title: Tantalum capacitor

text: The safety margin for solid tantalum capacitors with manganese dioxide electrolyte is typically between 2 and 4. That means that for a 25 V tantalum capacitor with a safety margin of 4 the dielectric voltage proof can withstand 100 V to provide a more robust dielectric. This very high safety factor is substantiated by the failure mechanism of solid tantalum capacitors, "field crystallization".


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: For tantalum capacitors with solid polymer electrolyte the safety margin is much lower, typically around 2.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: The next stage for solid tantalum capacitors is the application of the cathode plate (wet tantalum capacitors use a liquid electrolyte as a cathode in conjunction with their casing). This is achieved by pyrolysis of manganese nitrate into manganese dioxide. The "pellet" is dipped into an aqueous solution of nitrate and then baked in an oven at approximately 250 °C to produce the dioxide coat. The chemical equation is:


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: This process is repeated several times through varying specific gravities of nitrate solution, to build up a thick coat over all internal and external surfaces of the "pellet", as shown in Figure 4.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: In traditional construction, the "pellet" is successively dipped into graphite and then silver to provide a good connection from the manganese dioxide cathode plate to the external cathode termination(see Figure 5).


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: The picture below shows the production flow of tantalum electrolytic chip capacitors with sintered anode and solid manganese dioxide electrolyte.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: More than 90% of all tantalum electrolytic capacitors are manufactured in SMD style as tantalum chip capacitors. It has contact surfaces on the end faces of the case and is manufactured in different sizes, typically following the EIA-535-BAAC standard. The different sizes can also be identified by case code letters. For some case sizes (A to E), which have been manufactured for many decades, the dimensions and case coding over all manufactures are still largely the same. However, new developments in tantalum electrolytic capacitors such as the multi-anode technique to reduce the ESR or the "face down" technique to reduce the inductance have led to a much wider range of chip sizes and their case codes. These departures from EIA standards mean devices from different manufacturers are no longer always uniform.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: An overview of the dimensions of conventional tantalum rectangular chip capacitors and their coding is shown in the following table:


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: The main feature of modern non-solid (wet) tantalum electrolytic capacitors are their energy density compared with that of solid tantalum and wet aluminum electrolytic capacitors within the same temperature range. Due to their self-healing properties (the non-solid electrolyte can deliver oxygen to form new oxide layer in weak areas of the dielectric), the dielectric thickness can be formed with much lower safety margins and consequently with much thinner dielectric than for solid types, resulting in a higher CV value per volume unit. Additionally, wet tantalum capacitors are able to operate at voltages in excess of 100 V up to 630 V, have a relatively low ESR, and have the lowest leakage current of all electrolytic capacitors.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: The original wet tantalum capacitors developed in the 1930s were axial capacitors, having a wound cell consisting of a tantalum anode and foil cathode separated by a paper stripe soaked with an electrolyte, mounted in a silver case and non-hermetic elastomer sealed. Because of the inertness and stability of the tantalum dielectric oxide layer against strong acids, the wet tantalum capacitors could use sulfuric acid as an electrolyte, thus providing them with a relatively low ESR.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: Because in the past, silver casings had problems with silver migration and whiskers which led to increasing leakage currents and short circuits, new styles of wet tantalum capacitors use a sintered tantalum pellet cell and a gelled sulfuric acid electrolyte mounted in a pure tantalum case.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: Due to their relatively high price, wet tantalum electrolytic capacitors have few consumer applications. They are used in ruggedized industrial applications, such as in probes for oil exploration. Types with military approvals can provide the extended capacitance and voltage ratings, along with the high quality levels required for avionics, military, and space applications.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: The group of "valve metals" capable of forming an insulating oxide film was discovered in 1875. In 1896 Karol Pollak patented a capacitor using aluminum electrodes and a liquid electrolyte. Aluminum electrolytic capacitors were commercially manufactured in the 1930s.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: The first tantalum electrolytic capacitors with wound tantalum foils and non-solid electrolyte were developed in 1930 by Tansitor Electronic Inc. (US), and were used for military purposes.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: Solid electrolyte tantalum capacitors were invented by Bell Laboratories in the early 1950s as a miniaturized and more reliable low-voltage support capacitor to complement their newly invented transistor. The solution R. L. Taylor and H. E. Haring from the Bell Labs found for the new miniaturized capacitor found in early 1950 was based on experience with ceramics. They ground metallic tantalum to a powder, pressed this powder into a cylindrical form and then sintered the powder particles at high temperature between under vacuum conditions, into a pellet ("slug").


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: These first sintered tantalum capacitors used a liquid electrolyte. In 1952 Bell Labs researchers discovered the use manganese dioxide as a solid electrolyte for a sintered tantalum capacitor.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: Although the fundamental inventions came from the Bell Labs, the innovations for manufacturing commercially viable tantalum electrolytic capacitors were done by the researchers of the Sprague Electric Company. Preston Robinson, Sprague's Director of Research, is considered to be the actual inventor of tantalum capacitors in 1954. His invention was supported by R. J. Millard, who introduced the "reform" step in 1955, a significant improvement in which the dielectric of the capacitor was repaired after each dip-and-convert cycle of MnO deposition. This dramatically reduced the leakage current of the finished capacitors.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: This first solid electrolyte manganese dioxide had 10 times better conductivity than all other types of non-solid electrolyte capacitors. In the style of tantalum pearls, they soon found wide use in radio and new television devices.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: In 1971, Intel launched its first microcomputer (the MCS 4) and 1972 Hewlett Packard launched one of the first pocket calculators (the HP 35). The requirements for capacitors increased, especially the demand for lower losses. The equivalent series resistance (ESR) for bypass and decoupling capacitors of standard electrolytic capacitors needed to be decreased.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: Although solid tantalum capacitors offered lower ESR and leakage current values than the aluminum electrolytics, in 1980 a price shock for tantalum in the industry dramatically reduced the usability of tantalum capacitors, especially in consumer entertainment electronics.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: The development of conducting polymers by Alan J. Heeger, Alan MacDiarmid and Hideki Shirakawa in 1975 was a break-through in point of lower ESR. The conductivities of conductive polymers such as polypyrrole (PPy) or PEDOT are better by a factor of 1000 than that of manganese dioxide, and are close to the conductivity of metals.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: In 1993 NEC introduced their SMD polymer tantalum electrolytic capacitors, called "NeoCap". In 1997 Sanyo followed with their "POSCAP" polymer tantalum chips.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: A new conductive polymer for tantalum polymer capacitors was presented by Kemet at the "1999 Carts" conference. This capacitor used the newly developed organic conductive polymer PEDT Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene), also known as PEDOT (trade name Baytron).


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: This development to low ESR capacitors with high CV-volumes in chip style for the rapid growing SMD technology in the 1990s increased the demand on tantalum chips dramatically. However, another price explosion for tantalum in 2000/2001 forced the development of niobium electrolytic capacitors with manganese dioxide electrolyte, which have been available since 2002. The materials and processes used to produce niobium-dielectric capacitors are essentially the same as for existing tantalum-dielectric capacitors. The characteristics of niobium electrolytic capacitors and tantalum electrolytic capacitors are roughly comparable.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: Tantalum electrolytic capacitors as discrete components are not ideal capacitors, as they have losses and parasitic inductive parts. All properties can be defined and specified by a series equivalent circuit composed of an idealized capacitance and additional electrical components which model all losses and inductive parameters of a capacitor. In this series-equivalent circuit the electrical characteristics are defined by:


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: Using a series equivalent circuit rather than a parallel equivalent circuit is specified by IEC/EN 60384-1.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: The electrical characteristics of tantalum electrolytic capacitors depend on the structure of the anode and the electrolyte used. This influences the capacitance value of tantalum capacitors, which depend on operating frequency and temperature. The basic unit of electrolytic capacitors capacitance is microfarad (μF).


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: The capacitance value specified in the data sheets of the manufacturers is called rated capacitance C or nominal capacitance C and is the value for which the capacitor has been designed. Standardized measuring condition for electrolytic capacitors is an AC measuring method with a frequency of 100 to 120 Hz. Electrolytic capacitors differ from other capacitor types, whose capacitances are typically measured at 1 kHz or higher. For tantalum capacitors a DC bias voltage of 1.1 to 1.5 V for types with a rated voltage of ≤2.5 V or 2.1 to 2.5 V for types with a rated voltage of >2.5 V may be applied during the measurement to avoid reverse voltage.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: The percentage of allowed deviation of the measured capacitance from the rated value is called capacitance tolerance. Electrolytic capacitors are available in different tolerance series classifications, whose values are specified in the E series specified in IEC 60063. For abbreviated marking in tight spaces, a letter code for each tolerance is specified in IEC 60062.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: The required capacitance tolerance is determined by the particular application. Electrolytic capacitors, which are often used for filtering and bypassing capacitors don't have the need for narrow tolerances because they are mostly not used for accurate frequency applications like oscillators.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: Referring to IEC/EN 60384-1 standard the allowed operating voltage for tantalum capacitors is called "rated voltage U " or "nominal voltage U". The rated voltage U is the maximum DC voltage or peak pulse voltage that may be applied continuously at any temperature within the rated temperature range T (IEC/EN 60384-1).


