title: Gymnastics

text: Double mini trampoline involves a smaller trampoline with a run-up, two scoring moves are performed per routine. Moves cannot be repeated in the same order on the double-mini during a competition. Skills can be repeated if a skill is competed as a mounter in one routine and a dismount in another. The scores are marked in a similar manner to individual trampoline.


title: Gymnastics

text: In Tumbling, athletes perform an explosive series of flips and twists down a sprung tumbling track. Scoring is similar to trampolining. Tumbling was originally contested as one of the events in Men's Artistic Gymnastics at the 1932 Summer Olympics, and in 1955 and 1959 at the Pan American Games. From 1974 to 1998 it was included as an event for both genders at the Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships. The event has also been contested since 1976 at the Trampoline and Tumbling World Championships.


title: Gymnastics

text: Tumbling is competed along a 25 metre sprung tack with a 10 metre run up. A tumbling pass or run is a combination of 8 skills, with an entry skill, normally a round-off, to whips and into an end skill. Usually the end skill is the hardest skill of the pass. At the highest level, gymnasts with perform transitions skills, these are skills which are not whips, instead they are double or triple somersaults normally competed at the end of the run, now competed in the middle of the run connected before and after by either a whip or a flick.


title: Gymnastics

text: Competition is made up of a qualifying round and a finals round. There are two different types of competition in tumbling, individual and team. In the team event three gymnasts out of a team of four compete one run each, if one run fails the final member of the team is allowed to compete with the three highest scores being counted. In the individual event qualification, the competitor will compete two runs, one a straight pass (including double and triple somersaults) and a twisting pass (including full twisting whips and combination skills such as a full twisting double straight ’full in back’). In the final of the individual event, the competitor must compete two different runs which can be either twisting or straight but each run normally uses both types (using transition skills).


title: Gymnastics

text: Acrobatic gymnastics (formerly Sport Acrobatics), often referred to as acro if involved with the sport, acrobatic sports or simply sports acro, is a group gymnastic discipline for both men and women. Acrobats in groups of two, three and four perform routines with the heads, hands and feet of their partners. They may, subject to regulations (e.g. no lyrics), pick their own music.


title: Gymnastics

text: There are four international age categories: 11–16, 12–18, 13–19, and Senior (15+), which are used in the World Championships and many other events around the world, including the European Championships and the World Games.


title: Gymnastics

text: All levels require a balance and dynamic routine; 12–18, 13–19, and Seniors are also required to perform a final (combined) routine.


title: Gymnastics

text: Currently, acrobatic gymnastics score is marked out of 30.00 for juniors, and can be higher at Senior FIG level based on difficulty:


title: Gymnastics

text: Aerobic gymnastics (formally Sport Aerobics) involves the performance of routines by individuals, pairs, trios, groups with 5 people, and aerobic dance and aerobic step(8 people). Strength, flexibility, and aerobic fitness rather than acrobatic or balance skills are emphasized. Routines are performed for all individuals on a 7x7m floor and also for 12–14 and 15–17 trios and mixed pairs. From 2009, all senior trios and mixed pairs were required to be on the larger floor (10x10m), all groups also perform on this floor. Routines generally last 60–90 seconds depending on age of participant and routine category. The World Championships have been held since 1995.


title: Gymnastics

text: On January 28, 2018 Parkour, also known as freerunning, was given the go ahead to begin development as a FIG sport. The FIG is planning to run World Cup competitions from 2018 onwards and will hold the first Parkour World Championships in 2020.


title: Gymnastics

text: The following disciplines are not currently recognized by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique.


title: Gymnastics

text: Aesthetic Group Gymnastics (AGG) was developed from the Finnish "naisvoimistelu". It differs from Rhythmic Gymnastics in that body movement is large and continuous and teams are larger. Athletes do not use apparatus in international AGG competitions compared to Rhythmic Gymnastics where ball, ribbon, hoop and clubs are used on the floor area. The sport requires physical qualities such as flexibility, balance, speed, strength, coordination and sense of rhythm where movements of the body are emphasized through the flow, expression and aesthetic appeal. A good performance is characterized by uniformity and simultaneity. The competition program consists of versatile and varied body movements, such as body waves, swings, balances, pivots, jumps and leaps, dance steps, and lifts. The International Federation of Aesthetic Group Gymnastics (IFAGG) was established in 2003. The first Aesthetic Group Gymnastics World Championships was held in 2000.


title: Gymnastics

text: TeamGym is a form of competition created by the European Union of Gymnastics, named originally EuroTeam. The first official competition was held in Finland in 1996. TeamGym events consist of three sections: women, men and mixed teams. Athletes compete in three different disciplines: floor, tumbling and trampette. In common for the performance is effective teamwork, good technique in the elements and spectacular acrobatic skills. There is no World Championships however there has been a European Championships held since 2010.


title: Gymnastics

text: Wheel gymnasts do exercises in a large wheel known as the Rhönrad, gymnastics wheel, gym wheel, or German wheel, in the beginning also known as ayro wheel, aero wheel, and Rhon rod.


title: Gymnastics

text: There are four core categories of exercise: straight line, spiral, vault and cyr wheel. The first World Championships was held in 1995.


title: Gymnastics

text: Mallakhamba (Marathi: मल्लखम्ब) is a traditional Indian sport in which a gymnast performs feats and poses in concert with a vertical wooden pole or rope. The word also refers to the pole used in the sport.


title: Gymnastics

text: Mallakhamba derives from the terms "malla" which denotes a wrestler and "khamba" which means a pole. Mallakhamba can therefore be translated to English as "pole gymnastics". On April 9, 2013, the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh declared mallakhamba as the state sport. In February 2019 the first Mallahkhamb World Championship was held in Mumbai


title: Gymnastics

text: General gymnastics also known as Gymnastics for All enables people of all ages and abilities to participate in performance groups of 6 to more than 150 athletes. They can perform synchronized, choreographed routines. Troupes may consist of both genders and are separated into age divisions. The largest general gymnastics exhibition is the quadrennial World Gymnaestrada which was first held in 1939. In 1984 Gymnastics for All was officially recognized first as a Sport Program by the FIG (International Gymnastic Federation), and subsequently by national gymnastic federations worldwide with participants that now number 30 million. Non-competitive gymnastics is considered useful for its health benefits.


title: Gymnastics

text: In the US, gymnastics levels for women called the Junior Olympic (JO) Program begins at 1 and goes to 10. The two kinds of levels are Compulsory (levels 1-5) and Optional (levels 6-10). Each level (1-10) has its own set of unique rules that ascend in difficulty level to level. Elite can follow 10 and is generally considered Olympic level. Men's gymnastics or The Junior Olympic Program consists of ten levels of training or competition with multiple age groups at each level creating opportunities for athletes and coaches to participate and or compete.


title: Gymnastics

text: Since 2015, Canada has adopted the women’s JO Program, with some modifications, for use in the Provinces and Territories.


title: Gymnastics

text: An artistic gymnast's score comes from deductions taken from the start value of a routine's elements. The start value of a routine is based on the difficulty of the elements the gymnast attempts and whether or not the gymnast meets composition requirements. The composition requirements are different for each apparatus. This score is called the D score. Deductions in execution and artistry are taken from a maximum of 10.0. This score is called the E score. The final score is calculated by adding the D and E score.


title: Gymnastics

text: The current method of scoring, by adding D and E score to give the final score has been in place since 2006. The current method is called "open-end" scoring because there is no theoretical cap (although there is practical cap) to the D-score and hence the total possible score for a routine. Before 2006, a gymnast's final score is deducted from a possible maximum of 10 for a routine.


title: Gymnastics

text: A Code of Points or guidelines of scoring a routine's difficulty and execution is slightly revised for each quadrennium, or period of four years culminating in the Olympics year.


title: Gymnastics

text: In a tumbling pass, dismount, or vault, landing is the final phase, following take-off and flight This is a critical skill in terms of execution in competition scores, general performance, and injury occurrence. Without the necessary magnitude of energy dissipation during impact, the risk of sustaining injuries during somersaulting increases. These injuries commonly occur at the lower extremities such as cartilage lesions, ligament tears, and bone bruises/fractures. To avoid such injuries, and to receive a high-performance score, proper technique must be used by the gymnast. "The subsequent ground contact or impact landing phase must be achieved using a safe, aesthetic, and well-executed double foot landing." A successful landing in gymnastics is classified as soft, meaning the knee and hip joints are at greater than 63 degrees of flexion.


title: Gymnastics

text: A higher flight phase results in a higher vertical ground reaction force. Vertical ground reaction force (vGRF) represents an external force which the gymnasts have to overcome with their muscle force and affects the gymnasts' linear and angular momentum. Another important variable that affects linear and angular momentum is the time the landing takes. Gymnasts can decrease the impact force by increasing the time taken to perform the landing. Gymnasts can achieve this by increasing hip, knee and ankle amplitude.


title: Gymnastics

text: Generally, competitors climbed either a 6m (6.1m = 20  ft in the US) or an 8m (7.6m = 25  ft in the US), 38  mm diameter (1.5-inch) natural fiber rope for speed, starting from a seated position on the floor and using only the hands and arms. Kicking the legs in a kind of "tride" was normally permitted. Many gymnasts can do this in the straddle or pike position, which eliminates the help generated from the legs though it can be done with legs as well.


title: Gymnastics

text: Flying rings was an event similar to still rings, but with the performer executing a series of stunts while swinging. It was a gymnastic event sanctioned by both the NCAA and the AAU until the early 1960s.


title: Gymnastics

text: Club swinging, a.k.a. Indian clubs, was an event in Men's Artistic Gymnastics sometime up until the 1950s. It was similar to the clubs in both Women's and Men's Rhythmic Gymnastics but much simpler with few throws allowed. It was practice. It was included in the 1904 and 1932 Summer Olympic Games.


title: Gymnastics

text: Gymnastics is one of the most dangerous sports, with a very high injury rate seen in girls age 11 to 18. Compared to athletes who play other sports, gymnasts are at higher than average risk of overuse injuries and injuries caused by early sports specialization among children and young adults. Gymnasts are at particular risk of foot and wrist injuries. Strength training can help prevent injuries.


title: Gymnastics

text: In addition to physical injuries, engaging in competitive gymnastics has been linked to eating disorders, and in some cases emotional and sexual abuse.


title: Gymnastics

text: Gymnasts tend to have short stature, but it is unlikely that the sport affects their growth. Parents of gymnasts tend also to be shorter than average.


