Cape

Disappointment, Cape, projecting into the Pacific Ocean, SW Wash., on the northern side of the mouth of the Columbia River. It was named in 1788 by English Capt. John Meares, who rounded it when searching for the fabled River of the West and was "disappointed" because he could not enter the river (see Northwest Passage). Fort Columbia Historical State Park, a national historic landmark, is on the cape.

Ecnomus, Cape: see Licata, Italy.

Spartivento, Cape, southeastern extremity of the "toe" of Italy, in Calabria, extending into the Ionian Sea.

Prince of Wales, Cape, at the tip of the Seward Peninsula, NW Alaska, on the Bering Strait; westernmost point of North America. Cape Dezhnev, Siberia, is only 55 mi (89 km) to the west.

Lookout, Cape, point of a sandy reef (Core Banks), off E N.C., SW of Cape Hatteras. The reef guards the port entrance to Beaufort and Morehead City. A lighthouse on the point was built in 1859 and is included in Cape Lookout National Seashore (see National Parks and Monuments, table).

Morris Jesup, Cape, northernmost land point in the world, N Greenland. At lat. 83°39'N, it is 440 mi (708 km) from the North Pole. U.S. explorer Robert Peary reached the cape in 1892.

Flattery, Cape, NW Wash., at the entrance to Juan de Fuca Strait; discovered in 1778 by Capt. James Cook. A lighthouse and the reservation of the Makah people are on the cape, where cliffs rise 120 ft (37 m) above the Pacific Ocean.

Sable, Cape, S Fla., southernmost extremity of the U.S. mainland. It is part of Everglades National Park.

Saint Vincent, Cape, Port. Cabo de São Vicente, high and rocky promontory at the southwestern extremity of Portugal. Several historic sea battles were fought nearby, the most notable in 1797, when the British under John Jervis defeated a large Spanish fleet and Commodore Horatio Nelson distinguished himself. To the Portuguese the cape symbolizes the dreams and plans of Prince Henry the Navigator, the Portuguese patron of exploration, who lived nearby.

Taínaron, Cape, Greece: see Matapan, Cape.

Bauld, Cape: see Great Northern Peninsula, Canada.

Bon, Cape, Ras at Tib, or Ras Addar, peninsula, NE Tunisia, projecting c.50 mi (80 km) into the Mediterranean Sea toward Sicily. Cape Bon, the eastern terminus of the Saharan Atlas Mts., is a hilly, fertile region that supports citrus groves, vineyards, and tobacco plantations. Fishing ports, beach resorts, and natural gas deposits are located on the peninsula. During World War II the last German forces in North Africa surrendered to the Allies on Cape Bon in May, 1943.

Chidley, Cape, headland on Killiniq Island, off NE Labrador-Ungava Peninsula, Canada, on the Newfoundland and Labrador-Nunavut border. Located at the entrance to Hudson Strait, it was named by the explorer John Davis in 1587.

Farewell, Cape, southernmost point of Greenland, on Egger Island, at lat. 59°46'N. Egger Island and the surrounding islands are called the Cape Farewell Archipelago.

Verde, Cape [Port.,=green], Fr. Cap Vert, peninsula, extending into the Atlantic Ocean, W Senegal; the westernmost point of Africa. Dakar is located there. The cape was discovered by the Portuguese in 1445. The Republic of Cape Verde is c.350 mi (560 km) to the west.

Hatteras, Cape, promontory on Hatteras Island, a low, sandy, barrier bar between the Atlantic Ocean and Pamlico Sound, E N.C. Called the Graveyard of the Atlantic, the cape experiences frequent storms that drive ships landward toward its dangerous shallow depths. Cape Hatteras National Seashore (30,319 acres/12,279 hectares; est. 1937), a vast expanse of sand and water, is made up of Hatteras, Bodie, and Ocracoke islands and comprises one of the largest stretches of undeveloped seashore on the U.S. Atlantic coast. Cape Hatteras Lighthouse (built 1870) was removed in 1936 due to heavy beach erosion. A new lighthouse structure stands farther inland. See National Parks and Monuments, table.