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: The voltage rating of electrolytic capacitors decreases with increasing temperature. For some applications it is important to use a higher temperature range. Lowering the voltage applied at a higher temperature maintains safety margins. For some capacitor types therefore the IEC standard specify a "temperature derated voltage" for a higher temperature, the "category voltage U". The category voltage is the maximum DC voltage or peak pulse voltage that may be applied continuously to a capacitor at any temperature within the category temperature range T. The relation between both voltages and temperatures is given in the picture right.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: Lower voltage applied may have positive influences for tantalum electrolytic capacitors. Lowering the voltage applied increases the reliability and reduces the expected failure rate.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: The surge voltage indicates the maximum peak voltage value that may be applied to electrolytic capacitors during their application for a limited number of cycles. The surge voltage is standardized in IEC/EN 60384-1. For tantalum electrolytic capacitors the surge voltage shall be 1.3 times of the rated voltage, rounded off to the nearest volt.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: Transient voltage or a current spike applied to tantalum electrolytic capacitors with solid manganese dioxide electrolyte can cause some tantalum capacitors to fail and may directly lead to a short.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: Tantalum electrolytic are polarized and generally require anode electrode voltage to be positive relative to the cathode voltage.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: With a reverse voltage applied, a reverse leakage current flows in very small areas of microcracks or other defects across the dielectric layer to the anode of the electrolytic capacitor. Although the current may only be a few microamps, it represents a very high localized current density which can cause a tiny hot-spot. This can cause some conversion of amorphous tantalum pentoxide to the more conductive crystalline form. When a high current is available, this effect can avalanche and the capacitor may become a total short.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: Nevertheless, tantalum electrolytic capacitors can withstand for short instants a reverse voltage for a limited number of cycles. The most common guidelines for tantalum reverse voltage are:


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: These guidelines apply for short excursion and should never be used to determine the maximum reverse voltage under which a capacitor can be used permanently.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: Tantalum electrolytic capacitors, as well as other conventional capacitors, have two electrical functions. For timers or similar applications, capacitors are seen as a storage component to store electrical energy. But for smoothing, bypassing, or decoupling applications like in power supplies, the capacitors work additionally as AC resistors to filter undesired AC components from voltage rails. For this (biased) AC function the frequency dependent AC resistance (impedance ""Z"") is as important as the capacitance value.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: The impedance is the complex ratio of the voltage to the current with both magnitude and phase at a particular frequency in an AC circuit. In this sense impedance is a measure of the ability of the capacitor to attenuate alternating currents and can be used like Ohms law


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: The impedance is a frequency dependent AC resistance and possesses both magnitude and phase at a particular frequency. In data sheets of electrolytic capacitors, only the impedance magnitude "|Z|" is specified, and simply written as ""Z"". Regarding to the IEC/EN 60384-1 standard, the impedance values of tantalum electrolytic capacitors are measured and specified at 10 kHz or 100 kHz depending on the capacitance and voltage of the capacitor.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: Besides measuring, the impedance can also be calculated using the idealized components out of a capacitor's series-equivalent circuit, including an ideal capacitor "C", a resistor "ESR", and an inductance "ESL". In this case the impedance at the angular frequency "ω" therefore is given by the geometric (complex) addition of "ESR", by a capacitive reactance "X"


Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction is a memoir by David Sheff that describes how his family dealt with his son Nic's methamphetamine addiction. It was published by Houghton Mifflin on February 26, 2008. The book grew out of the article "My Addicted Son" that Sheff had written for "The New York Times Magazine" in 2005. Son Nic Sheff's perspective was told in his own memoir "Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines", published concurrently by an imprint of Simon & Schuster.


title: Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction

text: "Beautiful Boy" covers a substantial portion of Nic's life and deals with the elder Sheff's struggles of how to respond to a son whom he loves but who is also a danger to his family. Nic, then a senior in high school, steals money from his younger siblings and gets arrested for possession in front of them, leading Sheff to install a security system to prevent Nic from breaking in. Nic attends many rehabs throughout the memoir, and even with those he relapses many times. The longest stretch of sobriety Nic had, prior to his last relapse in the memoir, was almost two years. He then relapsed once again and went into treatment. By the end of the memoir Sheff tells us that Nic has been sober one year. He hopes with all his heart that this will be the last time, and believes in him once again. But in his mind he knows that a relapse can easily happen again and that it will be very difficult for Nic, his family, and himself. Another theme throughout the memoir is Sheff wondering about how much he is to blame and what he could have done to prevent his son's addiction.


text: Throughout the memoir Sheff attends numerous Al-Anon Meetings and therapy sessions. In these different sessions he is continually told of the three Cs: you did not cause it, you cannot control it, and you cannot cure it. Sheff has a difficult time accepting these statements throughout the memoir. At the end, however, he says that he has come to accept two of the Cs, that he cannot control it, and he cannot cure it. He realizes that he has done everything he can do to try to help Nic, and knows that it is up to Nic to figure things out if he is to fully recover.


text: "Beautiful Boy" became a critical and commercial success. It reached #1 on the "New York Times" Best Sellers List on April 6, 2008, and again on May 4, 2008. "Entertainment Weekly" named it the #1 Best Nonfiction Book of 2008 and it won the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award for nonfiction in 2008. Amazon.com selected it as one of the "Best Books of 2008" and Starbucks picked it as one of the few books it would sell in its coffee shops.


text: "Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines" is a follow-up book and autobiographical memoir written by the son Nic Sheff personally about his own ordeal. It was published as hardcover by Atheneum Books for Young Readers in 336 pages in February 2008 () and later in paperback on January 6, 2009. It became a "New York Times" and "USA Today" bestselling memoir in its own right.


text: A film adaptation directed by Felix van Groeningen, and starring Steve Carell as David Sheff and Timothée Chalamet as Nic Sheff, was released on October 12, 2018, by Amazon Studios. It is based on both books "Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction" by David Sheff and "Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines" by Nic Sheff. The screenplay was adapted from the books by Luke Davies and director van Groeningen.


title: Wampus cat

text: The Wampus cat is a cat-like creature in American folklore that varies widely in appearance, ranging from frightful to comical, depending on region.


title: Wampus cat

text: Early references, by the American Dialect Society, noted the Wampus cat as "a creature heard whining about camps at night," "a spiritual green-eyed cat, having occult powers," or "an undefined imaginary animal." Folklorist Vance Randolph described the Wampus cat as "a kind of amphibious panther which leaps into the water and swims like a colossal mink." Other commentators liken the Wampus cat to a creature of Cherokee mythology.


title: Wampus cat

text: In Cherokee legends, the monster is the cat-like embodiment of a female onlooker cursed by tribal elders, as punishment for hiding beneath the pelt of a wild cat to witness a sacred ceremony. The Wampus cat is used as a mascot for several educational institutions. During the 1920–30s, newspapers reported a "Wampus" cat killing livestock in North Carolina to Georgia. Though possibly due to early intrusions of coyotes or jaguarundi, the livestock deaths were attributed to the Wampus cat.


title: Nostratic languages

text: Nostratic is a controversial hypothetical macrofamily, which includes many of the indigenous language families of Eurasia, although its exact composition and structure vary among proponents. It typically comprises Kartvelian, Indo-European and Uralic languages; some languages from the similarly controversial disputed Altaic family; the Afroasiatic languages spoken in North Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and the Near East as well as the Dravidian languages of the Indian Subcontinent (sometimes also Elamo-Dravidian, which connects India and the Iranian Plateau).


title: Nostratic languages

text: The hypothetical ancestral language of the Nostratic family is called Proto-Nostratic. According to Allan Bomhard, Proto-Nostratic would have been spoken between 15,000 and 12,000 BCE, in the Epipaleolithic period, close to the end of the last glacial period, perhaps in or near the Fertile Crescent.


title: Nostratic languages

text: The Nostratic hypothesis originates with Holger Pedersen in the early 20th century. The name "Nostratic" is due to Pedersen (1903), derived from the Latin "nostrates" "fellow countrymen". The hypothesis was significantly expanded in the 1960s by Soviet linguists, notably Vladislav Illich-Svitych and Aharon Dolgopolsky, termed the "Moscovite school" by Allan Bomhard (2008, 2011, and 2014), and it has received renewed attention in English-speaking academia since the 1990s.


title: Nostratic languages

text: The hypothesis is controversial and has varying degrees of acceptance amongst linguists worldwide with most rejecting Nostratic and many other macrofamily hypotheses. In Russia, it is endorsed by a minority of linguists, such as Vladimir Dybo, but is not a generally accepted hypothesis. Some linguists take an agnostic view. Eurasiatic, a similar grouping, was proposed by Joseph Greenberg (2000) and endorsed by Merritt Ruhlen: it is taken as a subfamily of Nostratic by Bomhard (2008).


title: Nostratic languages

text: The last quarter of the 19th century saw various linguists putting forward proposals linking the Indo-European languages to other language families, such as Finno-Ugric and Altaic.


title: Nostratic languages

text: These proposals were taken much further in 1903 when Holger Pedersen proposed "Nostratic", a common ancestor for the Indo-European, Finno-Ugric, Samoyed, Turkish, Mongolian, Manchu, Yukaghir, Eskimo, Semitic, and Hamitic languages, with the door left open to the eventual inclusion of others.


title: Nostratic languages

text: The name "Nostratic" derives from the Latin word "nostrās", meaning 'our fellow-countryman' (plural: "nostrates") and has been defined, since Pedersen, as consisting of those language families that are related to Indo-European. Merritt Ruhlen notes that this definition is not properly taxonomic but amorphous, since there are broader and narrower degrees of relatedness, and moreover, some linguists who broadly accept the concept (such as Greenberg and Ruhlen himself) have criticised the name as reflecting the ethnocentrism frequent among Europeans at the time. Martin Bernal has described the term as distasteful because it implies that speakers of other language families are excluded from academic discussion. Even so, the concept arguably transcends ethnocentric associations. (Indeed, Pedersen's older contemporary Henry Sweet attributed some of the resistance by Indo-European specialists to hypotheses of wider genetic relationships as "prejudice against dethroning [Indo-European] from its proud isolation and affiliating it to the languages of yellow races".) Proposed alternative names such as "Mitian", formed from the characteristic Nostratic first- and second-person pronouns "mi" 'I' and "ti" 'you' (exactly 'thee'), have not attained the same currency.