title: Counting Crows

text: Counting Crows is an American rock band from San Francisco, California. Formed in 1991, the band consists of guitarist David Bryson, drummer Jim Bogios, vocalist Adam Duritz, keyboardist Charlie Gillingham, David Immerglück, bass guitarist Millard Powers, and guitarist Dan Vickrey. Past members include the drummers Steve Bowman (1991–1994) and Ben Mize (1994–2002), and bass guitarist Matt Malley (1991–2005).


title: Counting Crows

text: Counting Crows gained popularity following the release of its first album, "August and Everything After" (1993). With the breakthrough hit single "Mr. Jones" (1993), the album sold more than 7 million copies in the United States. The band received two Grammy Awards nominations in 1994, one for "Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal" (for "Round Here") and one for "Best New Artist". The follow-up album, "Recovering the Satellites", reached number one on the US "Billboard" 200 album chart and reached number one in several other countries. All but one of their subsequent albums was top 10 on the "Billboard" 200 list.


title: Counting Crows

text: Their hit singles include the aforementioned "Mr. Jones" as well as "Rain King", "A Long December", "Hanginaround", and a cover version of Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi". Counting Crows received a 2004 Academy Award nomination for the single "Accidentally in Love", which was included in the film "Shrek 2". The band has sold more than 20 million albums and is known for its dynamic live performances. "Billboard" has also ranked the band as the 8th greatest Adult Alternative Artist of all time.


title: Counting Crows

text: The band's most recent full album, "Somewhere Under Wonderland", was released in 2014. They released a four-song EP in 2021 titled "Butter Miracle:Suite One", which is expected to be expanded to a full album.


title: Counting Crows

text: The band name is derived from "One for Sorrow", a British divination nursery rhyme about the superstitious counting of magpies, which are members of the crow family. Singer Adam Duritz heard the rhyme in the film "Signs of Life", which starred his close friend, the actress Mary-Louise Parker.


title: Counting Crows

text: The rhyme is featured in the song "A Murder of One" on the band's debut album, "August and Everything After".


title: Counting Crows

text: Adam Duritz, former member of the San Francisco Bay Area band the Himalayans, and producer/guitarist David Bryson formed Counting Crows in San Francisco in 1991. They began as an acoustic duo, playing gigs in and around Berkeley and San Francisco. Another friend, guitarist David Immerglück, played with them from time to time, though he was not an official member of the group, and experimented with other musicians in the area. As the emerging band recorded some demos, and as other musicians joined the duo to make a full band, Immerglück recorded with the band on some of the songs for its first album. He declined to join the band at the time, because of his membership in two other locally popular bands, Monks of Doom and Camper Van Beethoven. By 1993, the band had grown to a stable lineup of Duritz as vocalist, occasional pianist, and primary songwriter, Bryson on guitar, Matt Malley playing bass guitar, Charlie Gillingham on keyboards, and Steve Bowman as drummer, and the band was a regular in the Bay Area scene.


title: Counting Crows

text: When Gary Gersh of Geffen Records heard the band's demo tape, he was "blown away". A bidding war between nine different record labels broke out in February 1992. In April, the band—which, by that time, included other members—"signed a deal with Gersh and Geffen believed to be so lucrative that industry wags dubbed them Accounting Crows". On January 16, 1993, the band, still relatively unknown, filled in for Van Morrison at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony, and was introduced by an enthusiastic Robbie Robertson. At the ceremony, they played a cover of Van Morrison's "Caravan".


title: Counting Crows

text: Before signing to Geffen, the band recorded demo versions of a number of songs, known as the 'Flying Demos'. These later surfaced among the Counting Crows fanbase. Tracks include "Rain King", "Omaha", "Anna Begins", "Einstein on the Beach (For an Eggman)", "Shallow Days", "Love and Addiction", "Mr. Jones", "Round Here", "40 Years", "Margery Dreams of Horses", "Bulldog", "Lightning", and "We're Only Love".


title: Counting Crows

text: The band's debut album, "August and Everything After", was released in September 1993. The album's first single, "Mr. Jones", refers to Marty Jones (Himalayans bassist, and Duritz's childhood friend) and Kenney Dale Johnson (the drummer of Silvertone, Chris Isaak's band). It describes the desire of working musicians to make it big and the fantasies they entertain about what fame might bring. Duritz sang the song in fun, enjoying the fantasy; he did not realize that just months later, in December 1993, MTV would begin playing the video for the song. "Mr. Jones" was a breakthrough hit, drawing massive radio play and launching the band into stardom. In 2018, the "Chicago Sun-Times" described "August and Everything After" as follows: "August And Everything After" [launched] the Bay Area septet with its hippie-inspired, roots-rock-infiltrating hits "Mr. Jones", "Round Here", and "Rain King", (ironically, at a time when grunge dominated the charts). Counting Crows eschewed the trend, happily wearing their time-stamped influences like Van Morrison and The Band on their patchwork sleeves, and found an audience who agreed with them. That first album went on to become a seven-times-platinum success in the U.S. alone, at the time the fastest-selling record since Nirvana' "Nevermind".


title: Counting Crows

text: With "Mr. Jones" propelling the band forward, and with positive reviews from "Rolling Stone" and other publications, it was decided that the band could use a second guitarist, and Dan Vickrey, another Bay Area musician was offered the role as lead guitarist, singing backing vocals. In 1994, the band appeared on "Saturday Night Live" and "Late Show with David Letterman". The band toured extensively in 1993 and 1994, both as headliners and in supporting roles with other artists, including the Rolling Stones, Cracker, the Cranberries, Suede, Bob Dylan, Los Lobos, Jellyfish, and Midnight Oil. The album sold seven million copies in the U.S. The band received two Grammy nominations in 1994; one for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal (for "Round Here") and one for Best New Artist.


title: Counting Crows

text: Success took a toll on Counting Crows; Duritz suffered a widely reported nervous breakdown, which was not his first.


title: Counting Crows

text: The band played only two gigs in 1995. This allowed Duritz to write a set of songs that became the band's second album, "Recovering the Satellites". Released October 15, 1996, it was heavier than "August and Everything After". A response to the sudden fame that "Mr. Jones" had brought, it contains lyrics such as "These days I feel like I'm fading away / Like sometimes when I hear myself on the radio" (from "Have You Seen Me Lately?") and "Gonna get back to basics / Guess I'll start it up again" (from "Recovering the Satellites"). Dealing with the theme of Duritz's unease with his newfound fame, the album was described as "a concept album of sorts about trying to pick up the pieces of a family, a social life and a psyche shattered by fame". This album contained the single "A Long December", which was a number one hit in Canada and a Top 10 hit in the United States.


title: Counting Crows

text: On July 2, 1997, Counting Crows started off a co-headlining tour with the Wallflowers that continued to September. The tour included opening acts by Bettie Serveert, Engine 88, Gigolo Aunts and That Dog, with each opening band touring for three-weeks. After nine months of near-constant touring in support of the album, Duritz developed nodules on his vocal cords in July 1997, leading to the cancellation of a number of gigs. After taking time off to recover, the band toured for the rest of 1997, concluding with a MTV show at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. This concert was released as half of a double live album, "". The other disc was a recording of a predominantly acoustic set from the band's appearance on the "VH1 Storytellers" show.


title: Counting Crows

text: In 1999, Counting Crows performed at Woodstock 99. Later that same year, the band released "This Desert Life", sales of which were propelled by the success of "Hanginaround" and "Colorblind", which was also featured in the movie "Cruel Intentions". Supporting the album, the band embarked on a co-headlining tour with alternative rock band Live. Counting Crows closed nearly every show. Before this album and subsequent tour, the band invited session player and long-time friend David Immerglück to join the band as a permanent member. Immerglück had played on every Counting Crows album as a sideman, but early on had declined a permanent position. This time, however, Immerglück said yes and now plays a variety of instruments with the band, including acoustic, electric and pedal steel guitars, slide guitar and mandolin, as well as backing vocals.


title: Counting Crows

text: On July 9, 2002, the band released its fourth studio album, "Hard Candy". The album included a cover of Joni Mitchell's song "Big Yellow Taxi". Vanessa Carlton contributed backing vocals to the single edit of the track, which appeared on the soundtrack for "Two Weeks Notice" and was re-released on future "Hard Candy" albums. The original version, without vocals by Carlton, appeared on the first album release as a hidden track. "Hard Candy" received better reviews than the previous efforts, with "radio friendly" songs, like "American Girls" (which featured Sheryl Crow on backing vocals), and contains a more upbeat feel and tempo. The band toured with the Dutch band, Bløf. A song, "Holiday in Spain", came together as a result of the camaraderie between the two groups: it is sung partly as a dual language duet, and partly as a musical "round", with both lead singers singing in differing languages at the end of the song.


title: Counting Crows

text: Midway through the Hard Candy tour, drummer Ben Mize (born February 2, 1971, Durham, North Carolina) amicably left the band to spend more time with his family and pursue his own musical interests. After Mize completed the American leg of the tour, he was replaced by Jim Bogios, formerly a drummer with Ben Folds and Sheryl Crow. Jim attributes leaving Sheryl Crow for Counting Crows to becoming a band member and having more creative input. Following the Hard Candy tour, longtime bassist Matt Malley left the band. He was replaced by Millard Powers.


title: Counting Crows

text: In 2004, the band's "Accidentally in Love" song appeared on the soundtrack of the hugely popular computer-animated film "Shrek 2". At the 77th Academy Awards, the song was nominated for Best Original Song, but lost to "Al otro lado del río" from "The Motorcycle Diaries".


title: Counting Crows

text: Duritz hinted in a 2006 interview that Counting Crows' next studio record would be released in late 2007. He indicated that the band had spent three weeks working in a recording studio with Gil Norton, the producer behind "Recovering the Satellites", and revealed the working title of the album to be "Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings". Duritz explained that, "Saturday night is when you sin and Sunday is when you regret. Sinning is often done very loudly, angrily, bitterly, violently." Vickrey stated that "the idea at the moment is to have kind of a rocking side and then an acoustic-y, maybe country-ish side. We got the first half done in May in New York, so half of it is pretty strong and done. And now we're going to work on the second half, the country tunes, during the tour."


title: Counting Crows

text: Amidst touring in July 2007, the band performed live before the Home Run Derby at the 2007 MLB All-Star Game, and on July 22 previewed two new songs at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium in Wilmington, Delaware, a new ballad titled "Washington Square" and a hard rocking track called "Cowboys". On August 8, 2007, VH1 filmed a live performance of "Mr. Jones", clips of which were shown on the miniseries "100 Greatest Songs of the 90s". The song ranked No. 27 on the list.


