city-state Political system consisting of an independent city with sov¬ ereignty over a fixed surrounding area for which it served as leader of reli¬ gious, political, economic, and cultural life. The term was coined in the 19th century to describe ancient Greek and Phoenician settlements that differed from tribal or national systems in size, exclusivity, patriotism, and ability to resist incorporation by other communities. They may have developed when earlier tribal systems broke down and splintered groups established themselves as independent nuclei c. 1000-800 bc; by the 5th century bc they numbered in the hundreds, with Athens, Sparta, and Thebes among the most important. Incapable of forming any lasting union or fed¬ eration, they eventually fell victim to the Macedonians, the Carthagin¬ ians, and the Roman empire. In the 11th century the city-state revived in Italy; the success of medieval Italy’s city-states, including Pisa, Florence, Venice, and Genoa, was due to growing prosperity from trade with the East, and several survived into the 19th century. Germany’s medieval city-states included Hamburg, Bremen, and Lubeck. The only city-state extant today is Vatican City.
Ciudad Guayana V.syii-'thath-ga-'ya-na \ formerly Santo Tome de Guayana City (pop., 2000 est.: 704,168), Venezuela. Located at the confluence of the Carom and Orinoco rivers in the Guiana Highlands, the city site was first settled in 1576. An amalgamation of several cities, Ciudad Guayana is a planned community founded by the state assembly in 1961. It has forestry, diamond mining, and paper and pulp enterprises.
Ciudad Juarez See Juarez
Ciudad Victoria \ l syii-'thath-vek- , t6r-ya\ City (pop., 2000: 249,029), capital of Tamaulipas state, northeastern Mexico. Founded in 1750, the settlement was renamed in 1825 for Mexico’s first president, Guadalupe Victoria. In addition to being a distribution point in an agricultural region, it is a tourist destination and a centre for hunting, fishing, and swimming. The University of Tamaulipas was established in 1956.
civet Vsi-v3t\ Any of 15-20 species of long-bodied, short-legged carni¬ vores (family Viverridae) found in Africa, southern Europe, and Asia.
Catlike in appearance, civets have a thickly furred tail, small ears, and pointed snout. Civets are commonly buff or grayish, with black spots or stripes or both. They range in length from 16 to 34 in. (40-85 cm), excluding the 5-26-in. (13-66-cm) tail, and in weight from 3.3 to 24 lbs (1.5—11 kg). Civets mark territories with a greasy, musklike secretion (called civet) stored in a pouch under the tail; civet is sometimes used in the manufacture of perfumes. Usu¬ ally solitary, civets feed on small animals and on vegetable matter. Five species are considered in possible danger of extinction.
civic center Grouping of municipal facilities in a limited precinct often adjacent to the central business district of a city. The civic center is based
on both the Greek acropolis and the Roman forum. The plan includes the city hall and adjoining park or plaza, headquarters for city departments, courthouses, and often a post office, public-utility offices, public health facilities, and government offices.
civic theatre Theatre wholly or partly subsidized by the city in which it operates. The term is also used for a noncommercial community the¬ atre, meaning a noncommercial, locally based group. Most civic theatres in Europe are professional organizations; in the U.S. they are often run by amateur groups and may later become resident professional theatres. The first major U.S. civic theatre was established in New Orleans in 1919.
Civil Constitution of the Clergy (July 12, 1790) Act, passed by the National Assembly during the French Revolution, that subordinated the Roman Catholic church in France to the state. Under its provisions, enfranchised citizens would elect bishops and parish priests and the state would pay the clergy’s wages. The act soon provoked opposition, and when the National Assembly ordered the clergy to take an oath support¬ ing the Civil Constitution, many refused. The resulting schism within the French church caused many devout Catholics to turn against the Revo¬ lution.
civil defense All nonmilitary actions taken to reduce loss of life and property resulting from enemy action. The threat of aerial attack on cit¬ ies led to organized civil-defense planning in World War II. The British government provided its people with gas masks, and nearly all countries trained citizens in fire fighting, rescue, and first aid. Blackouts reduced the glow from city lights that could guide enemy pilots; sirens warned of bombing attacks, and citizens took cover in air-raid shelters, basements, and subways. The postwar threat of nuclear attack prompted civil authori¬ ties to mark buildings that offered the best shelter from fallout. By the 1970s the West had largely abandoned civil-defense preparations as it became clear that surviving a direct nuclear attack was unlikely.
civil disobedience or passive resistance Refusal to obey gov¬ ernment demands or commands and nonresistance to consequent arrest and punishment. It is used especially as a nonviolent and usually collec¬ tive means of forcing government concessions and has been a major tac¬ tic of nationalist movements in Africa and India, of the U.S. civil rights movement, and of labour and antiwar movements in many countries. Civil disobedience is a symbolic or ritualistic violation of the law, rather than a rejection of the system as a whole. The civil disobedient, finding legiti¬ mate avenues of change blocked or nonexistent, sees himself as obligated by a higher, extralegal principle to break some specific law. By submit¬ ting to punishment, the civil disobedient hopes to set a moral example that will provoke the majority or the government into effecting meaning¬ ful political, social, or economic change. The philosophical roots of civil disobedience lie deep in Western thought. Cicero, Thomas Aquinas, and John Locke, among others, appealed to systems of natural law that take precedence over the laws created by communities or states (positive law). More modern advocates and practitioners of civil disobedience include Henry David Thoreau, Mohandas K. Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr.
civil engineering Profession of designing and executing structural works that serve the general public, including bridges, canals, dams, har¬ bors, lighthouses, roads, tunnels, and environmental works (e.g., water- supply systems). The modern field includes power plants, aircraft and airports, chemical-processing plants, and water-treatment facilities. Civil engineering today involves site investigations and feasibility studies, structural design and analysis, construction, and facilities maintenance. The design of engineering works requires the application of design theory from many fields (e.g., hydraulics, thermodynamics, nuclear physics). Research in structural analysis and the technology of materials such as steel and concrete has opened the way for new concepts and greater economy of materials. The engineer’s analysis of a building problem determines the structural system to be used. Structural designs are rigor¬ ously analyzed by computers to determine if they will withstand loads and natural forces.
civil law Body of law developed from Roman law and used in conti¬ nental Europe and most former colonies of European nations, including the province of Quebec and the U.S. state of Louisiana. The most sig¬ nificant codifications of modern civil law were the French (Napoleonic Code) and the German (German Civil Code). The basis of law in civil-law jurisdictions is statute, not CUSTOM; civil law is thus to be distinguished from common law. In civil law, judges apply principles embodied in stat¬ utes, or law codes, rather than turning to case precedent. French civil law