title: Nostratic languages

text: An early supporter was the French linguist Albert Cuny—better known for his role in the development of the laryngeal theory—who published his "Recherches sur le vocalisme, le consonantisme et la formation des racines en « nostratique », ancêtre de l'indo-européen et du chamito-sémitique" ('Researches on the Vocalism, Consonantism, and Formation of Roots in "Nostratic", Ancestor of Indo-European and Hamito-Semitic') in 1943. Although Cuny enjoyed a high reputation as a linguist, the work was coldly received.


title: Nostratic languages

text: While Pedersen's Nostratic hypothesis did not make much headway in the West, it became quite popular in what was then the Soviet Union. Working independently at first, Vladislav Illich-Svitych and Aharon Dolgopolsky elaborated the first version of the contemporary form of the hypothesis during the 1960s. They expanded it to include additional language families. Illich-Svitych also prepared the first dictionary of the hypothetical language.


title: Nostratic languages

text: A principal source for the items in Illich-Svitych's dictionary was the earlier work of Alfredo Trombetti (1866–1929), an Italian linguist who had developed a classification scheme for all the world's languages, widely reviled at the time and subsequently ignored by almost all linguists. In Trombetti's time, a widely held view on classifying languages was that similarity in inflections is the surest proof of genetic relationship. In the interim, the view had taken hold that the comparative method—previously used as a means of studying languages already known to be related and without any thought of classification—is the most effective means to establish genetic relationship, eventually hardening into the conviction that it is the only legitimate means to do so. This view was basic to the outlook of the new Nostraticists. Although Illich-Svitych adopted many of Trombetti's etymologies, he sought to validate them by a systematic comparison of the sound systems of the languages concerned.


title: Nostratic languages

text: The chief events in Nostratic studies in 2008 were the online publication of the latest version of Dolgopolsky's "Nostratic Dictionary" and the publication of Allan Bomhard's comprehensive treatment of the subject, "Reconstructing Proto-Nostratic", in 2 volumes. 2008 also saw the opening of a website, "Nostratica", devoted to providing important texts in Nostratic studies online, which is now offline. Also significant was Bomhard's partly critical review of Dolgopolsky's dictionary, in which he argued that only those Nostratic etymologies that are strongest should be included, in contrast to Dolgopolsky's more expansive approach, which includes many etymologies that are possible but not secure.


title: Nostratic languages

text: In early 2014, Allan Bomhard published his latest monograph on Nostratic, "A Comprehensive Introduction to Nostratic Comparative Linguistics".


title: Nostratic languages

text: The language families proposed for inclusion in Nostratic vary, but all Nostraticists agree on a common core of language families, with differences of opinion appearing over the inclusion of additional families.


title: Nostratic languages

text: The three groups universally accepted among Nostraticists are Indo-European, Uralic, and Altaic; the validity of the Altaic family, while itself controversial, is taken for granted by Nostraticists. Nearly all also include the Kartvelian and Dravidian language families.


title: Nostratic languages

text: Following Pedersen, Illich-Svitych, and Dolgopolsky, most advocates of the theory have included Afroasiatic, though criticisms by Joseph Greenberg and others from the late 1980s onward suggested a reassessment of this position.


title: Nostratic languages

text: The Sumerian and Etruscan languages, usually regarded as language isolates, are thought by some to be Nostratic languages as well. Others, however, consider one or both to be members of another macrofamily called Dené–Caucasian. Another notional isolate, the Elamite language, also figures in a number of Nostratic classifications. It is frequently grouped with Dravidian as Elamo-Dravidian.


title: Nostratic languages

text: In 1987 Joseph Greenberg proposed a similar macrofamily which he called Eurasiatic. It included the same "Euraltaic" core (Indo-European, Uralic, and Altaic), but excluded some of the above-listed families, most notably Afroasiatic. At about this time Russian Nostraticists, notably Sergei Starostin, constructed a revised version of Nostratic which was slightly broader than Greenberg's grouping but which similarly left out Afroasiatic.


title: Nostratic languages

text: Beginning in the early 2000s, a consensus emerged among proponents of the Nostratic hypothesis. Greenberg basically agreed with the Nostratic concept, though he stressed a deep internal division between its northern 'tier' (his Eurasiatic) and a southern 'tier' (principally Afroasiatic and Dravidian). The American Nostraticist Allan Bomhard considers Eurasiatic a branch of Nostratic alongside other branches: Kartvelian, Afroasiatic, and Elamo-Dravidian. Similarly, Georgiy Starostin (2002) arrives at a tripartite overall grouping: he considers Afroasiatic, Nostratic and Elamite to be roughly equidistant and more closely related to each other than to anything else. Sergei Starostin's school has now re-included Afroasiatic in a broadly defined Nostratic, while reserving the term Eurasiatic to designate the narrower subgrouping which comprises the rest of the macrofamily. Recent proposals thus differ mainly on the precise placement of Kartvelian and Dravidian.


title: Nostratic languages

text: According to Greenberg, Eurasiatic and Amerind form a genetic node, being more closely related to each other than either is to "the other families of the Old World". There are a number of hypotheses incorporating Nostratic into an even broader linguistic 'mega-phylum', sometimes called Borean, which would also include at least the Dené–Caucasian and perhaps the Amerind and Austric superfamilies. The term SCAN has been used for a group that would include Sino-Caucasian, Amerind, and Nostratic.


title: Nostratic languages

text: The following table summarizes the constituent language families of Nostratic, as described by Holger Pedersen, Vladislav Illich-Svitych, Sergei Starostin, Allan Bomhard, and Aharon Dolgopolsky.


title: Nostratic languages

text: Allan Bomhard and Colin Renfrew are in broad agreement with the earlier conclusions of Illich-Svitych and Dolgopolsky in seeking the Nostratic Urheimat (original homeland) within the Mesolithic (or Epipaleolithic) in the Fertile Crescent, the stage which directly preceded the Neolithic and was transitional to it.


title: Nostratic languages

text: Looking at the cultural assemblages of this period, two sequences, in particular, stand out as possible archeological correlates of the earliest Nostratians or their immediate precursors. Both hypotheses place Proto-Nostratic within the Fertile Crescent at around the end of the last glacial period.


title: Nostratic languages

text: It has been proposed that the broad spectrum revolution of Kent Flannery (1969), associated with microliths, the use of the bow and arrow, and the domestication of the dog, all of which are associated with these cultures, might have been the cultural "motor" that led to their expansion. Certainly, cultures which appeared at Franchthi Cave in the Aegean and Lepenski Vir in the Balkans, and the Murzak-Koba (9100–8000 BC) and Grebenki (8500–7000 BC) cultures of the Ukrainian steppe, all displayed these adaptations.


title: Nostratic languages

text: Bomhard (2008) suggests a differentiation of Proto-Nostratic by 8,000 BCE, the beginning of the Neolithic Revolution in the Levant, over a territory spanning the entire Fertile Crescent and beyond into the Caucasus (Proto-Kartvelian), Egypt and along the Red Sea to the Horn of Africa (Proto-Afroasiatic), the Iranian Plateau (Proto-Elamo-Dravidian) and into Central Asia (Proto-Eurasiatic, to be further subdivided by 5,000 BCE into Proto-Indo-European, Proto-Uralic and Proto-Altaic).


title: Nostratic languages

text: According to some scholarly opinion the Kebaran is derived from the Levantine Upper Palaeolithic in which the microlithic component originated, although microlithic cultures were earlier found in Africa.


title: Nostratic languages

text: Ouchtata retouch is also a characteristic of the Late Ahmarian Upper Palaeolithic culture of the Levant and may not indicate African influence.


title: Nostratic languages

text: The following data is taken from Kaiser and Shevoroshkin (1988) and Bengtson (1998) and transcribed into the .


title: Nostratic languages

text: The phonemes tabulated below are commonly reconstructed for the Proto-Nostratic language (Kaiser and Shevoroshkin 1988). Allan Bomhard (2008), who relies more heavily on Afroasiatic and Dravidian than on Uralic, as do members of the "Moscow School", reconstructs a different vowel system, with three pairs of vowels represented as: , as well as independent /i/, /o/, and /u/. In the first three pairs of vowels, Bomhard is attempting to specify the subphonemic variation involved, inasmuch as that variation led to some of the vowel gradation (ablaut) and vowel harmony patterning found in various daughter languages.


title: Nostratic languages

text: The reconstructed consonants of Nostratic are shown in the table below. Every distinction is supposed to be contrastive by the Nostraticists who reconstruct them.


title: Nostratic languages

text: The following table is compiled from data given by Kaiser and Shevoroshkin (1988) and Starostin. They follow Illich-Svitych's correspondences in which Nostratic voiceless stops give (traditional) PIE voiced ones, and Nostratic glottalized stops give (traditional) PIE voiceless stops, in contradiction with the PIE glottalic theory, which makes traditional PIE voiced stops appear like glottalized ones. To correct this anomaly, linguists such as Manaster Ramer and Bomhard have proposed to correlate Nostratic voiceless and glottalized stops with PIE ones, so this is done in the table.


title: Nostratic languages

text: Because linguists working on Proto-Indo-European, Proto-Uralic, and Proto-Dravidian do not usually use the IPA, the transcriptions used in those fields are also given where the letters differ from the IPA symbols. The IPA symbols are between slashes because this is a phonemic transcription. The exact values of the phoneme "*p₁" in Proto-Afroasiatic and Proto-Dravidian are unknown. "∅" indicates disappearance without a trace. Hyphens indicate different developments at the beginning and in the interior of words; no consonants ever occurred at the ends of word roots. (Starostin's list of affricate and fricative correspondences does not mention Afroasiatic or Dravidian, and Kaiser and Shevoroshkin don't mention these sounds much; hence the holes in the table.)


title: Nostratic languages

text: Note that there are at present several different mutually incompatible reconstructions of Proto-Afroasiatic (see for two recent reconstructions). The one used here has been said to be based too strongly on Proto-Semitic (Yakubovich 1998).