title: Counting Crows

text: In September 2007, Counting Crows played a unique show at Town Hall in New York City, during which it performed all the tracks from "August and Everything After" in album order. The show was recorded for a planned DVD release, and also featured several songs from the new album. On September 27, Duritz announced on his blog that the band had asked its record label to postpone the album's release until early 2008, citing the time pressures involved in preparing both the new album and an "August and Everything After" deluxe edition for release.


title: Counting Crows

text: On January 16, 2008, the band released a digital single on its official website as a free download. It featured "1492" from the "Saturday Nights" half of the new album, and "When I Dream Of Michelangelo" from the "Sunday Mornings" half as its B-side. The album was released on March 25, 2008.


title: Counting Crows

text: In 2008, Virgil Griffith, a software application writer, conducted a study in which he took the ten highest "favorite music" options from Facebook for 1,352 different colleges, and cross-referenced them with the average SAT score from each college. Counting Crows turned out to be near the top, along with such artists as Sufjan Stevens, Guster and U2.


title: Counting Crows

text: On March 22, 2009, Duritz announced on the band's website that the band would be leaving Geffen Records, with whom they had worked for 18 years. On this day a message from Duritz himself was posted on the band's homepage: a second message was posted a few weeks later. He ended the first letter with a free download of the band's cover of Madonna's "Borderline." The track was recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall in 2003.


title: Counting Crows

text: Following the departure from Geffen, the band has continued to tour. During the summer of 2009, they launched the ambitious "Saturday Night Rebel Rockers Traveling Circus and Medicine Show" tour with longtime Bay Area friend Michael Franti, his band Spearhead, and the band Augustana. Instead of the traditional concert format of a short set by an opening act, followed by a longer set from a main supporting act, and then a long set by the headlining band, the shows featured members of all of the bands joining each other for songs from each bands' catalogs at various points throughout the evening. As Duritz explained in a welcoming message on the official website for the tour, each show "is going to start with EVERYONE onstage together and we're going to all be running on & off stage all night playing one each other's songs all together and basically just playing whenever we feel like playing."


title: Counting Crows

text: The album "" was released on August 29, 2011. The release marked the band's third professionally produced live album, and the first concert video of its career. The album used footage from the Town Hall concert, recorded in September 2007.


title: Counting Crows

text: The band released a covers album entitled "Underwater Sunshine (Or What We Did On Our Summer Vacation)" on April 10, 2012, with a cover design by a fan chosen in a promotional contest. After touring extensively in 2012 and 2013 in support of the album (including headlining "The Outlaw Roadshow", a traveling festival tour presented in conjunction with Ryan Spaulding of the music blog Ryan's Smashing Life, and touring North America in the summer of 2013 with the Wallflowers), the band began working on material for a new album. Duritz also took time in the summer of 2012 to begin co-writing a play called "Black Sun", which will also feature some music written by Duritz, including well-known rarity songs "Good Luck" and "Chelsea".


title: Counting Crows

text: The writing of material for a new album, "Somewhere Under Wonderland", began early in 2013 and continued during that year's summer tour. The album was released on September 2, 2014.


title: Counting Crows

text: In 2018, Duritz became an investor in three wineries based in Napa Valley, California—Elyse Winery, Institution Winery, and Addax Winery—managed by winemaker Russell Bevan.


title: Counting Crows

text: Starting in February 2018, Duritz began recording the Underwater Sunshine Podcast, a weekly music podcast with author and music journalist James Campion. Having parted ways with Spaulding, Duritz and friends began putting on their own twice-annual music festival in New York called the Underwater Sunshine Fest to showcase independent music. The first festival, held at the Bowery Electric in October 2018, featured 17 bands over two nights. A second in April 2019 showcased 18 bands, and a third held at Rockwood Music Hall in November 2019 expanded the lineup to 26. Acts as diverse as Yellow House Orchestra, Sean Barna, Mikaela Davis, Marcy Playground, Matt Sucich, Stephen Kellogg, Stew and the Negro Problem, and Fairhazel have appeared. More bands recorded acoustic sessions at Duritz's loft the weekends of each of the festivals.


title: Counting Crows

text: In January 2019, Counting Crows released a newly recorded version of "August and Everything After" performed with the London Symphony Orchestra at Air Studios. The song was cut from the band's first album, which had been named after it.


title: Counting Crows

text: Duritz revealed in late 2019 that he had begun writing new music that past August. In early February 2020, he described the band's next project as suites of music that may be released on various EPs. The band began studio sessions in late February and early March on four songs that complete the first suite: "The Tall Grass", "Elevator Boots", "The Angel of 14th Street", and "Bobby and the Rat Kings". Mott the Hoople and Thin Lizzy were cited as influences on original demos of the songs as Duritz was writing, though the final recordings will likely not sound similar.


title: Counting Crows

text: During the COVID-19 pandemic, without touring, without being able to work on music in the studio, and taking a hiatus from his podcast, Duritz began hosting cooking videos through his Instagram stories. Speaking with chef Tyler Florence, Duritz said the type of research he would do regarding music for the podcast he turned into exploring more about food and cooking to share with others. Duritz and Campion would return to producing the Underwater Sunshine Podcast in May 2021.


title: Counting Crows

text: "Elevator Boots" was released as the first single for the four-track EP in April 2021, described by "Rolling Stone" as "a melodic, wistful ode to life on tour, with a sound that somehow manages to bridge the gap between the Band and Mott the Hoople." The EP, titled "Butter Miracle, Suite One", will be released on May 21, 2021. Duritz tells "Rolling Stone" that a second EP, "Butter Miracle, Suite Two", will be released and together form a full album. He is currently writing songs for the second EP, and the band has tentatively plans to resume touring in the Fall of 2021.


title: Counting Crows

text: Counting Crows, and Duritz in particular, have become renowned for energetic, passionate live performances. The band's influences include Van Morrison, R.E.M., and Bob Dylan.


title: Counting Crows

text: Several Counting Crows songs have been altered during the band's live performances, such as "Round Here", "Goodnight Elisabeth", "Rain King", and "A Murder of One". This can be heard on the "Across a Wire: Live in New York City" album on the first disc (on which "Round Here" contains lyrics from "Have You Seen Me Lately?") and the second disc ("Anna Begins" has an extended midsection with new lyrics, and the introduction to "Mr. Jones" includes lyrics from "Miller's Angels" and from the Byrds' "So You Wanna Be A Rock & Roll Star").


title: Counting Crows

text: In February 2011, Duritz released an indie album of cover songs he had recorded entitled "All My Bloody Valentines". He allowed Facebook followers to help name and design the cover art for the album.


title: Margarita

text: A margarita is a cocktail consisting of Tequila, triple sec, and lime juice often served with salt on the rim of the glass. The drink is served shaken with ice (on the rocks), blended with ice (frozen margarita), or without ice (straight up). The drink is generally served in a stepped-diameter variant of a cocktail glass or champagne coupe called a margarita glass.


title: Margarita

text: The history of the margarita is one of folklore due to its numerous origin stories. According to cocktail historian David Wondrich, the margarita is related to the brandy daisy ("margarita" is Spanish for "daisy"), remade with tequila instead of brandy. (Daisies are a family of cocktails that include a base spirit, liqueur, and citrus. A sidecar and gin daisy are other related drinks.) There is an account from 1936 of Iowa newspaper editor James Graham finding such a cocktail in Tijuana, years before any of the other margarita "creation myths".


title: Margarita

text: The "Cafe Royal Cocktail Book", published in the UK in 1937, contains a recipe for a Picador using the same concentrations of tequila, triple sec, and lime juice as a margarita. One of the earliest stories is of the margarita being invented in 1938 by Carlos "Danny" Herrera at his restaurant Rancho La Gloria, halfway between Tijuana and Rosarito, Baja California, created for customer and former Ziegfeld dancer Marjorie King, who was allergic to many spirits, but not to tequila. This story was related by Herrera and also by bartender Albert Hernandez, acknowledged for popularizing a margarita in San Diego after 1947, at the La Plaza restaurant in La Jolla. The story was debunked in 1992 by the "San Diego Reader".


title: Margarita

text: According to Jose Cuervo, the cocktail was invented in 1938 by a bartender in honor of Mexican showgirl Rita de la Rosa.


title: Margarita

text: Hussong's Cantina also claims to have been the site of the margarita's creation in Ensenada, Baja California, in 1941. Bartender Don Carlos Orozco reputedly named a new drink after Mexican-German patron Margarita Henkel Cesena, a frequent customer to the cantina. Cesena was a ranch operator by trade, and it is disputed whether she was the daughter of a German ambassador as the story claims. Hussong's, however, has enjoyed widespread popularity as the home of the original margarita.


title: Margarita

text: There are also claims that the margarita was first mixed in Juárez, Chihuahua at Tommy's Place Bar on July 4, 1942, by Francisco "Pancho" Morales. Morales later left bartending in Mexico to become a US citizen, where he worked as a milkman for 25 years. Mexico's official news agency Notimex and many experts have said Morales has the strongest claim to having invented the margarita.


title: Margarita

text: Others say the inventor was Dallas socialite Margarita Sames when she concocted the drink for her guests at her Acapulco, Guerrero vacation home in 1948. Tommy Hilton reportedly attended, bringing the drink back to the Hilton chain of hotels. However, Jose Cuervo was already running ad campaigns for the margarita three years earlier, in 1945, with the slogan, "Margarita: It's more than a girl's name."


title: Margarita

text: Another common origin tale begins the cocktail's history at the legendary Balinese Room in Galveston, Texas, where, in 1948, head bartender Santos Cruz created the margarita for singer Peggy (Margaret) Lee. He supposedly named it after the Spanish version of her name, Margarita.


title: Margarita

text: The first known publication of a margarita recipe was in the December 1953 issue of "Esquire", with a recipe calling for an ounce of tequila, a dash of triple sec, and the juice of half a lime or lemon. A recipe for a tequila-based cocktail first appeared in the 1930 book "My New Cocktail Book" by G. F. Steele. Without noting a specific recipe or inventor, a drink called the Tequila Daisy was mentioned in the "Syracuse Herald" as early as 1936. Margarita is Spanish for Daisy, which is a nickname for Margaret.


