What is the Cape of Good Hope?

The Cape of Good Hope belongs to the south temperate zone in the five zones of the earth. The details are as follows:

The Cape of Good Hope means the Cape of Good Hope, but it was originally called the Cape of Storm. This is a very famous promontory in the southwest of Africa. It is located 52km north of Cape Town, 34 21south latitude and 0/8 30 east longitude. However, since then, the eastern waterway leading to the rich is expected, so it was renamed the Cape of Good Hope. Before the Suez Canal was opened to traffic, ships travelling between Asia and Europe had to pass through the Cape of Good Hope. At present, super-large tankers can't enter the Suez Canal, so they still need to sail like this. The Cape of Good Hope is stormy and the waves are rough. It is located at the intersection of the Mozambican warm current from the Indian Ocean and the cold current from Antarctic waters. 1939 became a nature reserve.

geographical position

The Cape of Good Hope is located at the intersection of the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean, that is, to the south of Africa, South Africa and China. The mighty westerly jet has set off stormy waves all year round. In addition to the damage caused by storms, there are often "killing waves" here. The front of this wave is like a cliff and the back is like a gentle hillside. The wave height is generally 15-20m, which occurs frequently in winter, and the rotating waves caused by polar winds are added from time to time. When these two waves are superimposed, the sea conditions are worse, and there is a strong coastal current here. When the waves meet the current, the whole sea surface rolls like a boiling pot, and ships sailing here are often in trouble. Therefore,

The origin of the name

Hunting tribes have existed in South Africa for a long time. Just as the indigenous blacks at the southernmost tip of the African continent are engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry at a slow pace year after year, a fleet from Portugal is struggling to sail to the Cape of Good Hope in the wild waves on the west coast of Africa.

1487 In August, the Portuguese navigator Diaz (about 1450 ~ 1500) set off from Lisbon with two light sailboats and a transport ship at the order of King Joao II of Portugal, and embarked on the expedition again. His task is to explore the route from the southernmost tip of the African continent to India. The fleet led by Diaz first went to Helmina, Ghana, along the route taken by previous navigators, and then passed through the mouth of Congo River and Cross Point, reaching Rudritz, which is now Namibe, about 65438+ 1.488. The fleet encountered a strong storm there. Most of the crew members who suffered from diseases and storms were unwilling to continue to venture forward and requested to return several times. Diaz pushed his way through the crowd and insisted on going south. The fleet was trapped in the ocean 13 day and night, and unconsciously bypassed the Cape of Good Hope. After the storm stopped, Diaz, who didn't know the specific direction, ordered the fleet to turn around and sail eastward to get close to the west coast of Africa. However, after several days of continuous sailing, the fleet still didn't see the mainland. At this time, Diaz realized that the fleet might have bypassed the southernmost tip of the African continent, so he ordered to turn to the north. 1488 In February, the fleet finally sailed into a bay with rich vegetation, and the crew also saw indigenous blacks grazing cattle and sheep there, so Diaz named it Shepherd Bay (now Morsel Bay on the east coast of South Africa). Diaz wanted to continue eastbound along the coastline, but the exhausted crew was eager to return and had to order Diaz to return.

On the way back, when they passed the Cape of Good Hope again, it cleared up. When describing this exciting moment, the Portuguese historian Barros wrote: "The crew members stared in surprise at this magnificent headland that had been hidden for centuries. They not only discovered an abrupt promontory, but also discovered a new world. " Deeply moved, Diez named it "Storm Corner" according to his own experience.

1497, Portuguese navigator da Gama led his fleet to explore a new direct route to India. On1October 27th of that year, 165438+ da gama's fleet bypassed the Cape of Good Hope again and arrived in Kalikut, an important town on the west coast of India, on May 20th of the following year. After many hardships, da Gama returned to Lisbon around 1 September, 4991.