title: Nostratic languages

text: Similarly, the paper by Kaiser and Shevoroshkin is much older than the "Etymological Dictionary of the Altaic Languages" (2003; see Altaic languages article) and therefore assumes a somewhat different phonological system for Proto-Altaic.


title: Nostratic languages

text: Because grammar is less easily borrowed than words, grammar is usually considered stronger evidence for language relationships than vocabulary. The following correspondences (slightly modified to account for the reconstruction of Proto-Altaic by Starostin et al. [2003]) have been suggested by Kaiser and Shevoroshkin (1988). /N/ could be any nasal consonant. /V/ could be any vowel. (The above cautionary notes on Afroasiatic and Dravidian apply.)


title: Nostratic languages

text: In addition, Kaiser and Shevoroshkin write the following about Proto-Nostratic grammar (two asterisks are used for reconstructions based on reconstructions; citation format changed):


title: Nostratic languages

text: The verb stood at the end of the sentence (SV and SOV type). The 1st p[er]s[on] was formed by adding the 1st ps. pronoun **mi to the verb; similarly, the 2nd ps. was formed by adding **ti. There were no endings for the 3rd ps. present ["or at least none can be reconstructed"], while the 3rd ps. preterit ending was **-di (Illich-Svitych 1971, pp. 218–19). Verbs could be active and passive, causative, desiderative, and reflective; and there were special markers for most of these categories. Nouns could be animate or inanimate, and plural markers differed for each category. There were subject and object markers, locative and lative enclitic particles, etc. Pronouns distinguished direct and oblique forms, animate and inanimate categories, notions of the type 'near':'far', inclusive:exclusive [...], etc. Apparently there were no prefixes. Nostratic words were either equal to roots or built by adding endings or suffixes. There are some cases of word composition...


title: Nostratic languages

text: According to Dolgopolsky, Proto-Nostratic language had analytic structure, which he argues by diverging of post- and prepositions of auxiliary words in descendant languages.


title: Nostratic languages

text: Word order was subject–object–verb when the subject was a noun, and object–verb–subject when it was a pronoun. Attributive (expressed by a lexical word) preceded its head. Pronominal attributive ('my', 'this') might follow the noun. Auxiliary words are considered to be postpositions.


title: Nostratic languages

text: Personal pronouns are seldom borrowed between languages. Therefore the many correspondences between Nostratic pronouns are rather strong evidence for the existence of a Proto-Nostratic language. The difficulty of finding Afroasiatic cognates is, however, taken by some as evidence that Nostratic has two or three branches, Afroasiatic and Eurasiatic (and possibly Dravidian), and that most or all of the pronouns in the following table can only be traced to Proto-Eurasiatic.


title: Nostratic languages

text: Nivkh is a living (if moribund) language with an orthography, which is given here. /V/ means that it is not clear which vowel should be reconstructed.


title: Nostratic languages

text: For space reasons, Etruscan is not included, but the fact that it had /mi/ 'I' and /mini/ 'me' seems to fit the pattern reconstructed for Proto-Nostratic ideally, leading some to argue that the Aegean or Tyrsenian languages were yet another Nostratic branch.


title: Nostratic languages

text: There is no reconstruction of Proto-Eskimo–Aleut, although the existence of the Eskimo–Aleut family is generally accepted.


title: Nostratic languages

text: Below are selected reconstructed etymologies from Kaiser and Shevoroshkin (1988) and Bengtson (1998). Reconstructed ( = unattested) forms are marked with an asterisk. /V/ means that it is not clear which vowel should be reconstructed. Likewise, /E/ could have been any front vowel and /N/ any nasal consonant. Only the consonants are given of Proto-Afroasiatic roots (see above).


title: Nostratic languages

text: In the 1960s, Vladislav Illich-Svitych composed a brief poem using his version of Proto-Nostratic. (Compare Schleicher's fable for similar attempts with several different reconstructions of Proto-Indo-European.)


title: Nostratic languages

text: The value of K̥ or is uncertain—it could be or . H could similarly be at least or . V or is an uncertain vowel.


title: Nostratic languages

text: While the Nostratic hypothesis is not endorsed by the mainstream of comparative linguistics, Nostratic studies by nature of being based on the comparative method remain within the mainstream of contemporary linguistics from a methodological point of view; it is the scope with which the comparative method is applied rather than the methodology itself that raises eyebrows.


title: Nostratic languages

text: Nostraticists tend to refuse to include in their schema language families for which no proto-language has yet been reconstructed. This approach was criticized by Joseph Greenberg on the ground that genetic classification is necessarily prior to linguistic reconstruction, but this criticism has so far had no effect on Nostraticist theory and practice.


title: Nostratic languages

text: Certain critiques have pointed out that the data from individual, established language families that is cited in Nostratic comparisons often involves a high degree of errors; Campbell (1998) demonstrates this for Uralic data. Defenders of the Nostratic theory argue that were this to be true, it would remain that in classifying languages genetically, positives count for vastly more than negatives (Ruhlen 1994). The reason for this is that, above a certain threshold, resemblances in sound/meaning correspondences are highly improbable mathematically.


title: Nostratic languages

text: Pedersen's original Nostratic proposal synthesized earlier macrofamilies, some of which, including Indo-Uralic, involved extensive comparison of inflections. It is true the Russian Nostraticists and Bomhard initially emphasized lexical comparisons. Bomhard recognized the necessity to explore morphological comparisons and has since published extensive work in this area (see especially Bomhard 2008:1.273–386). According to him the breakthrough came with the publication of the first volume of Joseph Greenberg's Eurasiatic work, which provided a massive list of possible morphemic correspondences that has proved fruitful to explore. Other important contributions on Nostratic morphology have been published by John C. Kerns and Vladimir Dybo.


title: Nostratic languages

text: Critics argue that were one to collect all the words from the various known Indo-European languages and dialects which have at least one of any 4 meanings, one could easily form a list that would cover any conceivable combination of two consonants and a vowel (of which there are only about 20×20×5 = 2000). Nostraticists respond that they do not compare isolated lexical items but reconstructed proto-languages. To include a word for a proto-language it must be found in a number of languages and the forms must be relatable by regular sound changes. In addition, many languages have restrictions on root structure, reducing the number of possible root-forms far below its mathematical maximum. These languages include, among others, Indo-European, Uralic, and Altaic—all the core languages of the Nostratic hypothesis. To understand how the root structures of one language relate to those of another has long been a focus of Nostratic studies. For a highly critical assessment of the work of the Moscow


title: Nostratic languages

text: Campbell and Poser argue that Nostratic, as reconstructed by Illich-Svitych and others, is "typologically flawed". For instance, they point out that, surprisingly, very few Nostratic roots contain two voiceless stops, which are less marked and should therefore occur more frequently, and where such roots do occur, in almost all cases the second stop occurs after a sonorant. In summary, Campbell and Poser reject the Nostratic hypothesis and, as a parting shot, state that they "seriously doubt that further research will result in any significant support for this hypothesized macro-family."


title: Nostratic languages

text: It has also been argued that Nostratic comparisons mistake Wanderwörter and cross-borrowings between branches for true cognates.


title: Prunus virginiana

text: Prunus virginiana, commonly called bitter-berry, chokecherry, Virginia bird cherry, and western chokecherry (also black chokecherry for "P. virginiana" var. "demissa"), is a species of bird cherry ("Prunus" subgenus "Padus") native to North America.


title: Prunus virginiana

text: Chokecherry is a suckering shrub or small tree growing to tall, rarely to and exceptionally with a trunk as thick as . The leaves are oval, long and wide, with a serrated margin. The stems rarely exceed in length.


title: Prunus virginiana

text: The flowers are produced in racemes long in late spring (well after leaf emergence), eventually growing up to 15 cm. They are across.


title: Prunus virginiana

text: The fruits (drupes) are about in diameter, range in color from bright red to black, and possess a very astringent taste, being both somewhat sour and somewhat bitter. They get darker and marginally sweeter as they ripen. They each contain a large stone.


title: Prunus virginiana

text: Chokecherries are very high in antioxidant pigment compounds, such as anthocyanins. They share this property with chokeberries, further contributing to confusion.


title: Prunus virginiana

text: The chokecherry is closely related to the black cherry ("Prunus serotina") of eastern North America, which can reach tall, have larger leaves, and darker fruit. The chokecherry leaf has a finely serrated margin and is dark green above with a paler underside, while the black cherry leaf has numerous blunt edges along its margin and is dark green and smooth.


title: Prunus virginiana

text: The name chokecherry is also used for the related Manchurian cherry or Amur chokecherry ("Prunus maackii").


title: Prunus virginiana

text: The natural historic range of "P. virginiana" includes most of Canada (including Northwest Territories, but excluding Yukon, Nunavut, and Labrador), most of the United States (including Alaska, but excluding some states in the Southeast), and northern Mexico (Sonora, Chihuahua, Baja California, Durango, Zacatecas, Coahuila, and Nuevo León).


title: Prunus virginiana

text: The wild chokecherry is often considered a pest, as it is a host for the tent caterpillar, a threat to other fruit plants. It is also a larval host to the black-waved flannel moth, the blinded sphinx, the cecropia moth, the coral hairstreak, the cynthia moth, the elm sphinx, Glover's silkmoth, the hummingbird clearwing moth, the imperial moth, the Io moth, the polyphemus moth, the promethea moth, the red-spotted purple, the small-eyed sphinx, the spring azure, the striped hairstreak, the tiger swallowtail, the twin-spotted sphinx, and Weidemeyer's admiral.


title: Prunus virginiana

text: Many wildlife, including birds and game animals, eat the berries. Moose, elk, mountain sheep, deer and rabbits eat the foliage, twigs, leaves, and buds. Deer and elk sometimes browse the twigs profusely, not letting the plant grow above knee height. The leaves serve as food for caterpillars of various Lepidoptera.