title: Margarita

text: A later, certainly false, story is that the margarita was invented in October 1961, at a party in Houston, Texas, by partygoer Robert James "Rusty" Thomson while acting as bartender. He concocted a mixture of equal parts tequila, Controy orange liqueur, lime, and crushed ice in a salt-rimmed glass.


title: Margarita

text: The IBA (IBA Official list of Cocktails) standard is 10:4:3, that is, tequila:triple sec:fresh lime juice.


title: Margarita

text: The "Original Margarita" recipe, as given by Cointreau on their website, has slightly more of their own sweet liqueur: 1 part white tequila, part Cointreau, and part fresh squeezed lime juice.


title: Margarita

text: Apple-cinnamon tequila, triple sec, cranberry juice, fresh lime juice, and an apple wedge or lemon twist for garnish combine to form the Cranberry Margarita With Apple-Cinnamon Tequila, a fall seasonal drink.


title: Margarita

text: Besides Cointreau, other orange-flavored liqueurs that might be used include Grand Marnier (yielding the "Cadillac Margarita"), Gran Gala, other brands of triple sec, or blue curaçao (yielding the "blue margarita"). When sweeter fruit juices or freshly puréed fruits are added to the margarita, the orange-flavored liqueur is often reduced or omitted. In addition to orange-flavored liqueurs, secondary liqueurs may occasionally be added to a cocktail, including melon-flavored or black raspberry-flavored. Other flavors include pineapple and watermelon.


title: Margarita

text: Freshly squeezed lime juice is the key ingredient. The most common lime in the United States is the thick-skinned Persian lime. However, margaritas in Mexico are generally made with Mexican limes (Key limes). These are small, thin-skinned limes with a more tart and often bitter flavor than Persian limes.


title: Margarita

text: The frozen margarita is a margarita served as an ice slush, similar to other tropical-inspired frozen mixed drinks like the hurricane or piña colada. The ingredients can be processed with ice in a kitchen blender, or for larger output, a slush or soft-serve ice cream machine is used: a cooled, horizontal cylinder has a rotating impeller that churns the mix so it will not freeze solid, and the thick half-frozen slush is dispensed from a spout. Frozen margaritas were first served in La Jolla, when Albert Hernandez Sr. stopped using crushed ice and instead combined the ingredients in a blender in 1947. The dedicated frozen margarita machine was introduced by Mariano Martinez in Dallas in 1971.


title: Margarita

text: A lemonade or limeade margarita can be quickly whipped up by using frozen lemonade or limeade concentrate in place of lime juice.


title: Margarita

text: Fruity sodas such as fruit punch, lime, pineapple, or mandarin orange Jarritos, or sports drinks such as blue or orange Gatorade, can substitute for triple sec. A margarita made with orange soda and beer is a sunrise beer margarita; if it is made with carbonated fruit punch soda, it is a sunset margarita. The variant that uses grapefruit soda is called a Paloma.


title: Margarita

text: Alternate fruits and juice mixtures can also be used in a margarita. Fruits like mango, peach, strawberry, banana, melon, raspberry, or avocado are suitable for creating this drink. Orange juice and pomegranate juice (poured down the inner side of the glass) can make a sunset margarita (so named because the orange is at the top and the red at the bottom). Many recipes call for a splash of orange juice. These days, margaritas can be prepared in many different ways. When the word "margarita" is used by itself, it typically refers to the lime or lemon juice margarita. Still, when other juices are used, the fruits are typically added as adjectives in the name, with lime juice or lemon juice added to give it a characteristic margarita flavor (a wedge of lime is often added to the glass). Other varieties of margarita include fruit margarita, top-shelf margarita, and virgin margarita.


title: Margarita

text: Coconut cream, coconut milk, and coconut water can also be added to margaritas, e.g., skinny margaritas that substitute, e.g., pineapple juice for liqueurs.


title: Margarita

text: A beermarita (or Coronarita) is a beer cocktail that has a bottle of Corona beer or other light-flavored beer poured upside down into a margarita on the rocks.


title: Margarita

text: A skinny margarita may be purportedly lower in calories (possibly using artificial sweeteners) or one that uses fresh juices rather than a prepared mix.


title: Margarita

text: Margaritas may be served in a variety of glasses, most notably the margarita glass, a variant of the classic champagne coupe; this is particularly associated with blended fruit margaritas, and the glass is also used for dishes such as guacamole or shrimp cocktails. Margaritas are often served in a standard cocktail glass in formal settings. In contrast, in informal settings, particularly with ice, margaritas may be served in an old fashioned glass, cocktail glass, wine glass, pint glass, and even large schooners.


title: Margarita

text: The margarita cocktail was the December 1953 "Drink of the Month" in "Esquire" magazine, with this recipe:


title: Margarita

text: It was further popularized by the 1977 song "Margaritaville" by Jimmy Buffett. In 2004 it was described as "the most popular mixed drink in America". It was used in the title of the 1983 single "Margarita Time" by the English rock band Status Quo and was the inspiration for the cover artwork.


title: Bastille Day

text: Bastille Day is the common name given in English-speaking countries to the national day of France, which is celebrated on 14 July each year. In French, it is formally called the ' (; "French National Celebration"); legally it is known as ' (; "the 14th of July").


title: Bastille Day

text: The French National Day is the anniversary of the Storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789, a major event of the French Revolution, as well as the Fête de la Fédération that celebrated the unity of the French people on 14 July 1790. Celebrations are held throughout France. One that has been reported as "the oldest and largest military parade in Europe" is held on 14 July on the Champs-Élysées in Paris in front of the President of the Republic, along with other French officials and foreign guests.


title: Bastille Day

text: In 1789, tensions rose in France between reformist and conservative factions as the country struggled to resolve an economic crisis. In May, the Estates General legislative assembly was revived, but members of the Third Estate broke ranks, declaring themselves to be the National Assembly of the country, and on 20 June, vowed to write a constitution for the kingdom.


title: Bastille Day

text: On 11 July Jacques Necker, the finance minister of Louis XVI, who was sympathetic to the Third Estate, was dismissed by the King, provoking an angry reaction among Parisians. Crowds formed, fearful of an attack by the royal army or by foreign regiments of mercenaries in the King's service, and seeking to arm the general populace. Early on 14 July one crowd besieged the Hôtel des Invalides for firearms, muskets, and cannons, stored in its cellars. That same day, another crowd stormed the Bastille, a fortress-prison in Paris that had historically held people jailed on the basis of "lettres de cachet" (literally "signet letters"), arbitrary royal indictments that could not be appealed and did not indicate the reason for the imprisonment, and was believed to hold a cache of ammunition and gunpowder. As it happened, at the time of the attack, the Bastille held only seven inmates, none of great political significance.


title: Bastille Day

text: The crowd was eventually reinforced by mutinous Régiment des Gardes Françaises ("French Guards"), whose usual role was to protect public buildings. They proved a fair match for the fort's defenders, and Governor de Launay, the commander of the Bastille, capitulated and opened the gates to avoid a mutual massacre. According to the official documents, about 200 attackers and just one defender died before the capitulation. However, possibly because of a misunderstanding, fighting resumed. In this second round of fighting, de Launay and seven other defenders were killed, as was Jacques de Flesselles, the "prévôt des marchands" ("provost of the merchants"), the elected head of the city's guilds, who under the feudal monarchy also had the competences of a present-day mayor.


title: Bastille Day

text: Shortly after the storming of the Bastille, late in the evening of 4 August, after a very stormy session of the "Assemblée constituante", feudalism was abolished. On 26 August, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen ("Déclaration des Droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen") was proclaimed.


title: Bastille Day

text: As early as 1789, the year of the storming of the Bastille, preliminary designs for a national festival were underway. These designs were intended to strengthen the country's national identity through the celebration of the events of 14 July 1789. One of the first designs was proposed by Clément Gonchon, a French textile worker, who presented his design for a festival celebrating the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille to the French city administration and the public on 9 December 1789. There were other proposals and unofficial celebrations of 14 July 1789, but the official festival sponsored by the National Assembly was called the Fête de la Fédération.


title: Bastille Day

text: The "Fête de la Fédération" on 14 July 1790 was a celebration of the unity of the French nation during the French Revolution. The aim of this celebration, one year after the Storming of the Bastille, was to symbolize peace. The event took place on the Champ de Mars, which was located far outside of Paris at the time. The work needed to transform the Champ de Mars into a suitable location for the celebration was not on schedule to be completed in time. On the day recalled as the Journée des brouettes ("The Day of the Wheelbarrow"), thousands of Parisian citizens gathered together to finish the construction needed for the celebration.


title: Bastille Day

text: The day of the festival, the National Guard assembled and proceeded along the boulevard du Temple in the pouring rain, and were met by an estimated 260,000 Parisian citizens at the Champ de Mars. A mass was celebrated by Talleyrand, bishop of Autun. The popular General Lafayette, as captain of the National Guard of Paris and a confidant of the king, took his oath to the constitution, followed by King Louis XVI. After the end of the official celebration, the day ended in a huge four-day popular feast, and people celebrated with fireworks, as well as fine wine and running nude through the streets in order to display their great freedom.


title: Bastille Day

text: On 30 June 1878, a feast was officially arranged in Paris to honour the French Republic (the event was commemorated in a painting by Claude Monet). On 14 July 1879, there was another feast, with a semi-official aspect. The day's events included a reception in the Chamber of Deputies, organised and presided over by Léon Gambetta, a military review at Longchamp, and a Republican Feast in the Pré Catelan. All through France, "Le Figaro" wrote, "people feasted much to honour the storming of the Bastille".


title: Bastille Day

text: In 1880, the government of the Third Republic wanted to revive the 14 July festival. The campaign for the reinstatement of the festival was sponsored by the notable politician Léon Gambetta and scholar Henri Baudrillant. On 21 May 1880, Benjamin Raspail proposed a law, signed by sixty-four members of government, to have "the Republic adopt 14 July as the day of an annual national festival". There were many disputes over which date to be remembered as the national holiday, including 4 August (the commemoration of the end of the feudal system), 5 May (when the Estates-General first assembled), 27 July (the fall of Robespierre), and 21 January (the date of Louis XVI's execution). The government decided that the date of the holiday would be 14 July, but it was still somewhat problematic. The events of 14 July 1789 were illegal under the previous government, which contradicted the Third Republic's need to establish legal legitimacy. French politicians also did not want the sole foundation of their national holiday to be rooted in a day of bloodshed and class-hatred as the day of storming the Bastille was. Instead, they based the establishment of the holiday as a dual celebration of the Fête de la Fédération, a festival celebrating the first anniversary of 14 July 1789, and the storming of the Bastille. The Assembly voted in favor of the proposal on 21 May and 8 June, and the law was approved on 27 and 29 June. The law was made official on 6 July 1880.


