Castries \ka-'stre, 'kas-,tre\ Seaport (pop., 1997 est.: 16,187), capital of Saint Lucia. Located on the island’s northwestern coast, its fine harbour is Saint Lucia’s chief port. A fortress on Mount Fortune (852 ft [260 m]) overlooks the town. Castries is a gateway for tourists visiting the island.
Castro (Ruz), Fidel (b. Aug. 13, 1926/27, near Biran, Cuba) Political leader of Cuba (from 1959). Son of a prosperous sugar planter, he became a lawyer and worked on behalf of the poor in Havana. He was a candi¬ date for Cuba’s legislature when Gen. Fulgencio Batista overthrew the government in 1952. He organized a rebellion against Batista in 1953, but it failed; captured, he served time in prison and then went to Mexico, where he and others, including Che Guevara, continued to plot Batista’s overthrow. Castro led an armed expedition back to Cuba in 1956; most of his men were killed, but a dozen survivors took refuge in the moun¬ tains, where they gradually managed to organize guerrillas throughout the island. In 1959 Batista was forced to flee the country. Castro nationalized private commerce and industry and expropriated U.S.-owned land and businesses, vastly expanded health services and eliminated illiteracy, and ruthlessly suppressed opposition, outlawing all political groups but the Communist Party. The U.S. attempted to bring about his overthrow and failed (see Bay of Pigs invasion), precipitating the Cuban missile crisis. Cas¬ tro exercised total control of the government and economy, which was increasingly dependent on subsidies from the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union’s collapse (1991) devastated Cuba’s economy, and Castro has attempted to replace its former revenues by encouraging tourism.
Castro y Bellvis Vkas-tro-e-beP-'vesX, Guillen de (b. 1569, Valen¬ cia, Spain—d. 1631, Madrid) Spanish playwright. Of his approximately 50 plays, the best-remembered is The Youth of the Cid (c. 1599), on which Pierre Corneille based his Le Cid (1637). Castro’s play is notable for its naturalistic dialogue. He was one of the earliest playwrights to deal with the difficulties of marriage, as in The Unhappy Marriages of Valencia. He drew heavily on traditional Castilian ballads and based three of his plays on novels by Miguel de Cervantes.
casualty insurance Provision against loss to persons and property, covering legal hazards as well as those of accident and sickness. Major classes include liability, theft, aviation, workers' compensation, credit, and title. Liability insurance contracts may cover liability arising from use of an automobile, operation of a business, professional negligence (malprac¬ tice insurance), or property ownership. Credit insurance may cover the risk of bad debts from insolvency, death, and disability, the risk of loss of sav¬ ings from bank failure, and the risk of loss of export credit due to com¬ mercial or political changes.
casuarina \,kazh-y3-'re-n9\ Any of the chiefly Australian trees that make up the genus Casuarina (family Casuarinaceae), which have whorls of scalelike leaves and segmented stems resembling horsetails. Several species, especially C. equisetifolia, are valued for their hard, dense, yel¬ lowish to reddish brown wood, which is strong and reputed to be resis¬
tant to termite attack. Beefwood and ironwood are common names that reflect the wood’s colour and hardness.
cat or feline Any member of the family Felidae, the most highly spe¬ cialized group of mammalian carnivores. Modern-type cats appeared in the fossil record about 10 million years ago. Cats in the genus Panthera (leopard, jaguar, tiger, and lion) roar but cannot purr, and their pupils are round. Other cats, including the snow leopard and cougar, can purr but do not roar; the pupil is usually vertical. Cats have sharp, retractable (except in the cheetah) claws, and their teeth are adapted for stabbing, anchoring, and cutting. They almost always land on their feet when they fall from a height. Most species are nocturnal, and their eyes are adapted for seeing in low light. Cats are known for their habit of grooming them¬ selves with their rasplike tongue. Small cats have been domesticated for some 3,500 years (see domestic cat). Other cat species include the bobcat, CARACAL, LYNX, OCELOT, SERVAL, and WILDCAT.
CAT See computed axial tomography cat bear See lesser panda
catacomb Subterranean cemetery of galleries with recesses for tombs. The term was probably first applied to the cemetery under St. Sebastian’s Basilica that was a temporary resting place for the bodies of Sts. Peter and Paul in the late 3rd century ad, but it came to refer to all the subterranean cemeteries around Rome. In addition to serving as burial sites, catacombs in early Christian Rome were the sites of funeral feasts celebrated in fam¬ ily vaults on the day of burial and on anniversaries. They were used as hiding places during times of persecution; Pope Sixtus II was supposedly captured and killed (ad 258) while hiding in the St. Sebastian’s catacomb during Valerian’s persecution. Catacombs are also found in Sicily and other parts of Italy, in Egypt, and in Lebanon.
Arched niche of a tomb with early Christian paintings of scenes from the Old and New Testaments, in the catacomb on Via Latina, Rome
PONT. COMM. Dl ARCH. SACRA/M. GRIMOLDI
Catalan Vka-t3-,lan\ language Romance language spoken in eastern and northeastern Spain, chiefly Catalonia and Valencia, and in Andorra, the Balearic Isles, and the Roussillon region of France. Its literary tradi¬ tion dates from the 12th century, when it was the official language of the kingdom of Aragon. As Catalonia achieved greater autonomy in the late 20th century, Catalan revived as the language of politics and education there. Its dialects, divided into an Occidental and an Oriental group, remain mutually intelligible. Catalan is related to the Occitan language of southern France and to Spanish.
Catalhuyuk Vcha-.tal-hiE-'yuikA English foha-.tal-hii-'yukX Neolithic site, Anatolia. Located near Konya in southern Turkey, it was the centre of an advanced Neolithic culture. The earliest period of settlement is ten¬ tatively dated to c. 6700 bc and the latest to c. 5650 bc. Excavation of the religious quarter produced a series of shrines; the wall paintings have been linked with Upper Paleolithic art.
Catalonia Catalan Catalunya Spanish Cataluna Autonomous community (pop., 2001: 6,343,110) and historic region, northeastern
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350 I catalpa ► catbird
Spain. It encompasses the provinces of Girona, Barcelona, Tarragona, and Lleida and covers an area of 12,399 sq mi (32,113 sq km). Its capital is Barcelona. The Pyrenees separate Catalonia from France; the Mediterra¬ nean Sea lies to the east. Its principal rivers, the Ter, Llobregat, and Ebro, all run into the Mediterranean. Catalonia was one of Rome’s first Span¬ ish possessions. Occupied in the 5th century ad by the Goths, it was taken by the Moors in 712 and by Charlemagne in 795. After the unification of Spain (1469), Catalonia lost its centrality in Spanish affairs, and by the 17th century its conflict of interest with Castile-Leon led to the first of a series of separatist movements. Catalan nationalism became a serious force after 1876. In 1932 a compromise with the central government granted Catalonia autonomy; this was revoked with the 1939 Nationalist victory in the Spanish Civil War, and Francisco Franco’s government adopted a repressive policy toward Catalan nationalism. The reestablish¬ ment of democratic rule after Franco’s death again led to autonomy in 1979. Today it is the richest and most industrialized part of Spain.
catalpa Xko-'tal-psX Any of 11 species of trees in the genus Catalpa (family Bignoniaceae), native to eastern Asia, eastern North America, and the West Indies. Catalpas have large, attractive leaves and showy white, yellowish, or purplish flowers. The catalpa fruit is a long cylindrical pod bearing numerous seeds with white tufts of hair at each end. The com¬ mon catalpa, C. bignonioides, yields a durable timber and is one of the most widely planted ornamental species.