title: Prunus virginiana

text: The chokecherry has a number of cultivars. 'Canada Red' and 'Schubert' have leaves that mature to purple and turn orange and red in the autumn. 'Goertz' has a nonastringent, so palatable, fruit. Research at the University of Saskatchewan seeks to find or create new cultivars to increase production and processing.


title: Prunus virginiana

text: The stone of the fruit is poisonous. Chokecherry is toxic to horses, moose, cattle, goats, deer, and other animals with segmented stomachs (rumens), especially after the leaves have wilted (such as after a frost or after branches have been broken), because wilting releases cyanide and makes the plant sweet. The leaves themselves being poisonous, about of foliage can be fatal. Symptoms of a horse that has been poisoned include heavy breathing, agitation, and weakness.


title: Prunus virginiana

text: For many Native American tribes of the Northern Rockies, Northern Plains, and boreal forest region of Canada and the United States, chokecherries are the most important fruit in their traditional diets and are part of pemmican, a staple traditional food. The bark of chokecherry root is made into an asperous-textured concoction used to ward off or treat colds, fever and stomach maladies by Native Americans. The inner bark of the chokecherry, as well as red osier dogwood, or alder, is also used by some tribes in ceremonial smoking mixtures, known as kinnikinnick. The chokecherry fruit can be eaten when fully ripe, but otherwise contains a toxin. The fruit can be used to make jam or syrup, but the bitter nature of the fruit requires sugar to sweeten the preserves. The Plains Indians pound up the whole fruits—including the toxic pits—in a mortar, from which they made sun-baked cakes.


title: Prunus virginiana

text: Chokecherry is also used to craft wine in the Western United States, mainly in the Dakotas and Utah, as well as in Manitoba, Canada.


title: Prunus virginiana

text: In 2007, North Dakota governor John Hoeven signed a bill naming the chokecherry the state's official fruit, in part because its remains have been found at more archeological sites in the Dakotas than anywhere else.


title: Economy of Bahrain

text: The economy of Bahrain is heavily dependent upon oil and gas. The Bahraini Dinar is the second-highest-valued currency unit in the world. Since the late 20th century, Bahrain has heavily invested in the banking and tourism sectors. The country's capital, Manama is home to many large financial structures. Bahrain's finance industry is very successful. In 2008, Bahrain was named the world's fastest growing financial center by the City of London's Global Financial Centres Index. Bahrain's banking and financial services sector, particularly Islamic banking, have benefited from the regional boom driven by demand for oil. Petroleum is Bahrain's most exported product, accounting for 60% of export receipts, 70% of government revenues, and 11% of GDP. Aluminium is the second most exported product, followed by finance and construction materials.


title: Economy of Bahrain

text: According to the 2020 Index of Economic Freedom, Bahrain has the fourth freest economy in the Middle East and North Africa region and is the 40th freest economy in the world. An alternative index, published by the Fraser Institute, puts Bahrain in 70th place. Bahrain was recognised by the World Bank as a high income economy.


title: Economy of Bahrain

text: Oil and natural gas play a dominant role in Bahrain’s economy. Despite efforts to diversify the economy, according to the CIA World Fact Book: oil still comprises 85% of Bahraini budget revenues, meaning throughout the last few years lower world energy prices have generated sizeable budget deficits - about 10% of GDP in 2017 alone. Bahrain is a rich country in the middle east and the north africa (MENA) region and its economy depends on oil & gas, international banking and tourism.


title: Economy of Bahrain

text: In 2003 and 2004, the balance of payments improved due to rising oil prices and increased receipts from the services sector. As a result, the current account balance registered a surplus of US$219 million in 2003 and a surplus of US$442 million in 2004, compared to a deficit of US$35 million in 2002. Bahrain's gross international reserves increased substantially in 2004 to US$1.6 billion, up from US$1.4 billion in the previous three years (2001-2003).


title: Economy of Bahrain

text: Though Current GDP per capita shrank by 2.4% in the 1980s, it bounced back to a growth of 36% in the 1990s as a result of successful diversification initiatives. Bahrain's urgency in embracing economic liberalisation is due to its need to diversify the economy away from its limited oil supplies. Unlike its Persian Gulf neighbours, Bahrain has little oil wealth and the economy has expanded into banking, heavy industries, retail and tourism. The Kingdom is the main banking hub for the Persian Gulf and a centre for Islamic finance, which has been attracted by the strong regulatory framework for the industry. According to the International Monetary Fund's Financial System Stability Assessment of Bahrain's financial regulatory environment, published on 6 March 2006, found:


title: Economy of Bahrain

text: In 2005, Bahrain signed the US-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement, becoming the first Persian Gulf state to sign such a bilateral trade agreement with the United States. A massive privatization programme is underway to sell off key government assets: utilities, banks, financial services, and telecommunications have started to come under the control of the private sector.


title: Economy of Bahrain

text: As a result, the economy has been well positioned to exploit the extra revenues generated in the region thanks to the sustained high oil prices since 2002. In January 2006, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia cited Bahrain as the fastest growing economy in the Arab world.


title: Economy of Bahrain

text: Between 1981 and 1993, Bahrain Government expenditures increased by 64%. During that same time, government revenues continued to be largely dependent on the oil industry and increased by only 4%. Bahrain has at times received significant budgetary support and project grants from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.


title: Economy of Bahrain

text: The government has used its modest oil revenues to build an advanced infrastructure in transportation and telecommunications. Bahrain is a regional financial and business center. Tourism, especially from the region, has proved another significant source of income.


title: Economy of Bahrain

text: Bahrain has benefited from the oil boom since 2001, with economic growth of 5.5%. It has succeeded in attracting investment from other Persian Gulf states partly because it used the revenues of the 1970s-early 80s boom to invest in infrastructure development and other projects to improve the standard of living; health, education, housing, electricity, water, and roads all received attention.


title: Economy of Bahrain

text: The success of ventures such as the Bahrain Grand Prix has raised the Kingdom's international profile, and combined with the boom in Islamic banking, has encouraged major airlines to resume services to the country, with Lufthansa announcing on 14 March 2006 that it would schedule three flights a week to Muharraq from Frankfurt.


title: Economy of Bahrain

text: As part of its efforts to build a modern economy, Bahrain has initiated a series of labour reforms under Minister of Labour Majeed Al Alawi in order to bring the labour market into line with international standards. Bahrain intends to expand its high tech industries, invest in research and development, and strengthen its competitive edge within a global economy. In 2006,it was announced that the Bahrain Science and Technology Park,a Kuwait Finance House Bahrain initiative would be a reflection of this effort to create a diversified economy, provide high quality jobs for locals and international workforce, providing a place for innovative and inventive thinking that will have direct benefits to the island nation.


title: Economy of Bahrain

text: In 2009 it was announced that the Bahraini Government would be developing land next door to the Bahrain International Circuit. The project being managed by @Bahrain is a mix of facilities including an exhibition and convention facility, a choice of hotel accommodations ranging from mid-market to luxury, a multi-purpose indoor arena, an automotive club and engineering facility, retail and leisure establishments, a tech-tainment (technology interacting with entertainment) centre, a research institute, a technology park and a focus on education and training. @Bahrain is part of the Mumtalakat group of companies and will dedicate more than 1 million square meters of business, entertainment and educational space with a value in excess of $2bn (BD 850 million), making it one of the largest investment projects to take place in Bahrain in the past five years.


title: Economy of Bahrain

text: This is a chart of trend of gross domestic product of Bahrain at market prices estimated by the International Monetary Fund with figures in millions of Bahraini Dinars.


title: Economy of Bahrain

text: For purchasing power parity comparisons, the US Dollar is exchanged at 0.30 Bahraini Dinars only. Mean wages were $19.81 per man-hour in 2009.


title: Economy of Bahrain

text: The stock market capitalisation of listed companies in Bahrain was valued at $21,176 million in 2008 by the World Bank.


title: Economy of Bahrain

text: Bahrain is generally a country which is open to creating a unique economy which is fast growing and open for all to create business opportunities.


title: Economy of Bahrain

text: Petroleum and natural gas are the only significant natural resources in Bahrain. Because of limited reserves, Bahrain has worked to diversify its economy over the decade prior to 2004. Bahrain has stabilized its oil production at about 40,000 barrels (6,400 m³) per day, and reserves are expected to last 10 to 15 years. The Bahrain Petroleum Company refinery was built in 1935, has a capacity of about 250,000 barrels (40,000 m³) per day, and was the first in the Persian Gulf. After selling 60% of the refinery to the state-owned Bahrain National Oil Company in 1980, Caltex, a U.S. company, now owns 40%. Saudi Arabia provides most of the crude for refinery operation via pipeline. Bahrain also receives a large portion of the net output and revenues from Saudi Arabia's Abu Saafa offshore oilfield.


title: Economy of Bahrain

text: The Bahrain National Gas Company operates a gas liquefaction plant that utilizes gas piped directly from Bahrain's oilfields. Gas reserves should last about 50 years at present rates of consumption. The Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (GPIC) is a joint venture of the petrochemical industries of Kuwait, the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, and the Government of Bahrain. The plant, completed in 1985, produces ammonia, methanol and urea for export.


title: Economy of Bahrain

text: Bahrain's other industries include Aluminum Bahrain, which operates an aluminum smelter—the largest in the world with an annual production of about 1,500,000 metric tons—and related factories, such as the Aluminum Extrusion Company and the Gulf Aluminum Rolling Mill Company (GARMCO). Other plants include the Arab Iron and Steel Company's iron ore pelletizing plant (4 million tons annually) and a shipbuilding and repair yard.


title: Economy of Bahrain

text: Bahrain's development as a major financial center has been the most widely heralded aspect of its diversification effort. International financial institutions operate in Bahrain, both offshore and onshore, without impediments. In 2001, Bahrain's central bank issued 15 new licenses. More than 100 offshore banking units and representative offices are located in Bahrain, as well as 65 American firms. Bahrain's international airport is one of busiest in the Persian Gulf, serving 22 carriers. A modern, busy port offers direct and frequent cargo shipping connections to the U.S., Europe, and the Far East. Internationally recognised Bahraini companies include Investcorp, the venture capital firm credited with turning around the fortunes of Gucci.


title: Economy of Bahrain

text: Taxation and import laws apply equally to Bahraini and foreign-owned companies, and foreign investors must comply with the same requirements and legislation as local firms.


title: Economy of Bahrain

text: Oil and gas companies are taxed 46 percent on income derived from the sale of hydrocarbons and derivative products.


title: Economy of Bahrain

text: (1) for old-age, disability and survivor protection: for Bahraini employees, employers pay 10% of salary plus constant allowances, workers pay 5% plus constant allowances; for non-Bahraini employees, employers pay 3% of salary plus constant allowances (then being entitled only to employment injury benefits).


title: Economy of Bahrain

text: (2) for unemployment insurance: since June 1, 2007, all wages are subject to a 2% tax, paid for equally by the employer and the employee, applicable both to nationals and non-citizens and supplemented by a government contribution of 1%. This makes Bahrain the first of the GCC countries to implement a UI scheme.


Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles is a CGI animated television series based on the 1959 novel "Starship Troopers" by Robert A. Heinlein and the 1997 movie adaptation. The film's director, Paul Verhoeven, served as executive producer. It follows the exploits of the Mobile Infantry squad, "Razak's Roughnecks," during the SICON–Bugs War between a newly united humanity and an extraterrestrial race, known as the "Bugs," also sometimes referred to as Arachnids. The show focuses mainly on the Roughnecks' missions, rather than addressing the larger war.


title: Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles

text: The series aired for one season in the syndicated Bohbot Kids Network block beginning in August 1999 in the United States and Canada. It was later picked up by the Sci-Fi Channel in the U.S. (along with the rest of the BKN block) and Teletoon in Canada. The entire series is available to be streamed on Crackle in the U.S., along with several Minisodes.


text: The show combines elements of Verhoeven's film and the original novel, such as the extraterrestrial race known as the Skinnies, powered armor suits and drop pods. The series also adds some original elements (e.g., the war starts on Pluto), while omitting the political aspects of the original work and film.


text: When the Mobile Infantry defeats an infestation on Pluto, the world is united as the Strategically Integrated Coalition of Nations (SICON) declares war on the insectoids.


text: The main story focuses on a group of troopers known as Alpha Teamotherwise known as Razak's Roughneckswho are headed back to Pluto after Operation Pest Control.


text: After destroying Bug City on Pluto, SICON sights a giant Transport Bug. This reveals that the Bugs are not native to Pluto. They track it to the planet Hydora, which orbits a star in the Constellation Virgo and encounter a Brain Bug, an intelligent Bug that controls the other castes so they won't go insane and destroy each other. The Bugs are planning to take control of the entire universe and won't stop until the human race is extinct.


text: SICON attempts to set up a base on the planet Tophet, inhabited by a species nicknamed Skinnies. The Skinnies, however, have been enslaved by the Bugs to mine Xylon, a precious mineral used for Transport Bugs. The Mobile Infantry are able to destroy the Control Bugs overseeing the Skinnies and free Tophet, but the victory costs them their comrade Carl Jenkins, who has been put into a state of mental trauma. The Skinnies soon enlist in SICON to fight the Bugs, mainly due to their lack of interstellar travel technology.


text: SICON soon discovers the existence of the Bug homeworld Klendathu. They attempt to destroy the Bug Queen but she escapes, headed for Earth. Her Transport Bug is destroyed before she reaches the human homeworld, but she nevertheless makes it to Earth. With numerous battles on the home front and the arrival of Bug reinforcements, the battle had only just begun.


text: The series is divided into eight story arcs or "campaigns," with five episodes each. Each campaign takes place at a different location. In the DVD release, each campaign is on a single disk.


text: The show was produced by Columbia TriStar Television and Sony Pictures for daily television syndication and ended its run of a single season with a cliffhanger instead of a proper series finale.


text: Though originally planned for 2-D animation, Sony contracted Foundation Imaging to produce the episodes with 3-D computer animation. Since Foundation was unable to keep up with the production schedule, Flat Earth Productions were involved with creating episodes 12 and 13, Hyper Image with 20 to 22, and Rainbow Studios with 23 to 25.


text: The series was to end with a titanic battle (on a larger scale than any previous episode) against the Bug forces on Earth, but production halted before this story arc was fully developed. Of the 40 episodes originally scheduled, only 36 were completed due to the production problems. Each week was to be a separate campaign with five daily episodes.


text: In the Homefront Campaign only five episodes were completed, with the last three episodes ("Gates of Hell," "Circle of the Damned" and "Final Inferno") left incomplete, along with "Homefront," a key episode in the campaign. "Homefront" was to show the destruction of Buenos Aires, referenced in later episodes. Summaries of two of these episodes are available at the "TrooperPX" website.


text: The missing episodes had their dialogue recorded and some of their animation completed. This existing material was not included in the series' DVD release. Some of that material leaked online. A version of the lost episodes was performed once in 2000 as an audio play at the annual Gathering of the Gargoyles fan convention.


text: In order to fulfill Sony's 40-episode order, four clip shows were produced, reusing footage from previous episodes along with snippets of new material. "Pluto and Beyond" and "Propaganda Machine" can be thought of as coming near the beginning of the Tophet Campaign. These summarize the events of that the preceding Pluto Campaign and a few Tophet events, without adding new material. In "Marooned," one of the main characters becomes lost alone in space and has flashbacks about events from the Pluto through Zephyr Campaigns (in no particular order); it appears intended to take place in the midst of the Klendathu Campaign. "Court-Martial of Lt. Razak" also takes place during the Klendathu Campaign (specifically, day 165), with various characters giving testimony (shown as previous-episode flashbacks from the entire series); of the four clip shows, it is the only one to introduce significant plot points. All four have been released on DVD.


text: Fan sites bemoaned production and distribution problems that prevented the series from finding an audience before it was canceled. Among the issues cited by Glen Oliver of Ain't It Cool News are:


text: With a fan campaign begun by the now defunct Roughneck Chronicles website, the Pluto Campaign was released on DVD. Based on sales, the other arcs were released on DVD. However, these subsequent DVDs were released in order of popularity, not in chronological order. The last DVD released was called "Trackers," containing an episode bridging the gaps between the Klendathu Campaign and Homefront Campaign DVDs, and the four clip show episodes. Unlike the other DVDs, "Trackers" did not have any cast or crew commentaries.


text: The DVDs were re-released as a 4-disc "Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles – The Complete Campaigns" box set, which consists of stripped down versions of the individual DVD releases, removing the cast and crew commentaries (and in the United Kingdom edition the Tesca Campaign is incorrectly listed as volume 2, instead of volume 4).


text: Given the success of the earlier DVDs, it was hoped that the sales would encourage Sony to produce a final direct-to-DVD movie to complete the original Homefront Campaign story arc, but there have been no new announcements regarding the "Roughneck" series. The original production company, Foundation Imaging, has since dissolved.


text: While the series ends on a cliffhanger, the story editor of the final arc outlined his plan for the final three episodes on the crew commentary of the Homefront Campaign DVD (not included on the box set version).


title: Def Comedy Jam

text: The series had its original run from March 7, 1992 to May 2, 1997. Simmons was inspired to make Def Comedy Jam by The Uptown Comedy Club in Harlem, New York and Jerry Lewis' movie "The Nutty Professor". The show returned on HBO's fall lineup in 2006. "Def Comedy Jam" helped to launch the careers of several African-American stand-up comedians. Comedian Rich Vos was the first Caucasian to perform on the show.


title: Southern Railway zone

text: The Southern Railway (abbreviated SR), headquartered at Chennai, is one of the 19 zones of Indian Railways. It is the earliest of the 19 zones of the Indian Railways created in independent India. It was created on 14 April 1951 by merging three state railways, namely, the Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway, the South Indian Railway Company, and the Mysore State Railway. The South Indian Railway was originally created in the British colonial times as Great Southern of India Railway Co founded in Britain in 1853 and registered in 1859. Its original headquarters was in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) and was registered as a company in London only in 1890. At present, after re-organization of existing railway zones and creation of new zones undertaken by the Indian Railways between 2002 and 2003, Southern Railway has emerged as the 4th largest zone after undertaking some gauge conversion projects and creation of new lines. The trains operated by the southern railway are rated the cleanest as well as cleanly maintained trains of the Indian Railways.


title: Southern Railway zone

text: In 1944, all Railway companies were taken over by the Government. And three years later, when India woke up to independence in 1947, the stage was set for the integration of different Railways into smaller zones. In 1948, immediately after independence, there were as many as 42 different railway systems – a multiplicity of railway administrations, varying in size and standards.


title: Southern Railway zone

text: The regrouping proposals put forward by the various committees were studied in great detail to ensure that a unification could be achieved with the least disturbance and dislocation. Important associations of railway-users, Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the State Governments and acknowledged experts both in India and abroad were fully consulted.


title: Southern Railway zone

text: N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar, the then Minister for Railways, was the principal architect of the regrouping of Indian Railways. In December 1950, the Central Advisory Committee for Railways approved the plan for Indian Railways into six Zonal systems, namely, the Northern, the North-Eastern, the Southern, the Central, the Eastern and the Western.


title: Southern Railway zone

text: The Southern Railway zone was the first zone to be formed. Created on 14 April 1951 by the merger of the Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway, the South Indian Railway and the Mysore State Railway, the economic and geographical factors of this zone facilitated an early integrated network. This amalgamation was a major step towards streamlining and organizing the working pattern of the Railway system. The Railway Press at Royapuram was expanded during 1957.