title: Bastille Day

text: In the debate leading up to the adoption of the holiday, Senator Henri Martin, who wrote the National Day law, addressed the chamber on 29 June 1880:


title: Bastille Day

text: The Bastille Day military parade is the French military parade that has been held in the morning, each year in Paris since 1880. While previously held elsewhere within or near the capital city, since 1918 it has been held on the Champs-Élysées, with the participation of the Allies as represented in the Versailles Peace Conference, and with the exception of the period of German occupation from 1940 to 1944 (when the ceremony took place in London under the command of General Charles de Gaulle); and 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic forced its cancellation. The parade passes down the Champs-Élysées from the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de la Concorde, where the President of the French Republic, his government and foreign ambassadors to France stand. This is a popular event in France, broadcast on French TV, and is the oldest and largest regular military parade in Europe. In some years, invited detachments of foreign troops take part in the parade and foreign statesmen attend as guests


title: Bastille Day

text: Smaller military parades are held in French garrison towns, including Toulon and Belfort, with local troops.


title: Bastille Day

text: Liège celebrates Bastille Day each year since the end of the First World War, as Liège was decorated by the Légion d'Honneur for its unexpected resistance during the Battle of Liège. The city also hosts a fireworks show outside of Congress Hall. Specifically in Liège, celebrations of Bastille Day have been known to be bigger than the celebrations of the Belgian National holiday. Around 35,000 people gather to celebrate Bastille Day. There is a traditional festival dance of the French consul that draws large crowds, and many unofficial events over the city celebrate the relationship between France and the city of Liège.


title: Bastille Day

text: Vancouver, British Columbia holds a celebration featuring exhibits, food and entertainment. The Toronto Bastille Day festival is also celebrated in Toronto, Ontario. The festival is organized by the French community in Toronto and sponsored by the Consulate General of France. The celebration includes music, performances, sport competitions, and a French Market. At the end of the festival, there is also a traditional French bal populaire.


title: Bastille Day

text: Since 2008, Prague has hosted a French market "" ("Fourteenth of July Market") offering traditional French food and wine as well as music. The market takes place on Kampa Island, it is usually between 11 and 14 July. It acts as an event that marks the relinquish of the EU presidency from France to the Czech Republic. Traditional selections of French produce, including cheese, wine, meat, bread and pastries, are provided by the market. Throughout the event, live music is played in the evenings, with lanterns lighting up the square at night.


title: Bastille Day

text: Budapest's two-day celebration is sponsored by the Institut de France. The festival is hosted along the Danube River, with streets filled with music and dancing. There are also local markets dedicated to French foods and wine, mixed with some traditional Hungarian specialties. At the end of the celebration, a fireworks show is held on the river banks.


title: Bastille Day

text: Bastille Day is celebrated with great festivity in Pondicherry, a former French colony, every year. On the eve of Bastille Day, retired soldiers parade and celebrate the day with Indian and French National Anthems, honoring the French soldiers who were killed in the battles. Throughout the celebration, French and Indian flags fly alongside each other, projecting the mingling of cultures and heritages.


title: Bastille Day

text: The Embassy of France in Ireland organizes several events around Dublin, Cork and Limerick for Bastille Day; including evenings of French music and tasting of French food. Many members of the French community in Ireland take part in the festivities. Events in Dublin include live entertainment, speciality menus on French cuisine, and screenings of popular French films.


title: Bastille Day

text: The Auckland suburb of Remuera hosts an annual French-themed Bastille Day street festival. Visitors enjoy mimes, dancers, music, as well as French foods and drinks. The budding relationship between the two countries, with the establishment of a Maori garden in France and exchange of their analyses of cave art, resulted in the creation of an official reception at the Residence of France. There is also an event in Wellington for the French community held at the Residence of France.


title: Bastille Day

text: Franschhoek's weekend festival has been celebrated since 1993. (Franschhoek, or 'French Corner,' is situated in the Western Cape.) As South Africa's gourmet capital, French food, wine and other entertainment is provided throughout the festival. The French Consulate in South Africa also celebrates their national holiday with a party for the French community. Activities also include dressing up in different items of French clothing.


title: Bastille Day

text: Following colonial rule, France annexed a large portion of what is now French Polynesia. Under French rule, Tahitians were permitted to participate in sport, singing, and dancing competitions one day a year: Bastille Day. The single day of celebration evolved into the major Heiva i Tahiti festival in Papeete Tahiti, where traditional events such as canoe races, tattooing, and fire walks are held. The singing and dancing competitions continued, with music composed with traditional instruments such as a nasal flute and ukulele.


title: Bastille Day

text: Within the UK, London has a large French contingent, and celebrates Bastille Day at various locations across the city including Battersea Park, Camden Town and Kentish Town. Live entertainment is performed at Canary Wharf, with weeklong performances of French theatre at the Lion and Unicorn Theatre in Kentish Town. Restaurants feature cabarets and special menus across the city, and other celebrations include garden parties and sports tournaments. There is also a large event at the Bankside and Borough Market, where there is live music, street performers, and traditional French games are played.


title: Bastille Day

text: The United States has over 20 cities that conduct annual celebrations of Bastille Day. The different cities celebrate with many French staples such as food, music, games, and sometimes the recreation of famous French landmarks.


title: Bastille Day

text: Baltimore, Maryland, has a large Bastille Day celebration each year at Petit Louis in the Roland Park area of Baltimore City. Boston has a celebration annually, hosted by the French Cultural Center for 40 years. The street festival occurs in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood, near the Cultural Center's headquarters. The celebration includes francophone musical performers, dancing, and French cuisine. New York City has numerous Bastille Day celebrations each July, including "Bastille Day on 60th Street" hosted by the French Institute Alliance Française between Fifth and Lexington Avenues on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, Bastille Day on Smith Street in Brooklyn, and Bastille Day in Tribeca. There is also the annual Bastille Day Ball, taking place since 1924. Philadelphia's Bastille Day, held at Eastern State Penitentiary, involves Marie Antoinette throwing locally manufactured Tastykakes at the Parisian militia, as well as a re-enactment of the storming of the Bastille. (This Philadelphia tradition ended in 2018.) In Newport, Rhode Island, the annual Bastille Day celebration is organized by the local chapter of the Alliance Française. It takes place at King Park in Newport at the monument memorializing the accomplishments of the General Comte de Rochambeau whose 6,000 to 7,000 French forces landed in Newport on 11 July 1780. Their assistance in the defeat of the English in the War of Independence is well documented and is demonstrable proof of the special relationship between France and the United States. In Washington D.C., food, music, and auction events are sponsored by the Embassy of France. There is also a French Festival within the city, where families can meet period entertainment groups set during the time of the French Revolution. Restaurants host parties serving traditional French food.


title: Bastille Day

text: In Dallas, Texas, the Bastille Day celebration, "Bastille On Bishop", began in 2010 and is held annually in the Bishop Arts District of the North Oak Cliff neighborhood, southwest of downtown just across the Trinity River. Dallas' French roots are tied to the short lived socialist Utopian community La Réunion, formed in 1855 and incorporated into the City of Dallas in 1860. Miami's celebration is organized by "French & Famous" in partnership with the French American Chamber of Commerce, the Union des Français de l'Etranger and many French brands. The event gathers over 1,000 attendees to celebrate "La Fête Nationale". The location and theme change every year. In 2017, the theme was "Guinguette Party" and attracted 1,200 francophiles at The River Yacht Club. New Orleans, Louisiana, has multiple celebrations, the largest in the historic French Quarter. In Austin, Texas, the Alliance Française d’Austin usually conducts a family-friendly Bastille Day party at the French Legation, the home of the French representative to the Republic of Texas from 1841 to 1845.


title: Bastille Day

text: Chicago, Illinois, has hosted a variety of Bastille Day celebrations in a number of locations in the city, including Navy Pier and Oz Park. The recent incarnations have been sponsored in part by the Chicago branch of the French-American Chamber of Commerce and by the French Consulate-General in Chicago. Milwaukee's four-day street festival begins with a "Storming of the Bastille" with a 43-foot replica of the Eiffel Tower. Minneapolis, Minnesota, has a celebration with wine, French food, pastries, a flea market, circus performers and bands. Also in the Twin Cities area, the local chapter of the Alliance Française has hosted an annual event for years at varying locations with a competition for the "Best Baguette of the Twin Cities." Montgomery, Ohio, has a celebration with wine, beer, local restaurants' fare, pastries, games and bands. St. Louis, Missouri, has annual festivals in the Soulard neighborhood, the former French village of Carondelet, Missouri, and in the Benton Park neighborhood. The Chatillon-DeMenil Mansion in the Benton Park neighborhood, holds an annual Bastille Day festival with reenactments of the beheading of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, traditional dancing, and artillery demonstrations. Carondelet also began hosting an annual saloon crawl to celebrate Bastille Day in 2017. The Soulard neighborhood in St. Louis, Missouri celebrates its unique French heritage with special events including a parade, which honors the peasants who rejected to monarchy. The parade includes a 'gathering of the mob,' a walking and golf cart parade, and a mock beheading of the King and Queen.


title: Bastille Day

text: Portland, Oregon, has celebrated Bastille Day with crowds up to 8,000, in public festivals at various public parks, since 2001. The event is coordinated by the Alliance Française of Portland. Seattle's Bastille Day celebration, held at the Seattle Center, involves performances, picnics, wine and shopping. Sacramento, California, conducts annual "waiter races" in the midtown restaurant and shopping district, with a street festival.


title: Sarawak

text: Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, Kalimantan (the Indonesian portion of Borneo) to the south, and Brunei in the north. The capital city, Kuching, is the largest city in Sarawak, the economic centre of the state, and the seat of the Sarawak state government. Other cities and towns in Sarawak include Miri, Sibu, and Bintulu. As of 2021, the population of Sarawak was estimated to be around 2.45 million. Sarawak has an equatorial climate with tropical rainforests and abundant animal and plant species. It has several prominent cave systems at Gunung Mulu National Park. Rajang River is the longest river in Malaysia; Bakun Dam, one of the largest dams in Southeast Asia, is located on one of its tributaries, the Balui River. Mount Murud is the highest point in the state. Sarawak is the only state of Malaysia with a Christian majority.