Helles, Cape, southernmost point of the Gallipoli peninsula, NW Turkey. It commands the entrance to the Dardanelles.

Ann, Cape, NE Mass., N of Massachusetts Bay. It includes Gloucester and Rockport with their old fishing villages, resorts, and artists' colonies.

York, Cape, NW Greenland, in N Baffin Bay, W of Melville Bay. The Cape York meteorites were discovered by U.S. explorer Robert E. Peary, who brought the largest (c.100 tons) to the American Mus. of Natural History, New York City. In 1932 a monument to Peary was erected at Cape York.

Horn, Cape, headland, 1,391 ft (424 m) high, S Chile, southernmost point of South America, in the archipelago of Tierra del Fuego. It was discovered and first rounded by Willem Schouten, the Dutch navigator, on Jan. 29, 1616, and named for Hoorn in the Netherlands. Lashing storms and strong currents made "rounding the Horn" one of the great hazards of sailing-ship days. With its cold and windy climate, it is still a formidable challenge to navigation.

Finisterre, Cape [Lat. finis terrae=land's end], rocky promontory, extreme NW Spain, on the Atlantic coast of Galicia. Off the cape, the English won two naval battles against the French (1747, in the War of the Austrian Succession; 1805, in the Napoleonic Wars).

Chelyuskin, Cape, northernmost point (lat. 77°43'N) of Asia, Krasnoyarsk Territory, N central Siberian Russia. It is named after the Russian navigator who discovered it in 1742.

Nordkyn, Cape, or Kinnarodden, northernmost point of the European mainland, Finnmark co., N Norway, E of North Cape, at lat. 71°8'N.

Matapan, Cape, or Cape Taínaron, S Greece, southern extremity of the Greek mainland, of the Peloponnesus, and of the Taygetus Mts., projecting into the Ionian Sea. It was known to the ancients as Taenarum. In World War II the British won an important naval battle (1941) over the Italians off Cape Matapan.

Wrath, Cape, promontory, Highland, NW Scotland. It is the northwestern extremity of the Scottish mainland. The headland, 368 ft (112 m) high, has a lighthouse.

May, Cape: see Cape May.

Miseno, Cape, S Italy, at the northwest end of the Bay of Naples. Augustus founded (1st cent. B.C.) a naval station (Misenum) there, which was destroyed by the Arabs (9th cent. A.D.). Remaining are ruins of the imperial villa, baths, a theater, and a reservoir.

Catoche, Cape, extremity of Yucatán peninsula, SE Mexico. It was the first Mexican land seen by the Spanish (1517).

Henry, Cape, SE Va., promontary at the entrance to Chesapeake Bay, E of Norfolk. Cape Henry Memorial marks the approximate spot where the Jamestown settlers landed in 1607. In 1939 the site was included in Colonial National Historical Park.

Krio, Cape, Turk. Deveboynu Burnu, promontory, SW Turkey, on the Aegean Sea, on Reşadiye Peninsula north of the island of Rhodes. Ancient Cnidus was situated there.

Agulhas, Cape [Port.,=needles], Western Cape province, South Africa; the southernmost point of Africa. Its name refers to the saw-edged reefs and sunken rocks that run out to sea and make navigation hazardous. A powerful lighthouse on the cape alerts ships. The meridian of Cape Agulhas, long. 20° E, is used to divide the Atlantic and Indian oceans.

Species (Otocyon megalotis) of large-eared fox found in open, arid areas of eastern and southern Africa. It has 48 teeth (six more than any other canine) and, except for its unusually large ears, looks like the red fox. It grows to a length of about 32 in. (80 cm), including a 12-in. (30-cm) tail, and weighs 7–10 lbs (3–4.5 kg). It lives alone or in small groups and feeds primarily on insects, especially termites.

