Cape Hatteras Vha-t3-ras\ National Seashore Scenic coastal area situated on Bodie, Hatteras, and Ocracoke islands along the Outer Banks, eastern North Carolina, U.S. The park, the country’s first national sea¬ shore, was authorized in 1937 and established in 1953. It has a total area of 47 sq mi (122 sq km). It includes the tallest (208 ft [63 m]) masonry lighthouse in the country, located at Cape Hatteras.
Cape Horn See Cape Horn
Cape Krusenstern VkrU-zon-.stenA National Monument
National preserve, northwestern Alaska, U.S., on the coast of the Chuk¬ chi Sea. Established in 1978, it was enlarged in 1980 to 1,031 sq mi (2,670 sq km). Its remarkable archaeological sites illustrate the cultural evolu¬ tion of the Arctic peoples over some 4,000 years.
Cape of Good Hope See Cape of Good Hope
Cape Province or Cape of Good Hope formerly (1826-1910) Cape Colony Former province, South Africa. Occupying the southern extremity of the African continent, it comprised the southern and west¬ ern portions of South Africa; its capital was Cape Town. The black state of Ciskei and parts of two others, Transkei and Bophuthatswana, lay within its boundaries. Its name refers to the Cape of Good Hope, 30 mi (50 km) south of Cape Town. The original inhabitants included Bantu, San, and Khoekhoe peoples. Bartolomeu Dias, en route to India in 1488, became the first European to visit the area. A colony was founded by the Dutch at Table Bay in 1652; it was ceded to the British in 1814. It joined the Union of South Africa in 1910 and the Republic of South Africa in 1961. The province ceased to exist in 1994, when it was split roughly into Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, and Western Cape provinces.
Cape Town Afrikaans Kaapstad \'kap-,stat\ City (pop., 2005 est., urban agglom.: 3,103,000), legislative capital of the Republic of South Africa. It is also the capital of Western Cape province. Located on Table Bay, Cape Town has long been an important regional port. The first settlement at Table Bay, it was founded in the 17th century by the Dutch navigator Jan van Riebeeck for the Dutch East India Company, and it soon served as a stop¬ over for ships plying the Europe-to-India route. It was under Dutch rule intermittently until it was taken by the British in 1806. Today it is a com¬ mercial and cultural centre. See also Pretoria; Bloemfontein.
Cape Verde \'vord\ officially Republic of Cape Verde Island country, east-central Atlantic Ocean. Lying 385 mi (620 km) off the west-
thirds of its population are Creole (mixed origin); the remainder are Euro-
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330 I Capek ► capitalism
pean and black African. Languages: Portuguese (official), Crioulo (a Portuguese dialect). Religions: Christianity (predominantly Roman Catholic); also Islam. Currency: Cape Verde escudo. The mountainous windward islands are craggy and furrowed by erosion; the flat leeward islands are largely plains and lowlands. The archipelago is volcanic in origin. Fogo Island has an active volcano that erupted in 1951; it is also the location of the highest peak, which rises 9,281 ft (2,829 m). The other main islands are Santo Antao, Boa Vista, and Sao Tiago. Cape Verde has a developing mixed economy based largely on agriculture, though tour¬ ism has been promoted. It is a republic with one legislative house; its chief of state is the president and its head of government the prime min¬ ister. The islands were uninhabited when Diogo Gomes sighted and named Maio and Sao Tiago in 1460; in 1462 the first settlers landed on Sao Tiago, founding the city of Ribeira Grande. The city’s importance grew with the development of the slave trade, and its wealth attracted attacks so often that it was abandoned in 1712. The prosperity of the Portuguese- controlled islands vanished with the decline of the slave trade in the 19th century, when they were made a coaling and submarine cable station. In 1951 the colony became an overseas province of Portugal. Many island¬ ers preferred outright independence, which was granted in 1975. Once associated politically with Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde split from it in
Capek Vcha-pek\, Karel (b. Jan. 9, 1890, Male Svatonovice, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary—d. Dec. 25, 1938, Prague, Czech.) Czech novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. Capek’s “black utopias,” works show¬ ing the dangers of technological progress, include the cautionary play R.U.R.: Rossum’s Universal Robots (1920), a depiction of a society dependent on mechanical workers called robots (a term he coined from a Czech word for forced labour). The comic fantasy The Insect Play (1921; with his brother Josef) satirizes human greed. The Makropoulos Affair (1922) was made into an opera by Leos JanAcek. Capek explored aspects of knowledge in the novel trilogy Hordubal (1933), Meteor (1934), and An Ordinary Life (1934).