There are many explanations about the origin of the name "Cape of Good Hope". There are two most common sayings: one is that Diaz told Joao II what he had learned about "Storm Angle" after he returned to Lisbon in February 1488 14. Joao II thought that if he bypassed this cape, he would have hope to reach his dream India, so he renamed it "Cape of Good Hope". Another way of saying it is that after Da Gama returned from India with a full load, the then Portuguese king renamed the Cape of Storm the Cape of Good Hope to show that it would bring good luck to bypass this cape.

The tenacious Diaz unexpectedly unveiled the mysterious veil of the Cape of Good Hope, and his name will always be associated with the Cape of Good Hope. In his beautiful narrative poem Rousside, Portuguese poet Camons tells the magical legend of the Cape of Good Hope: In ancient Greece, the giant Adam Astor conspired with 99 other giants against the gods, trying to capture Mount Olympus with a storm, but was defeated by Helck and volkan in front of the gods. As a permanent punishment, the giant was exiled to the end of the world and buried under the volcanic peaks. Adam Astor's body became Zheng Zhengshan, forming the Cape of Good Hope. Table Mountain in the north of Cape Town is his workshop for making storms and lightning, and the roaring winds and raging thunderstorms in the waters around the Cape of Good Hope are his soul. He will roar and take terrible revenge on those who dare to disturb him in this sea area. Dias first broke into Adam Astor's forbidden area, and Adam Astor naturally won't forget to take revenge on him. 1500 in may, Diaz was caught in a storm near the cape of good hope during the voyage of a huge fleet led by Cabral and was buried in the ocean.

cause

It has a lot to do with the geographical location of the Cape of Good Hope. In the mid-latitude zone of the southern hemisphere, only the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, Cape Horn in South America, South Coast of Australia and South Island of New Zealand are located here, and almost all others are surrounded by the southern waters of the three oceans, forming a closed hydrosphere commonly known as the Southern Ocean, where westerly winds blow all the year round and storms are frequent. The west wind whistled in summer and the cold wind blew in winter. The perennial west wind tamed the sea to gallop around the earth from west to east, forming the famous "west wind drift".

The following passage is a thrilling and gripping description of a sailor who often sails on this voyage: "Dark clouds are gathering and continuous, and blue sky and stars and moons are rarely seen. All day long, the west wind blows wildly and the clouds fly east. The roaring waves on the sea surface hit the ship's side from time to time, and the roar from it shocked the hearts of every sailor. " This is because the rotation of the earth plays an important role in the direction of air flow. Another reason why the west wind becomes stronger is the large temperature difference in mid-latitude. One day sailing to the polar regions or the equator will obviously feel the difference between cold and warm. This is because a considerable part of the low-latitude energy is consumed in the mid-latitude area when it is transported to the poles, and the polar cold air continues to invade the south. Under the attack of these two air currents with great difference between cold and warm, the mid-latitude region has become a region with great temperature difference, and the cold and warm air currents constantly converge and move, which is easy to cause frequent storms.

Commercial function

The discovery of the Cape of Good Hope prompted many European countries to turn their expanding eyes to the East. Fleet from Holland, Britain, France and Spain all passed through here for India, Indonesia, China and the Philippines. 1652, the Dutch East India Company seized the sovereignty of the Cape of Good Hope and established a colony in today's Cape Town to provide fresh water, vegetables and ship maintenance services for the past fleets of this country and other countries. /kloc-At the beginning of the 9th century, the British who seized a large number of colonies overseas saw the importance of mastering the sea power of the Cape of Good Hope and invaded South Africa to replace the Dutch. In the more than 300 years before the opening of 1869 Suez Canal, the Cape of Good Hope route became the only sea passage for Europeans to the East. After the opening of the Suez Canal, although the function of this route has been weakened, it is still an indispensable and important passage between Europe and Asia, and some giant ships must bypass it. According to South Africans at the Cape of Good Hope, there are still 30,000 to 40,000 huge ships passing through the Cape of Good Hope every year. Two-thirds of oil, 70% of strategic raw materials and a quarter of grain imported from western Europe will be transported here.