Learn more about bat-eared fox with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Northern point of Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia. Australia's northernmost point, it is about 15 mi (25 km) long and 12 mi (19 km) wide; it juts into the Torres Strait. Cape York was named in 1770 by Capt. James Cook for the duke of York, brother of King George III.

Learn more about York, Cape with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Cape, Portugal. Located at the southwesternmost point of Portugal, the cape was known to the Greeks and Romans as Promontorium Sacrum (“Sacred Point”) because of a shrine there. Pastoralism and fishing are the economic mainstays of the region. Near Sagres, the main settlement, was the town of Vila do Infante, where circa 1420 Prince Henry the Navigator established a naval observatory and school for navigators. Many naval battles have taken place off the cape.

Learn more about Saint Vincent, Cape with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Promontory in Portugal. The westernmost point of continental Europe, Cape Roca lies on the Atlantic coast northwest of Lisbon. Known to the Romans as Promontorium Magnum, the cape is a narrow granite cliff, 472 ft (144 m) high, forming the western end of the Sintra Mountains.

Learn more about Roca, Cape with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Cape, in the Peary Land region, northern Greenland, on the Arctic Ocean. Situated 440 mi (710 km) from the North Pole, it is one of the world's most northerly points of land. Robert E. Peary was the first explorer to reach it in 1900; it was named for Morris K. Jesup, a merchant-banker who financed polar expeditions.

Learn more about Morris Jesup, Cape with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Southern extremity of South America. Located on Horn Island in the southern Tierra del Fuego archipelago, it projects south into Drake Passage. It was named Hoorn for the birthplace of Dutch navigator Willem Schouten, who rounded it in 1616. Navigation of the rough waters around the cape is hazardous, and the climate is windy and cold year-round.

Learn more about Horn, Cape with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Promontory, at the southern entrance to Chesapeake Bay, southeastern Virginia, U.S. Located in Virginia Beach city, it is opposite Cape Charles, to which it is connected by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. It is the site of Cape Henry Memorial, which marks the 1607 landing of the first permanent English settlers in America. The memorial, part of Colonial National Historical Park, includes the Old Lighthouse, the first in the U.S. (1792). The nearby New Lighthouse (1881) has one of the world's most powerful lights, visible offshore for 20 mi (32 km).

Learn more about Henry, Cape with a free trial on Britannica.com.

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 seashore, 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.

Learn more about Cape Hatteras National Seashore with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Rocky promontory, southwestern coast, Western Cape province, South Africa. It was sighted by the Portuguese navigator Bartolemeu Dias in 1488 on his return voyage to Portugal after finding the southern limits of the African continent. Known for the stormy weather and rough seas encountered there, the cape lies at the convergence of warm currents from the Indian Ocean and cool currents from Antarctic waters. A part of the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve established in 1939, the cape was the site of the first Dutch settlement at Table Bay in 1652.

Learn more about Good Hope, Cape of with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Russian Mys Deshneva

Cape, extreme eastern Russia. It is the easternmost point of the Chukchi Peninsula and of the entire Eurasian landmass. It is separated from Cape Prince of Wales in Alaska by the Bering Strait (see Bering Sea).

Learn more about Dezhnev, Cape with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Rocky promontory, southwestern coast, Western Cape province, South Africa. It was sighted by the Portuguese navigator Bartolemeu Dias in 1488 on his return voyage to Portugal after finding the southern limits of the African continent. Known for the stormy weather and rough seas encountered there, the cape lies at the convergence of warm currents from the Indian Ocean and cool currents from Antarctic waters. A part of the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve established in 1939, the cape was the site of the first Dutch settlement at Table Bay in 1652.

Learn more about Good Hope, Cape of with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Massive, black, horned buffalo (Syncerus caffer), formerly 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.

Learn more about Cape buffalo with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Northern point of Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia. Australia's northernmost point, it is about 15 mi (25 km) long and 12 mi (19 km) wide; it juts into the Torres Strait. Cape York was named in 1770 by Capt. James Cook for the duke of York, brother of King George III.