title: Sarawak

text: The earliest known human settlement in Sarawak at the Niah Caves dates back 40,000 years. A series of Chinese ceramics dated from the 8th to 13th century AD was uncovered at the archaeological site of Santubong. The coastal regions of Sarawak came under the influence of the Bruneian Empire in the 16th century. In 1839, James Brooke, a British explorer, arrived in Sarawak. He, and his descendants, governed the state from 1841 to 1946. During World War II, it was occupied by the Japanese for three years. After the war, the last White Rajah, Charles Vyner Brooke, ceded Sarawak to Britain, and in 1946 it became a British Crown Colony. On 22 July 1963, Sarawak was granted self-government by the British and subsequently became one of the founding members of Malaysia, established on 16 September 1963. However, the federation was opposed by Indonesia, leading to a three-year confrontation. The creation of Malaysia also prompted a communist insurgency that lasted until 1990.


title: Sarawak

text: The head of state is the Governor, also known as the Yang di-Pertua Negeri, while the head of government is the Premier. Sarawak is divided into administrative divisions and districts, governed by a system that is closely modelled on the Westminster parliamentary system and was the earliest state legislature system in Malaysia. Under the Malaysian constitution, Sarawak has greater autonomy than the states of Peninsular Malaysia.


title: Sarawak

text: Because of its natural resources, Sarawak specialises in the export of oil and gas, timber and oil palms, but also possesses strong manufacturing, energy and tourism sectors. It is ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse; major ethnic groups including Iban, Malay, Chinese, Melanau, Bidayuh and Orang Ulu. English and Malay are the two official languages of the state; there is no official religion.


title: Sarawak

text: The generally-accepted explanation of the state's name is that it is derived from the Sarawak Malay word "Serawak" or Cerava by Portuguese chartographers in the 16th century, which means antimony. A popular alternative explanation is that it is a contraction of the four Malay words purportedly uttered by Pangeran Muda Hashim (uncle to the Sultan of Brunei), ""Saya serah pada awak"" (I surrender it to you), when he gave Sarawak to James Brooke, an English explorer in 1841. However, the latter explanation is incorrect: the territory had been named Sarawak before the arrival of James Brooke, and the word "awak" was not in the vocabulary of Sarawak Malay before the formation of Malaysia.


title: Sarawak

text: Sarawak is nicknamed "Land of the Hornbills" ("Bumi Kenyalang"). These birds are important cultural symbols for the Dayak people, representing the spirit of God. It is also believed that if a hornbill is seen flying over residences, it will bring good luck to the local community. Sarawak has eight of the world's fifty-four species of hornbills, and the Rhinoceros hornbill is the state bird of Sarawak.


title: Sarawak

text: Foragers are known to have lived around the west mouth of the Niah Caves (located southwest of Miri) 40,000 years ago. A modern human skull found near the Niah Caves is the oldest human remain found in Malaysia and the oldest modern human skull from Southeast Asia. Chinese ceramics dating to the Tang and Song dynasties (8th to 13th century AD, respectively) found at Santubong (near Kuching) hint at its significance as a seaport.


title: Sarawak

text: The settlement known as Vijayapura was a vassal-state to the Buddhist Srivijaya empire and was thought to be located in Borneo's Northwest which flourished in the 7th Century. This alternate Srivijaya referring to Brunei, was known to Arabic sources as "Sribuza". The Arabic author Al Ya'akubi writing in 800 recorded that the kingdom of Musa (Muja, which is old Brunei) was in alliance with the kingdom of Mayd (Either Ma-i or Madja-as in the Philippines), against the Chinese Empire which they waged war against. In the aftermath of the Indian Chola invasion of Srivijaya, Datu Puti lead some dissident datus from Sumatra and Borneo in a rebellion against Rajah Makatunao (Who is named Rajah Tugao in the native Melenau kingdom of Sarawak) who was a Chola appointed local Rajah or the descendant of Seri Maharajah (In Chinese records). The dissidents and their retinue tried to revive Srivijaya in a new country called Madja-as in the Visayas islands (an archipelago named after Srivijaya) in the Philippines. After the 10 Datus established many towns in Panay and Southern Luzon, according to Augustinian Friar Rev. Fr. Santaren recording in the Spanish era of this Pre-Spanish legendary history, that Datu Macatunao or Rajah Makatunao who was the "sultan of the Moros," and a relative of Datu Puti who seized the properties and riches of the ten datus was eventually killed by the warriors named Labaodungon and Paybare, after learning of this injustice from their father-in-law Paiburong, sailed to Odtojan in Borneo where Rajah Makatunaw (Among Madja-as people)/ Rajah Tugao (Among the Melanao) ruled. The warriors sacked the city, killed Makatunaw and his family, retrieved the stolen properties of the 10 datus, enslaved the remaining population of Odtojan, and sailed back to Panay. Labaw Donggon and his wife, Ojaytanayon, later settled in a place called Moroboro. One of the earliest Chinese records of an independent kingdom in Borneo is the 977 AD letter to the Chinese emperor from the ruler of Boni, which some scholars believe to refer to Borneo. The Bruneians regained their independence from Srivijaya due to the onset of a Javanese-Sumatran war. In 1225, the Chinese official Zhao Rukuo reported that Boni had 100 warships to protect its trade, and that there was great wealth in the kingdom. Marco Polo suggested in his memoirs that the Great Khan or the ruler of the Mongol Empire, attempted and failed many times in invading "Great Java" which was the European name for Bruneian controlled Borneo. In the 1300s the Chinese annals, "Nanhai zhi", reported that Brunei invaded or administered Sarawak and Sabah as well as the Philippine kingdoms of Butuan, Sulu, Ma-i (Mindoro), Malilu 麻裏蘆 (present-day Manila), Shahuchong 沙胡重 (present-day Siocon), Yachen 啞陳 (Oton), and 文杜陵 Wenduling (present-day Mindanao), which would regain their independence at a later date.


title: Sarawak

text: In the 14th century, the Javanese manuscript "Nagarakretagama", written by Prapanca in 1365, mentioned "Barune" as the constituent state of Hindu Majapahit, which had to make an annual tribute of 40 katis of camphor. In 1369, Sulu which was also formerly part of Majapahit, had successfully rebelled and then attacked Boni, and had invaded the Northeast Coast of Borneo and afterwards had looted the capital of its treasure and gold including sacking two sacred pearls. A fleet from Majapahit succeeded in driving away the Sulus, but Boni was left weaker after the attack. A Chinese report from 1371 described Boni as poor and totally controlled by Majapahit.


title: Sarawak

text: The Bruneian Empire was established in the coastal regions of Sarawak by the mid-15th century, and the Kuching area was known to Portuguese cartographers during the 16th century as "Cerava", one of the five great seaports of Borneo. It was also during this time that witnessed the birth of the Sultanate of Sarawak, a local kingdom that lasted for almost half a century before being reunited with Brunei in 1641. By the early 19th century, the Bruneian Empire was in decline, retaining only a tenuous hold along the coastal regions of Sarawak which were otherwise controlled by semi-independent Malay leaders. Away from the coast, territorial wars were fought between the Iban and a Kenyah-Kayan alliance.


title: Sarawak

text: The discovery of antimony ore in the Kuching region led Pangeran Indera Mahkota, a representative of the Sultan of Brunei, to increase development in the territory between 1824 and 1830. Increasing antimony production in the region led the Brunei Sultanate to demand higher taxes, which ultimately led to civil unrest. In 1839, Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin II (1827–1852) assigned his uncle Pangeran Muda Hashim the task of restoring order but his inability to do so caused him to request the aid of British sailor James Brooke. Brooke's success in quelling the revolt was rewarded with antimony, property and the governorship of Sarawak, which at that time consisted only of a small area centred on Kuching.


title: Sarawak

text: The Brooke family, later called the White Rajahs, set about expanding the territory they had been ceded.


title: Sarawak

text: With expansion came the need for efficient governance and thus, beginning in 1841, Sarawak was separated into the first of its administrative divisions with currency, the Sarawak dollar, beginning circulation in 1858. By 1912, a total of five divisions had been established in Sarawak, each headed by a Resident. The Brooke family generally practised a paternalistic form of government with minimal bureaucracy, but were pressured to establish some form of legal framework. Since they were unfamiliar with local customs, the Brooke government created an advisory Supreme Council, mostly consisting of Malay chiefs, to provide guidance. This council is the oldest state legislative assembly in Malaysia, with the first General Council meeting taking place at Bintulu in 1867. In 1928, a Judicial Commissioner, Thomas Stirling Boyd, was appointed as the first legally trained judge. A similar system relating to matters concerning various Chinese communities was also formed. Members of the local community were encouraged by the Brooke regime to focus on particular functions within the territory: the Ibans and other Dayak people were hired as militia while Malays were primarily administrators. Chinese, both local and immigrant, were mostly employed in plantations, mines and as bureaucrats. Expanding trade led to the formation of the Borneo Company Limited in 1856. The company was involved in a wide range of businesses in Sarawak including trade, banking, agriculture, mineral exploration, and development.


title: Sarawak

text: Between 1853 and 1862, there were a number of uprisings against the Brooke government but all were successfully contained with the aid of local tribes. To guard against future uprisings, a series of forts were constructed to protect Kuching, including Fort Margherita, completed in 1871. By that time Brooke's control of Sarawak was such that defences were largely unnecessary.


title: Sarawak

text: Charles Anthoni Brooke succeeded his uncle in 1868 as the next White Rajah. Under his rule, Sarawak gained Limbang and the Baram and Trusan valleys from the Sultan of Brunei, later becoming a protectorate in 1888 with Britain handling foreign affairs but the Brooke government retaining administrative powers. Domestically, Brooke established the Sarawak Museum – the oldest museum in Borneo – in 1891, and brokered a peace in Marudi by ending intertribal wars there. Economic development continued, with oil wells drilling from 1910 and the Brooke Dockyard opening two years later. Anthony Brooke, who would become Rajah Muda (heir apparent) in 1939, was born in 1912.


title: Sarawak

text: A centenary celebration of Brooke rule in Sarawak was held in 1941. During the celebration, a new constitution was introduced that would limit the power of the Rajah and grant the Sarawak people a greater role in the functioning of government. However, this constitution was never fully implemented due to the Japanese occupation. That same year saw the British withdrawing its air and marine forces defending Sarawak to Singapore. With Sarawak now unguarded, the Brooke regime adopted a scorched earth policy where oil installations in Miri were to be destroyed and the Kuching airfield held as long as possible before being destroyed. Nevertheless, a Japanese invasion force led by Kiyotake Kawaguchi landed in Miri on 16 December 1941 and conquered Kuching on 24 December 1941, with British ground forces retreating to Singkawang in neighbouring Dutch Borneo. After ten weeks of fighting there, the Allied forces surrendered on 1 April 1942. Charles Vyner Brooke, the last Rajah of Sarawak, had already left for Sydney, Australia; his officers were captured by the Japanese and interned at the Batu Lintang camp.


