirth from Buddhism, and hierarchical organization (includ¬ ing a pope) from Roman Catholicism. It was formally established in 1926 by Ngo Van Chieu (1878-19267), a colonial administrator in French Indochina who professed to have had a communication from the supreme deity. The movement met with resistance from the Vietnamese govern¬ ment both before and after the communist takeover in 1975. It was reported to have some three million adherents in Vietnam and abroad in the early 21st century.
Cao Zhan \'tsau-'jan\ or Ts'ao Chan (b. 17157, Jiangning, Jiangsu province, China—d. Feb. 12, 1763, Beijing) Chinese novelist. He is the author of Dream of the Red Chamber (1791), generally considered Chi¬ na’s greatest novel. A partly autobiographical work written in the ver¬ nacular, it describes in lingering detail the decline of a powerful family and an ill-fated love between cousins. Cao finished at least 80 of its 120 chapters; it was completed after his death, probably by Gao E, about whom little is known.
Capa, Robert orig. Andrei Friedmann (b. 1913, Budapest, Hung.—d. May 25, 1954, Thai Binh, Viet.) Hungarian-born U.S. photo- journalist. In Paris he presented his photographs as the work of a ficti¬ tious rich American, Robert Capa; the deception was soon discovered but he kept the name. He first achieved fame as a war correspondent in the
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Capablanca ► Cape Verde I 329
Spanish Civil War (1936). In World War II he covered the fighting in Africa, Sicily, and Italy for Life magazine; images of the Normandy inva¬ sion are among his most memorable works. In 1947 he founded Magnum Photos with Henri Cartier-Bresson and David Seymour. He was killed by a land mine while photographing the French Indochina war for Life.
Capablanca, Jose (Raul) (b. Nov. 19, 1888, Havana, Cuba—d. March 8, 1942, New York, N.Y., U.S.) Cuban chess master. He learned chess from his father at age 4 and beat Cuba’s best player at 12. He defeated Emanuel Lasker to become world champion in 1921; in 1927 he was defeated by Alexander Alekhine (1892-1946). From 1916 to 1924, while playing in many tournaments, he did not lose a game. In 1921 he published an instruction manual, Chess Fundamentals.
capacitance Vko-'pa-ss-tsnsV Property of a pair of electric conductors separated by a nonconducting material (such as air) that permits storage of electric energy by the separation of electric charge, and that is measured by the amount of separated charge that can be stored per unit of electric potential between the conductors. If electric charge is transferred between two initially uncharged conductors, they become equally (but oppositely) charged. A potential difference is set up between them and some of the electricity can be stored. Capacitance C is the ratio of the amount of charge q on one of the conductors to the potential difference V between the conductors, or C = q/V. The unit of capacitance is coulombs per volt (C/V), or farads (F).
Cape Agulhas See Cape Agulhas Cape Ann See Cape Ann Cape Bojador See Cape Bojador Cape Bon Peninsula See SharIk Peninsua
Cape Breton \'bret- 3 n\ Island Island, (pop., 2001: 109,330), eastern part of Nova Scotia, Canada. Separated from the mainland by the Strait of Canso, it is 110 mi (175 km) long and up to 75 mi (120 km) wide, with an area of 3,981 sc[ mi (10,311 sq km). It contains the Bras d'Or salt lakes. Originally called lie Royale as a French colony, it later took the name of its eastern cape, probably the first land visited by John Cabot on his 1497-98 voyage and probably named by Basque fishermen from Cap Breton, France. It was ceded to the British by the 1763 Treaty of Paris and joined to Nova Scotia. In 1784 it became a separate British crown colony, but it was rejoined to Nova Scotia in 1820. In 1955 the island was linked to the mainland by a causeway. Cape Breton Highlands National Park was established in 1936. Tourism is an important industry on the island.
Cape buffalo Massive, black, horned buffalo ( Syncerus caffer), for¬ merly found throughout sub-Saharan Africa but now greatly reduced in number by disease and hunting. It is a gregarious animal of open or scrub-covered plains and open forests. When wounded, it is regarded as one of the most dangerous animals. It stands up to 5 ft (1.5 m) tall at the shoulder, and bulls can weigh almost a ton (about 900 kg). Its heavy horns typically curve downward, then up and inward. A smaller subspecies is found in dense West African forests.
Cape Canaveral See Canaveral, Cape
Cape Cod Peninsula, eastern Massachusetts, U.S. Some 65 mi (105 km) long and 1-20 mi (2-32 km) wide, it touches Buzzards Bay and extends into the Atlantic Ocean in a wide curve, enclosing Cape Cod Bay. The Cape Cod Canal, cutting across the base of the peninsula, forms part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. Named by an English explorer who visited its shores in 1602 and took aboard a “great store of codfish,” Cape Cod was the site, near Provincetown, of the Pilgrims’ landing in 1620. Extending into the warm Gulf Stream, it has coastal towns and villages that become densely populated resorts in summer. In the 19th century Provincetown was an active whaling port. The cape’s northern hook was designated the Cape Cod National Seashore in 1961.
Cape Colony See Cape Province Cape Dezhnev See Cape Dezhnev
Cape Fear River River, central and southeastern North Carolina, U.S. Formed by the confluence of the Deep and Haw rivers, it flows southeast about 200 mi (320 km) to enter the Atlantic Ocean near Southport at Cape Fear. The southern estuary forms part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Water¬ way. A series of locks and dams makes the river navigable from Wilm¬ ington to Fayetteville.