caper Any of the low prickly shrubs that make up the genus Capparis (family Capparaceae), of the Mediterranean region. The European caper- bush (C. spinosa) is known for its flower buds, which are pickled in vin¬ egar and used as a spicy condiment. The term caper also refers to one of the pickled flower buds or young berries. Buds of C. decidua are eaten as potherbs, and curries are prepared from seeds and fruits of C. zeylandica.
Capernaum Vko-'por-na-omN Ancient city, Palestine. Located on the northwestern shore of the Lake Tiberias (Sea of Galilee), it was the home of Jesus for much of his ministry. His disciples Peter, Andrew, and Mat¬ thew were from Capernaum, and he was said to have performed many of his miracles there. Excavations begun in 1905 indicated that the cite of the ancient city is likely near modem Kefer Nahum, Israel. Among the remains discovered was a synagogue dating from the 2nd-3rd century ad.
Capet, Hugh See Hugh Capet
Capetians Vko-'pe-shonsN or Capets \'ka-pots\ Ruling house of France (987-1328), who laid the foundation of the French state. Descended from Robert the Strong (died 866), they included Hugh Capet (r. 987-96), the first Capetian king; Philip II Augustus (r. 1180-1223); and Louis IX (r.1226- 70). Capetians also ruled as dukes of Burgundy and Brittany, emperors of Constantinople, counts of Artois and Provence, kings and queens of Naples, and kings of Hungary and Navarre.
capillarity \,ka-p3-'lar-9-te\ Rise or fall of liquid in a small passage or tube. When a glass tube of small internal diameter is inserted into water, the surface water molecules are attracted to the glass and the water level in the tube rises. The narrower the tube, the higher the water rises. The water is said to “wet” the tube. Water will also be drawn into the fibres of a towel, even if the towel is in a horizontal position. Conversely, if a glass tube is inserted into mercury, the level of the liquid in the tube falls. The mercury does not wet the tube. Capillarity is caused by the differ¬ ence in attraction of the liquid molecules to each other and the attraction of the liquid molecules to those of the tube.
capillary Vka-po-.ler-eX Any of the minute blood vessels that form net¬ works where the arterial and venous circulation (see artery, vein) meet for exchange of oxygen, nutrients, and wastes with body tissues. Capillaries are just large enough for red blood cells to pass through in single file. Their thin walls are semipermeable, allowing small molecules to pass
through in both directions. The smallest lymphatic vessels and minute bile channels in the liver are also called capillaries.
capital In architecture, the crowning member of a column, pier, pilas¬ ter, or other vertical form, providing a structural support and transition for the horizontal member (entablature) or arch above. In Classical styles, the capital is the architectural member that most readily identifies the order. Simple stone capitals have been found in the earliest known pyramids of ancient Egypt (c. 2890-2686 bc), at Saqqarah.
capital In economics, the stock of resources that are used to produce other goods now and in the future. In classical economics the three fac¬ tors of production are capital, labour, and land. Capital embodies the man-made resources, which include the buildings, plant, equipment, and inventories created by all three factors. In this sense, capital goods may be contrasted with consumer goods. The creation of capital goods means that consumption is forgone, resulting in saving. The flow of saving becomes a flow of investment. Expenditures on education and training are often referred to as investment in human capital (see Gary S. Becker). Financial capital is the term given to the stocks and bonds issued in order to finance the acquisition of capital goods.