Learn more about York, Cape with a free trial on Britannica.com.

officially Republic of Cape Verde

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Island country, east-central Atlantic Ocean. Lying 385 mi (620 km) off the western coast of Senegal, it consists of 10 islands and 5 islets. Area: 1,557 sq mi (4,033 sq km). Population (2008 est.): 500,000. Capital: Praia. More than two-thirds of its population are of mixed African and European origin (known as mestiço or Crioulo); the remainder are African and European. Languages: Portuguese (official), Crioulo (a Portuguese creole). Religions: Christianity (predominantly Roman Catholic); also Islam. Currency: Cape Verde escudo. The mountainous western islands are craggy and furrowed by erosion; the flatter islands of the east are largely plains and lowlands. The archipelago is volcanic in origin. Fogo Island has an active volcano; it is also the location of the highest peak, which rises 9,281 ft (2,829 m). The largest islands are Santo Antão, Boa Vista, and São Tiago. Cape Verde has a largely service-based economy, and tourism 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 minister.

The islands were uninhabited when Diogo Gomes sighted and named Maio and São Tiago in 1460; in 1462 the first settlers landed on São 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 islanders preferred outright independence, which was granted in 1975. Once associated politically with Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde split from it in the wake of a 1980 coup there.

Learn more about Cape Verde with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Afrikaans Kaapstad

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 stopover 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 commercial and cultural centre. Seealso Pretoria; Bloemfontein.

Learn more about Cape Town with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Cape, Portugal. Located at the southwesternmost point of Portugal, the cape was known to the Greeks and Romans as Promontorium Sacrum (“Sacred Point”) because of a shrine there. Pastoralism and fishing are the economic mainstays of the region. Near Sagres, the main settlement, was the town of Vila do Infante, where circa 1420 Prince Henry the Navigator established a naval observatory and school for navigators. Many naval battles have taken place off the cape.

Learn more about Saint Vincent, Cape with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Promontory in Portugal. The westernmost point of continental Europe, Cape Roca lies on the Atlantic coast northwest of Lisbon. Known to the Romans as Promontorium Magnum, the cape is a narrow granite cliff, 472 ft (144 m) high, forming the western end of the Sintra Mountains.

Learn more about Roca, Cape with a free trial on Britannica.com.

or Cape of Good Hope, formerly Cape Colony

Former province, South Africa. Occupying the southern extremity of the African continent, it comprised the southern and western 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.

Learn more about Cape Province with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Cape, in the Peary Land region, northern Greenland, on the Arctic Ocean. Situated 440 mi (710 km) from the North Pole, it is one of the world's most northerly points of land. Robert E. Peary was the first explorer to reach it in 1900; it was named for Morris K. Jesup, a merchant-banker who financed polar expeditions.

Learn more about Morris Jesup, Cape with a free trial on Britannica.com.

National preserve, northwestern Alaska, U.S., on the coast of the Chukchi 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 evolution of the Arctic peoples over some 4,000 years.

Learn more about Cape Krusenstern National Monument with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Cape, eastern Florida, U.S. It is the location of NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center and the launch site of U.S. spaceflights, which included the first U.S. manned spaceflight (1961), the first lunar-landing flight (1969), and flights of the space shuttle Challenger, which exploded shortly after liftoff in 1986. After the death of Pres. John F. Kennedy in 1963, it was renamed Cape Kennedy; it reverted to its original name in 1973.

Learn more about Canaveral, Cape with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Southern extremity of South America. Located on Horn Island in the southern Tierra del Fuego archipelago, it projects south into Drake Passage. It was named Hoorn for the birthplace of Dutch navigator Willem Schouten, who rounded it in 1616. Navigation of the rough waters around the cape is hazardous, and the climate is windy and cold year-round.

Learn more about Horn, Cape with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Promontory, at the southern entrance to Chesapeake Bay, southeastern Virginia, U.S. Located in Virginia Beach city, it is opposite Cape Charles, to which it is connected by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. It is the site of Cape Henry Memorial, which marks the 1607 landing of the first permanent English settlers in America. The memorial, part of Colonial National Historical Park, includes the Old Lighthouse, the first in the U.S. (1792). The nearby New Lighthouse (1881) has one of the world's most powerful lights, visible offshore for 20 mi (32 km).