title: Sarawak

text: Sarawak remained part of the Empire of Japan for three years and eight months. During this time it was divided into three provinces – Kuching-shu, Sibu-shu, and Miri-shu – each under their respective Provincial Governor. The Japanese otherwise preserved the Brooke administrative structure and appointed the Japanese to important government positions. Allied forces later carried out Operation Semut to sabotage Japanese operations in Sarawak. During the battle of North Borneo, the Australian forces landed at Lutong-Miri area on 20 June 1945 and had penetrated as far as Marudi and Limbang before halting their operations in Sarawak. After the surrender of Japan, the Japanese surrendered to the Australian forces at Labuan on 10 September 1945. The following day, the Japanese forces at Kuching surrendered, and the Batu Lintang camp was liberated. Sarawak was immediately placed under British Military Administration and managed by Australian Imperial Forces (AIF) until April 1946.


title: Sarawak

text: Lacking the resources to rebuild Sarawak after the war, Charles Vyner Brooke decided to cede Sarawak as British Crown Colony and a Cession Bill was put forth in the Council Negri (now Sarawak State Legislative Assembly), which was debated for three days. The bill was passed on 17 May 1946 with a narrow majority (19 versus 16 votes). This caused hundreds of Malay civil servants to resign in protest, sparking an anti-cession movement and the assassination of the second colonial governor of Sarawak, Sir Duncan Stewart. Despite the resistance, Sarawak became a British Crown colony on 1 July 1946. Anthony Brooke opposed the cession of Sarawak to the British Crown, for which he was banished from Sarawak by the colonial government. He was only allowed to return 17 years later after Sarawak had become part of Malaysia. In 1950 all anti-cession movements in Sarawak ceased after a clamp-down by the colonial government.


title: Sarawak

text: On 27 May 1961, Tunku Abdul Rahman, the prime minister of the Federation of Malaya, announced a plan to form a greater federation together with Singapore, Sarawak, North Borneo and Brunei, to be called Malaysia. On 17 January 1962, the Cobbold Commission was formed to gauge the support of Sarawak and Sabah for the plan; the Commission reported 80 per cent support for federation. On 23 October 1962, five political parties in Sarawak formed a united front that supported the formation of Malaysia. Sarawak was officially granted self-government on 22 July 1963, and became federated with Malaya, North Borneo (now Sabah), and Singapore to form a federation named Malaysia on 16 September 1963. The governments of the Philippines and Indonesia opposed the new federation, as did the Brunei People's Party and Sarawak-based communist groups, and in 1962, the Brunei Revolt broke out. Indonesian President Sukarno responded by deploying armed volunteers and, later, military forces into Sarawak. Thousands of Sarawak communist members went into Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo, and underwent training with the Communist Party of Indonesia. The most significant engagement of the confrontation was fought at Plaman Mapu in April 1965. The defeat at Plaman Mapu ultimately resulted in the fall of Sukarno and he was replaced by Suharto as president of Indonesia. Negotiations were restarted between Malaysia and Indonesia and led to the end of the confrontation on 11 August 1966.


title: Sarawak

text: A number of communist groups existed in Sarawak, the first of which, the Sarawak Overseas Chinese Democratic Youth League, formed in 1951. Another group, the North Kalimantan Communist Party (NKCP) (also known as Clandestine Communist Organisation (CCO) by government sources) was formally set up in 1970. Weng Min Chyuan and Bong Kee Chok were two of the more notable communist leaders involved in the insurgency. As the political scene changed, it grew progressively more difficult for the communists to operate. This led to Bong opening talks with chief minister Abdul Rahman Ya'kub in 1973 and eventually signing an agreement with the government. Weng, who had moved to China in the mid-1960s but nonetheless retained control of the CCO, pushed for a continued armed insurrection against the government in spite of this agreement. The conflict continued mostly in the Rajang Delta region but eventually ended when, on 17 October 1990, the NKCP signed a peace agreement with the Sarawak government.


title: Sarawak

text: The head of the Sarawak state is the Yang di-Pertua Negeri (also known as TYT or Governor), a largely symbolic position appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King of Malaysia) on the advice of the Malaysian federal government. Since 2014 this position has been held by Abdul Taib Mahmud. The TYT appoints the Premier, currently held by Abang Johari Openg (GPS), as the head of government. Generally, the leader of the party that commands the majority of the state Legislative Assembly is appointed as the chief minister; democratically elected representatives are known as state assemblymen. The state assembly passes laws on subjects that are not under the jurisdiction of the Parliament of Malaysia such as land administration, employment, forests, immigration, merchant shipping and fisheries. The state government is constituted by the premier, the cabinet ministers and their deputy ministers.


title: Sarawak

text: To protect the interests of the Sarawakians in the Malaysian federation, special safeguards have been included in the Constitution of Malaysia. These include: control over immigration in and out of the state as well as the residence status of non-Sarawakians and Sabahans, limitations on the practice of law to resident lawyers, independence of the Sarawak High Court from the High Court Peninsular Malaysia, a requirement that the Sarawak Chief Minister be consulted prior to the appointment of the chief judge of the Sarawak High Court, the existence of Native Courts in Sarawak and the power to levy sales tax. Natives in Sarawak enjoy special privileges such as quotas and employment in public service, scholarships, university placements, and business permits. Local governments in Sarawak are exempt from local council laws enacted by the Malaysian parliament. This level of autonomy means Sarawak is sometimes referred to as a "region", to differentiate it from less autonomous states.


title: Sarawak

text: Major political parties in Sarawak can be divided into three categories: native Sarawak Bumiputera (PBB and PBM), native Sarawak Dayak (PRS, PDP, PBDSB, etc.), and non-Bumiputera (SUPP, PSB, PBK, etc.); Parties, however, may also include members from more than one group. The first political party, the Sarawak United Peoples' Party (SUPP), was established in 1959, followed by the Parti Negara Sarawak (PANAS) in 1960 and the Sarawak National Party (SNAP) in 1961. Other major political parties such as Parti Pesaka Sarawak (PESAKA) appeared by 1962. These parties later joined the national coalition of the Alliance Party. The Alliance Party (later regrouped into Barisan Nasional) has ruled Sarawak since the formation of Malaysia. The opposition in Sarawak has consistently alleged that the ruling coalition uses various types of vote-buying tactics in order to win elections. Stephen Kalong Ningkan was the first Chief Minister of Sarawak from 1963 to 1966 following his landslide victory in local council elections. However, he was ousted in 1966 by Tawi Sli with the help of the Malaysian federal government, causing the 1966 Sarawak constitutional crisis.


title: Sarawak

text: In 1969, the first Sarawak state election was held, with members of the Council Negri being directly elected by the voters. This election marked the beginning of ethnic Melanau domination in Sarawak politics by Abdul Rahman Ya'kub and Abdul Taib Mahmud. In the same year, the North Kalimantan Communist Party (NKCP) which subsequently waged a guerrilla war against the newly elected Sarawak state government, was formed. The party was dissolved after the signing of a peace agreement in 1990. 1973 saw the birth of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) following a merger of several parties. This party would later become the backbone of the Sarawak BN coalition. In 1978, the Democratic Action Party (DAP) was the first West Malaysia-based party to open its branches in Sarawak. Sarawak originally held state elections together with national parliamentary elections. However, the then chief minister Abdul Rahman Ya'kub delayed the dissolution of the state assembly by a year to prepare for the challenges posed by opposition parties. This made Sarawak the only state in Malaysia to hold state elections separate from the national parliamentary elections since 1979. In 1983, SNAP started to fragment into several splinter parties due to recurrent leadership crises. The political climate in the state was stable until the 1987 Ming Court Affair, a political coup initiated by Abdul Taib Mahmud's uncle to topple the Taib-led BN coalition. However, the coup was unsuccessful and Taib retained his position as chief minister.


title: Sarawak

text: Since the 2006 state election, the Democractic Action Party (DAP) has derived the majority of its support from urban centres and became the largest opposition party in Sarawak. In 2010, it formed the Pakatan Rakyat coalition with Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS); the latter two parties had become active in Sarawak between 1996 and 2001. Sarawak is the only state in Malaysia where West Malaysia-based component parties in the BN coalition, especially the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), have not been active in state politics.


title: Sarawak

text: On 12 June 2018, the Sarawak Parties Alliance was formed by the BN parties in the state in the aftermath of an historic meeting of party leaders in Kuching, where they decided that in light of the BN defeat in the 2018 Malaysian general election and the changing national situation and a new government, the parties will leave the BN altogether. In conjunction with the celebration of Malaysia Day in 2018 under the new government, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has promised to restore the status of Sarawak (together with Sabah) as an equal partner to Malaya, where all three parties (and then, Singapore) formed Malaysia in accordance to the Malaysia Agreement. However, through the process of the proposed amendment to the Constitution of Malaysia in 2019, the bill for the amendment failed to pass following the failure to reach two-thirds majority support (148 votes) in the Parliament with only 138 agreed with the move while 59 abstained from the voting. On 14 December 2021, the proposed amendment was passed in the Parliament unanimously with 199 votes in favour, and 21 MPs absent from the 6-hour long debate.


title: Sarawak

text: Unlike states in Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is divided into 12 divisions, each headed by an appointed resident.


title: Sarawak

text: On 26 November 2015, it was announced that the Kuching Division district of Serian would become Sarawak's 12th division and it had officiated by Adenan Satem at its formal creation on 11 April 2015.


title: Sarawak

text: A division is divided into districts, each headed by a district officer, which are in turn divided into sub-districts, each headed by a Sarawak Administrative Officer (SAO). There is also one development officer for each division and district to implement development projects. The state government appoints a headman (known as "ketua kampung" or "penghulu") for each village. There are a total of 26 sub-districts in Sarawak all under the jurisdiction of the Sarawak Ministry of Local Government and Community Development. The list of divisions, districts, sub-districts and their local authorities is shown in the table below:


title: Sarawak

text: The first paramilitary armed forces in Sarawak, a regiment formed by the Brooke regime in 1862, were known as the Sarawak Rangers. The regiment, renowned for its jungle tracking skills, served in the campaign to end the intertribal wars in Sarawak. It also engaged in guerrilla warfare against the Japanese, in the Malayan Emergency (in West Malaysia) and the Sarawak Communist Insurgency against the communists. Following the formation of Malaysia, the regiment was absorbed into the Malaysian military forces and is now known as the Royal Ranger Regiment.