title: Southern Railway zone

text: Divisional system of working on the Southern Railway was introduced in stages, and the dates on which the various Divisions started working are given below:


title: Southern Railway zone

text: The Southern Railway is headed by the General Manager Officer, assisted by an Additional General Manager.


title: Southern Railway zone

text: It covers the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry and small portions of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. More than 50 crore passengers travel on the network every year. Andaman and Nicobar areas also to be covered under the new railway project sanctioned for Andaman and Nicobar Islands.


title: Southern Railway zone

text: The zone operates both passenger and freight trains. The A1 graded stations of the zone are Chennai Central, Chennai Egmore, Coimbatore Junction, Ernakulam Junction, Thiruvananthapuram Central, Madurai Junction, Kozhikode and Thrissur. Other major stations of the zone includes Trichy, Salem, Tirunelveli, Tambaram, Erode, Ernakulam Town, Aluva, Thanjavur junction, Arakkonam Junction, Katpadi, Mangalore Central, Mangalore Jn., Kumbakonam, Dindigul, Palakkad Junction, Shoranur Junction, Viluppuram, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Thiruvananthapuram Kochuveli, Nagercoil Junction, Kanniyakumari, Jolarpettai Junction, Kollam Junction, Karur, Pollachi Junction, Thalassery, Kannur, Puducherry, Tiruvallur, Perambur and Avadi. Passenger trains range from day intercity trains to overnight trains, long-distance trains to other zones, Shatabdi and passenger trains stopping at many stations. The zone owns a large number of coaches. These are maintained at coach care centres. Basin Bridge coach care centre serving Chennai central is one of the biggest in the country. Most major stations have a coach care Centre. The stations which don't have such facilities are served by trains through sometimes complex rake-sharing arrangements which also increases the utilization of the coaches. Apart from these Centres, the zone has MEMU and DEMU car sheds. These are available in Avadi, Trichy, Erode, Palakkad and Kollam. The zone also operates suburban system in Chennai.


title: Southern Railway zone

text: Freight operations mainly include container traffic from all the ports falling under its jurisdiction (Chennai, Ennore, Kochi, Mangaluru and Thoothukkudi are some of the major ports) and coal-traffic bound to the thermal power stations in Tamil Nadu state from the ports. Public sector oil companies also transport petroleum products from refineries to storage terminals using the zone. Cement plants also use the railway system extensively. Food grains are also transported through freight trains. Most of the lines inside ports, thermal stations, manufacturing industries and owned by the respective companies and the zone provides a link connecting its network and the wagons and locomotives. There is a wagon care centre in Tondiarpet, Chennai.


title: Southern Railway zone

text: The zone has electric loco sheds at Royapuram, Erode and Arakkonam. Diesel loco sheds are present at Tondiarpet, Golden Rock, Ernakulam and Erode. Most of the important routes are electrified and only low traffic lines are unelectrified. However, it is common to see diesel locos in electrified lines due to various operational constraints. It is also common to see other zones' locomotives operating inside the zone and vice versa.


title: Southern Railway zone

text: Since the zone has little freight traffic compared to other zones and huge passenger traffic (which are run at low fares across the country), the zones' finances are often in a bad shape.


title: Southern Railway zone

text: Mangalore, Salem, Katpadi and Chennai acts as the first category entry/exit points of southern railway zone from other nearby railway zones due to this all trains make a technical halt at these stations to make a crew change. Jolarpettai and Arakonam acts as the second category entry/exit points of the zone.


California's 48th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California based in Orange County in Southern California. It is currently represented by Republican Michelle Steel.


title: California's 48th congressional district

text: The district includes Costa Mesa, Emerald Bay, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, Laguna Niguel, Newport Beach, Seal Beach, Sunset Beach and parts of Garden Grove, Midway City, Aliso Viejo, Santa Ana and Westminster.


text: From 2003 to 2013, the district included the cities of Aliso Viejo, Dana Point, Irvine, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest (formerly known as El Toro), Tustin, parts of Irvine and parts of Newport Beach and San Juan Capistrano.


text: The district is very competitive and has recently been won by each of the two main parties. In the 2018 House elections, Democrat Harley Rouda became the district's representative, defeating incumbent Republican Dana Rohrabacher. Rouda was then defeated by Republican Michelle Steel in the 2020 elections.


text: According to the APM Research Lab's Voter Profile Tools (featuring the U.S. Census Bureau's 2019 American Community Survey), the district contained about 514,000 potential voters (citizens, age 18+). Of these, 61% are White, 19% Asian, and 16% Latino. Immigrants make up 21% of the district's potential voters. Median income among households (with one or more potential voter) in the district is about $102,800. As for the educational attainment of potential voters in the district, 44% hold a bachelor's or higher degree.


text: , this district is one of nine that voted for Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election while being held or won by a Republican.


text: As of the 2020 redistricting, California's 48th congressional district is located in Southern California. The district encompasses some of the East Country and all of the Mountain Empire areas of San Diego County, and part of south western Riverside County.


text: San Diego County is split between this district, the 49th district, the 50th district, the 51st district, and the 52nd district. The 48th and 49th are partitioned by Gavilan Mountain Rd, Sandia Creek Dr, De Luz Rd, Marine Corps Base Pendleton, Sleeping Indian Rd, Tumbleweed Ln, Del Valle Dr, Highland Oak St, Olive Hill Rd, Via Puerta del Sol, N River Rd, Highway 76, Old River Rd, and Little Gopher Canyon Rd.


text: The 48th and 50th are partitioned by Gopher Canyon Rd, Escondido Freeway, Mountain Meadow Rd, Hidden Meadows, Reidy Cyn, N Broadway, Cougar Pass Rd, Adagio Way, Calle Ricardo, Tatas Place, Rue Montreux, Jesmond Dene Rd, Ivy Dell Ln, N Centre City Parkway, Highway 15, Richland Rd, Vista Canal, Woodland Parkway, W El Norte Parkway, Bennett Ave, Elser Ln, Nordahl Rd, Calavo Dr, Deodar Rd, Highway 78, Barham Dr, 2315-2339 Meyers Ave, Hill Valley Dr, County Club Dr, Auto Park Way, Highway 56, N Centre City Parkway, W Valley Parkway, N Juniper St, Highway 78, N Hickory St, E Mission Ave, Martin Dr, E Lincoln Ave, N Ash St, E Grand Ave, Bear Valley Parkway, Old Guerjito Rd, San Pasqual Battlefield State Historic Park, San Pasqual Trails Openspace, San Dieguito River Park, Bandy Canyon Rd, Santa Maria Creek, Highland Valley Rd, West Ridge Trail, Palmer Dr/Summerfield Ln, Pomerado Rd, and Carmel Mountain Ranch Openspace.


text: The 48th and 51st are partitioned by Sabre Springs Openspace, Scripps Miramar Openspace, Beeler Canyon Rd, Sycamore Canyon Openspace, Weston Rd, Boulder Vis, Mast Blvd, West Hills Parkway, San Diego River, Highway 52, Simeon Dr, Mission Trails Openspace, Fanita Dr, Farmington Dr, Lund St, Nielsen St, Paseo de Los Castillos, Gillespie Air Field, Kenney St, San Vicente Freeway, Airport Dr, Wing Ave, W Bradley Ave, Vernon Way, Hart Dr, Greenfield Dr, E Bradley Ave, 830 Adele St-1789 N Mollison Ave, Peppervilla Dr/N Mollison Ave, Pepper Dr, Greta St/Cajon Greens Dr, N Mollison Ave/Buckey Dr, Denver Ln, Broadway Channel, N 2nd St, Flamingo Ave/Greenfield Dr, Dawnridge Ave/Cresthill Rd, Groveland Ter/Camillo Way, Sterling Dr, Kumeyaay Highway, E Madison Ave, Granite Hills Dr, E Lexington Ave, Dehesa Rd, Vista del Valle Blvd, Merritt Ter, E Washington Ave, Merritt Dr, Dewitt Ct, Emerald Heights Rd, Foote Path Way, Highway 8, Lemon Ave, Lake Helix Dr, La Cruz Dr, Carmichael Dr, Bancroft Dr, Campo Rd, and Sweetwater River.


text: The 48th and 52nd are partitioned by San Miguel Rd, Proctor Valley Rd, Camino Mojave/Jonel Way, Highway 125, Upper Otay Reservoir, Otay Lakes Rd, Otay Valley Regional Park, Alta Rd, and Otay Mountain Truck Trail. The 48th district takes in the cities of Santee, Poway, and northern Escondido, as well as the census-designated places Ramona, Rancho San Diego, Winter Gardens, Bostonia, Alpine, Campo, Hidden Meadows, Fallbrook, Valley Center, and Bonsall.


text: Riverside County is split between this district and the 41st district. They are partitioned by Ortega Highway, Tenaja Truck Trail, NF-7506, Tenaja, San Mateo Creek, Los Alamos Rd, Und 233, S Main Dv, Wildomar, Grand Ave, Rancho Mirlo Dr, Copper Canyon Park, 42174 Kimberly Way-35817 Darcy Pl, Escondido Expressway, Scott Rd, 33477 Little Reb Pl-33516 Pittman Ln, Keller Rd, Menifee Rd, Clinton Keith Rd, Max Gilliss Blvd, Highway 79, Borel Rd, Lake Skinner, Warren Rd, Summitville St, Indian Knoll Rd, E Benton Rd, Rancho California Rd, Overhill Rd, Green Meadow Rd, Crossover Rd, Exa-Ely Rd, Denise Rd, Wiley Rd, Powerline Rd, Wilson Valley Rd, Wilson Creek, Reed Valley Rd, Centennial St, Beaver Ave, and Lake Vista Dr. The 48th district takes in the cities of Temecula and Murrieta.