Learn more about Henry, Cape with a free trial on Britannica.com.

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 Waterway. A series of locks and dams makes the river navigable from Wilmington to Fayetteville.

Learn more about Cape Fear River with a free trial on Britannica.com.

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.

Learn more about Cape Cod with a free trial on Britannica.com.

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 sq mi (10,311 sq km). It contains the Bras d'Or salt lakes. Originally called Île 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.

Learn more about Cape Breton Island with a free trial on Britannica.com.

or Cape Bon Peninsula

Peninsula, northeastern Tunisia. Extending northeast into the Mediterranean Sea, it is about 50 mi (80 km) long. During World War II (1939–45), it was occupied by German troops in retreat from Egypt and Libya (1943); they soon surrendered to the Allied Powers there.

Learn more about Sharīk Peninsula with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Cape northeast of Boston, Mass., U.S. Sheltering Ipswich Bay, it includes Annisquam Harbor on the north and Gloucester Harbor on the south. The rocky, picturesque promontory, named for Queen Anne (wife of James I), is noted for its old fishing villages and artists' colonies. Gloucester and Rockport are its main towns.

Learn more about Ann, Cape with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Cape, southernmost point of the African continent. Its name, Portuguese for “needles,” refers to the rocks and reefs that have wrecked many ships. The cape's meridian of 20°E is the official boundary between the Indian and Atlantic oceans.

Learn more about Agulhas, Cape with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Cape northeast of Boston, Mass., U.S. Sheltering Ipswich Bay, it includes Annisquam Harbor on the north and Gloucester Harbor on the south. The rocky, picturesque promontory, named for Queen Anne (wife of James I), is noted for its old fishing villages and artists' colonies. Gloucester and Rockport are its main towns.

Learn more about Ann, Cape with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Cape, southernmost point of the African continent. Its name, Portuguese for “needles,” refers to the rocks and reefs that have wrecked many ships. The cape's meridian of 20°E is the official boundary between the Indian and Atlantic oceans.

Learn more about Agulhas, Cape with a free trial on Britannica.com.

A cape is a type of clothing, and can be used to describe any sleeveless outer garment, such as a poncho, but usually it is a long garment that covers only the back half of the wearer, fastening about the neck. They were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon, and have had periodic returns to fashion, for example in nineteenth century Europe. Roman Catholic clergy wear a type of cape known as a ferraiolo, which is worn for formal events outside of a liturgical context. The cope is a liturgical vestment in the form of a cape. Copes are often highly decorated with elaborate embroidery.

Capes remain in regular use as rain wear in various military units and police forces, for example in France and the United Kingdom. A gas cape was a voluminous military garment designed to give rain protection to someone wearing the bulky gas masks used in twentieth century wars. In modern times, comic superheros such as Superman and Batman are often depicted wearing capes.

In fashionwear, the word cape usually refers to a shorter garment and cloak to a full-length version of the different types of garment, and although the two are sometimes used synonymously for full-length coverings, the shortest versions are never referred to as cloaks. The fashion cape does not cover the front to any appreciable degree. In rainwear, a cape is usually a long and roomy protective garment worn to keep one dry in the rain.

Evening capes

In full evening dress, ladies frequently use the cape as a fashion statement, or to protect the wearer or the fine fabrics of eveningwear from the elements, especially where a coat would crush—or hide—the garment. These capes may be short (over the shoulders or to the waist) or a full-length cloak. Short capes were usually made of or trimmed in fur; today fur is less acceptable as a fashion accessory but the fabric of an evening cape must be expensive, with an opulent lining and trim. Typical fabrics used are velvet, silk and satin. Capes are still authorized as an alternative to the more utilitarian trenchcoat for U.S. Army officers in mess dress.