title: Sarawak

text: In 1888, Sarawak, together with neighbouring North Borneo, and Brunei, became British protectorates, and the responsibility for foreign policy was handed over to the British in exchange for military protection. Since the formation of Malaysia, the Malaysian federal government has been solely responsible for foreign policy and military forces in the country.


title: Sarawak

text: Several border disputes between Malaysia and its neighbouring countries concern Sarawak. Land and maritime disputes exist with Brunei. In 2009, Malaysian prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi claimed that in a meeting with Sultan of Brunei, Brunei agreed to drop its claim over Limbang. This was however denied by the second Foreign Minister of Brunei Lim Jock Seng, stating the issue was never discussed during the meeting. James Shoal (Betting Serupai) and the Luconia Shoals (Betting Raja Jarum/Patinggi Ali), islands in the South China Sea, fall within Sarawak's exclusive economic zone, but concerns have been raised about Chinese incursions. There are also several Sarawak–Kalimantan border issues with Indonesia.


title: Sarawak

text: The total land area of Sarawak is nearly , making up 37.5 per cent of the total area of Malaysia, and lies between the northern latitudes 0° 50′ and 5° and eastern longitudes 109° 36′ and 115° 40′ E. Its of coastline is interrupted in the north by about of Bruneian coast. A total of its coastline have been eroding. In 1961, Sarawak including neighbouring Sabah, which had been included in the International Maritime Organization (IMO) through the participation of the United Kingdom, became joint associate members of the IMO. Sarawak is separated from Kalimantan Borneo by ranges of high hills and mountains that are part of the central mountain range of Borneo. These become loftier to the north, and are highest near the source of the Baram River at the steep Mount Batu Lawi and Mount Mulu. Mount Murud is the highest point in Sarawak.


title: Sarawak

text: Sarawak has a tropical geography with an equatorial climate and experiences two monsoon seasons: a northeast monsoon and a southwest monsoon. The northeast monsoon occurs between November and February, bringing heavy rainfall while the southwest monsoon, which occurs between March and October, brings somewhat less rainfall. The climate is stable throughout the year except for the two monsoons, with average daily temperature varying between in the morning to in the afternoon at coastal areas. Miri has the lowest average temperatures in comparison to other major towns in Sarawak and has the longest daylight hours (more than six hours a day), while other areas receive sunshine for five to six hours a day. Humidity is usually high, exceeding 68 per cent, with annual rainfall varying between and for up to 220 days a year. At highland areas, the temperature can vary from to during the day and as low as during the night.


title: Sarawak

text: Sarawak is divided into three ecoregions. The coastal region is rather low-lying and flat with large areas of swamp and other wet environments. Beaches in Sarawak include Pasir Panjang and Damai beaches in Kuching, Tanjung Batu beach in Bintulu, and Tanjung Lobang and Hawaii beaches in Miri. Hilly terrain accounts for much of the inhabited land and is where most of the cities and towns are found. The ports of Kuching and Sibu are built some distance from the coast on rivers while Bintulu and Miri are close to the coastline where the hills stretch right to the South China Sea. The third region is the mountainous region along the SarawakKalimantan border, where a number of villages such as Bario, Ba'kelalan, and Usun Apau Plieran are located. A number of rivers flow through Sarawak, with the Sarawak River being the main river flowing through Kuching. The Rajang River is the longest river in Malaysia, measuring including its tributary, Balleh River. To the north, the Baram, Limbang and Trusan Rivers drain into the Brunei Bay.


title: Sarawak

text: Sarawak can be divided into two geological zones: the Sunda Shield, which extends southwest from the Batang Lupar River (near Sri Aman) and forms the southern tip of Sarawak, and the geosyncline region, which extends northeast to the Batang Lupar River, forming the central and northern regions of Sarawak. The oldest rock type in southern Sarawak is schist formed during the Carboniferous and Lower Permian times, while the youngest igneous rock in this region, andesite, can be found at Sematan. Geological formation of the central and northern regions started during the late Cretaceous period. Other types of stone that can be found in central and northern Sarawak are shale, sandstone, and chert. The Miri Division in eastern Sarawak is the region of Neogene strata containing organic rich rock formations which are the prolific oil and gas reserves. The rocks enriched in organic components are mudstones in Lambir, Miri and Tukau Formations of Middle Miocene-Lower Pliocene age. Significant quantities of Sarawak soil are lithosols, up to 60 per cent, and podsols, around 12 per cent, while abundant alluvial soil is found in coastal and riverine regions. 12 per cent of Sarawak is covered with peat swamp forest. Limestone with well-developed karst topography and cave systems is found scattered from west to east Sarawak, but concentrated in certain regions such as in the Bau district in the west and southwards near the Kalimantan border.


title: Sarawak

text: There are thirty national parks, among which are Niah with its eponymous caves, the highly developed ecosystem around Lambir Hills, and the World Heritage Site of Gunung Mulu. The last contains Sarawak Chamber, one of the world's largest underground chambers, Deer Cave, the largest cave passage in the world, and Clearwater Cave, the longest cave system in Southeast Asia.


title: Sarawak

text: Sarawak contains large tracts of tropical rainforest with diverse plant species, which has led to a number of them being studied for medicinal properties. Mangrove and nipah forests lining its estuaries comprise 2% of its forested area, peat swamp forests along other parts of its coastline cover 16%, Kerangas forest covers 5% and Dipterocarpaceae forests cover most mountainous areas. The major trees found in estuary forests include "bako" and "nibong", while those in the peat swamp forests include "ramin" ("Gonystylus bancanus"), "meranti" ("Shorea"), and "medang jongkong" ("Dactylocladus stenostachys").


title: Sarawak

text: Animal species are also highly varied, with 185 species of mammals, 530 species of birds, 166 species of snakes, 104 species of lizards, and 113 species of amphibians, of which 19 per cent of the mammals, 6 per cent of the birds, 20 per cent of the snakes and 32 per cent of the lizards are endemic. These species are largely found in Totally Protected Areas. There are over 2,000 tree species in Sarawak. Other plants includes 1,000 species of orchids, 757 species of ferns, and 260 species of palm. The state is the habitat of endangered animals, including the borneo pygmy elephant, proboscis monkey, orangutans and Sumatran rhinoceroses. Matang Wildlife Centre, Semenggoh Nature Reserve, and Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary are noted for their orangutan protection programmes. TalangSatang National Park is notable for its turtle conservation initiatives. Birdwatching is a common activity in various national parks such as Gunung Mulu National Park, Lambir Hills National Park, and Similajau National Park. MiriSibuti National Park is known for its coral reefs and Gunung Gading National Park for its "Rafflesia" flowers. Bako National Park, the oldest national park in Sarawak, is known for its 275 proboscis monkeys, and Padawan Pitcher Garden for its various carnivorous pitcher plants. In 1854, Alfred Russel Wallace visited Sarawak. A year later, he formulated the "Sarawak Law" which foreshadowed the formulation of his (and Darwin's) theory of evolution by natural selection three years later.


title: Sarawak

text: The Sarawak state government has enacted several laws to protect its forests and endangered wildlife species. Some of the protected species are the orangutan, green sea turtle, flying lemur, and piping hornbill. Under the Wild Life Protection Ordinance 1998, Sarawak natives are given permissions to hunt for a restricted range of wild animals in the jungles but should not possess more than of meat. The Sarawak Forest Department was established in 1919 to conserve forest resources in the state. Following international criticism of the logging industry in Sarawak, the state government decided to downsize the Sarawak Forest Department and created the Sarawak Forestry Corporation in 1995. The Sarawak Biodiversity Centre was set up in 1997 for the conservation, protection, and sustainable development of biodiversity in the state.


title: Sarawak

text: Sarawak's rain forests are primarily threatened by the logging industry and palm oil plantations. The issue of human rights of the Penan and deforestation in Sarawak became an international environmental issue when Swiss activist Bruno Manser visited Sarawak regularly between 1984 and 2000. Deforestation has affected the life of indigenous tribes, especially the Penan, whose livelihood is heavily dependent on forest produce. This led to several blockades by indigenous tribes during the 1980s and 1990s against logging companies encroaching on their lands. Indeed, illegal logging in particular has decimated the forest regions indigenous populations depend on for their livelihoods, depleting fish, wildlife, but also traditional medicinal herbs and construction staples like Palm. There have also been cases where Native Customary Rights (NCR) lands have been given to timber and plantation companies without the permission of the locals. The indigenous people have resorted to legal means to reinstate their NCR. In 2001 the High Court of Sarawak fully reinstated the NCR land claimed by the Rumah Nor people, but this was overturned partially in 2005. However, this case has served as a precedent, leading to more NCR being upheld by the high court in the following years. Sarawak's mega-dam policies, such as the Bakun Dam and Murum Dam projects, have submerged thousands of hectares of forest and displaced thousands of indigenous people. Since 2013, the proposed Baram Dam project has been delayed due to ongoing protests from local indigenous tribes. Since 2014, the Sarawak government under chief minister Adenan Satem started to take action against illegal logging in the state and to diversify the economy of the state. Through the course of 2016 over 2 million acres of forest, much of it in orangutan habitats, were declared protected areas.


title: Sarawak

text: Sources vary as to Sarawak's remaining forest cover: former chief minister Abdul Taib Mahmud declared that it fell from 70% to 48% between 2011 and 2012, the Sarawak Forest Department and the Ministry of Resource Planning and Environment both held that it remained at 80% in 2012, and Wetlands International reported that it fell by 10% between 2005 and 2010, 3.5 times faster than the rest of Asia combined.


title: Sarawak

text: Historically, Sarawak's economy was stagnant during the rule of previous three white Rajahs. After the formation of Malaysia, Sarawak GDP growth rate has risen due to increase in petroleum output and the rise in global petroleum prices. However, the state economy is less diversified and still heavily dependent upon the export of primary commodities when compared to Malaysia overall. The per capita GDP in Sarawak was lower than the national average from 1970 to 1990. As of 2021, GDP per capita for Sarawak stands at RM 65,971 (US$ 15,173), which is the third highest in Malaysia. However, the urban-rural income gap remained a major problem in Sarawak.