text: From 2003 through 2013, the district consisted of many of Orange's south-central suburbs, including Irvine, and Newport Beach. Due to redistricting after the 2010 United States census, the district has moved south east along the coast of Orange and then included Laguna Beach and Huntington Beach.


text: After the 2020 United States census, the district was moved to the inland portion of San Diego County, including Fallbrook, Murrieta, Temecula, Pauma Valley, Warner Springs, Borrego Springs, Santa Ysabel, Julian, Ramona, Poway, Santee, Lakeside, Descanso, Jamul, Dulzura, Alpine, Pine Valley, Campo, Jacumba Hot Springs, all of San Diego's Mountain Empire, San Diego's Indian reservations and portions of northern Escondido, and eastern La Mesa.


title: LGBT rights in Taiwan

text: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights in Taiwan are regarded as the most progressive of those in Asia. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal, and same-sex marriage was legalized on 24 May 2019, following a Constitutional Court ruling in May 2017. Although same-sex couples are currently unable to jointly adopt a child, one may adopt the biological children of the other (so-called stepchild adoption), and as of 2022 there is a court precedent for joint adoption.


title: LGBT rights in Taiwan

text: Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender characteristics in education has been banned nationwide since 2004. With regard to employment, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation has also been prohibited by law since 2007.


title: LGBT rights in Taiwan

text: On 24 May 2017, the Judicial Yuan ruled that the existing marriage law was unconstitutional, and that same-sex couples should gain the right to marry. The court gave the Legislative Yuan a maximum of two years to either amend existing laws or enact laws to provide legal recognition of same-sex marriage. According to the court ruling, if the Parliament failed to do so by 24 May 2019, same-sex marriage would automatically become legal. On 17 May 2019, the Legislative Yuan approved a bill, submitted by the Executive Yuan, recognizing marriage for same-sex couples. The bill was signed into law by President Tsai Ing-wen on 22 May and went into effect on 24 May. Thus, Taiwan became the first country in Asia to recognize same-sex marriage at the state level.


title: LGBT rights in Taiwan

text: The first Taiwan Pride was held in Taipei in 2003. By 2015, when the event was attended by 80,000 participants, it had become the second-largest LGBT pride in Asia, behind Tel Aviv Pride in Israel, which has led many to refer to Taiwan as one of the most liberal countries in Asia as well. By 2019, attendance had grown to 170,000 participants.


title: LGBT rights in Taiwan

text: Private, consensual, and noncommercial sexual activity between adults of the same sex is legal in Taiwan. In fact, homosexuality has never been a crime. The age of consent is 16 for both homosexual and heterosexual acts.


title: LGBT rights in Taiwan

text: The Constitution of the Republic of China does not expressly mention sexual orientation or gender identity; however, the Constitutional Court ruling on same-sex marriage in 2017 (i.e. "Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 748"), based on the following two articles of the Constitution, has confirmed the following constitutional protections for LGBT people:


title: LGBT rights in Taiwan

text: Article 7 of the Constitution states that "all citizens of the Republic of China, irrespective of sex, religion, race, class, or party affiliation, shall be equal before the law". In the constitutional interpretation issued on 24 May 2017, the Constitutional Court reasoned that the prohibited grounds of discrimination listed in the Article are "illustrative, rather than exhaustive", so the right to equal protection applies to other classifications "such as disability or sexual orientation".


title: LGBT rights in Taiwan

text: Article 22 of the Constitution stipulates that "all other freedoms and rights of the people that are not detrimental to social order or public welfare shall be guaranteed under the Constitution". The Grand Justices ruled on 24 May 2017 that the freedom of marriage guaranteed by the Article applies to persons of all sexual orientations.


title: LGBT rights in Taiwan

text: According to Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 185, "the interpretations of the Judicial Yuan shall be binding upon every institution and person in the country".


title: LGBT rights in Taiwan

text: In October 2003, the Executive Yuan proposed legislation granting the right to marry and adopt to same-sex couples, but it faced bipartisan opposition from members of both the Cabinet (formed by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, DPP) and the Legislative Yuan (controlled by the Kuomintang-led Pan-blue coalition) and stalled, and thus not voted on.


title: LGBT rights in Taiwan

text: In 2011, aiming to promote awareness about same-sex marriage, about 80 lesbian couples held Taiwan's then biggest same-sex wedding party, attracting about 1,000 friends, relatives and curious onlookers. In 2012, the first same-sex Buddhist wedding was held for Fish Huang and her partner You Ya-ting, with Buddhist master Shih Chao-hui presiding over the ritual. In 2013, Chen Ching-hsueh and Kao Chih-Wei, the second Taiwanese same-sex couple to wed publicly, dropped a prolonged fight to have their marriage legally recognized, citing intense social pressure. Later that year, lifelong gay activist Chi Chia-wei picked up Chen and Kao's fight to have same-sex marriage recognized, presenting his case in the Taipei High Administrative Court for the first time.


title: LGBT rights in Taiwan

text: On 22 December 2014, a proposed amendment to the Civil Code which would have legalized same-sex marriage was due to go under review by the Judiciary Committee of the Legislative Yuan. If the amendment had passed the committee stage, it would then have been voted on at the plenary session of the Legislative Yuan in 2015. The amendment included replacing the current articles regarding marriage in the Civil Code with gender-neutral terms, effectively recognizing same-sex marriage. It would have also allowed same-sex couples to adopt children. Yu Mei-nu of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) had expressed support for the amendment, together with more than 20 other DPP lawmakers as well as two from the Taiwan Solidarity Union and one each from the ruling party Kuomintang (KMT) and the People First Party. Taiwan would have become the first Asian state (and non-UN recognized entity) to legally recognize same-sex marriage if the Civil Code had been amended. However, the bill stalled, and the attempt officially failed in January 2016 as the Eighth Legislative Yuan ended.


title: LGBT rights in Taiwan

text: In November 2015, around two months before the general election, presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen announced her support for same-sex marriage. In July 2016, several lawmakers of the Ninth Legislative Yuan announced that they would introduce a same-sex marriage bill in Parliament by the end of the year. In October, two same-sex marriage bills were introduced to the Legislative Yuan.


title: LGBT rights in Taiwan

text: In May 2015, the special municipality of Kaohsiung announced a plan to allow same-sex couples to apply for a remark of their partnership on the computerized household register, largely for reference only. It would be of little use when a person wishes to grant consent to surgery on the partner's behalf at hospitals, for instance. Taiwan LGBT Rights Advocacy, an NGO, criticized the plan as merely a measure to "make fun of" the community without having any substantive effect.


title: LGBT rights in Taiwan

text: On 17 June 2015, the special municipality of Taipei became the second jurisdiction in Taiwan to implement a relationship register scheme for couples. Taichung followed suit in October 2015, Tainan and New Taipei on 1 February 2016, Chiayi on 1 March 2016, Taoyuan on 14 March 2016, both Changhua County and Hsinchu County on 1 April 2016, Yilan County on 20 May 2016, and Chiayi County on 20 October 2016. By early July 2017, Hsinchu City, Keelung City, Kinmen County, Lienchiang County, Miaoli County, Nantou County and Pingtung County had begun offering household registration services for same-sex partnerships. Starting from 3 July 2017, residents living in the remaining counties which refused to provide same-sex partnership registration, including Yunlin County, Hualien County, Taitung County and Penghu County, could register their partnership in other cities or counties, as the technicality of registration became standardized by the Ministry of the Interior on the national level. By June 2017, a total of 2,233 same-sex couples (i.e. 4,466 individuals) were registered, of which 1,755 were lesbian couples.


title: LGBT rights in Taiwan

text: In the current practice, any two unmarried persons of the same sex can apply, in person, to any household registration office (except in the four counties mentioned above) to have their partnership recorded on the computerized household register. However, this information will not be displayed on either the National Identification Card or the Household Certificate (the latter shows the basic personal information of all individuals registered under the same address and the relationship between these individuals). Instead, the household registration office issues a letter to the applicants certifying the registration. Kaohsiung and Taipei municipalities also issue partnership cards. Citizens with a foreign partner are also eligible for registration, but the foreign partner needs to provide a Certificate of No Marriage Record, or equivalent, from the country of origin and have it authenticated by the respective embassy or representative office of Taiwan.


title: LGBT rights in Taiwan

text: Nevertheless, the same-sex partnership registration, being an administrative measure, does not confer any actual legal status to a same-sex couple. The protections offered to same-sex partners are very limited, such as the right of requesting family care leave, applying for public housing as a family unit (in Taipei only) and granting consent to surgery on the partner's behalf.


title: LGBT rights in Taiwan

text: On 24 March 2017, the Constitutional Court heard a case brought by gay rights activist Chi Chia-wei (whose attempt at registering a marriage with his partner in 2013 was rejected) and the Taipei City Government's Department of Civil Affairs. Both petitioners had requested a constitutional interpretation on the issue. The Court decided to issue a judgment on whether the current Civil Code in fact allows same-sex marriage and if not, whether it violates articles under the Constitution of the Republic of China pertaining to equal rights and the freedom to marry. Those who appeared before the Court on that day included counsels of both petitioners, Justice Minister Chiu Tai-san (who defended the existing laws on marriage) and a panel of legal scholars. This was the first time a Constitutional Court hearing was broadcast live.


title: LGBT rights in Taiwan

text: The Constitutional Court ruled on 24 May 2017 that the clauses pertaining to marriage in the Civil Code were unconstitutional. The panel of judges gave the Parliament (Legislative Yuan) two years to amend or enact new laws, which would make Taiwan the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. The Court further stipulated that should the Legislative Yuan fail to legalize same-sex marriage within two years, same-sex couples would be able to marry by going through the existing marriage registration procedure at any household registration office.


title: LGBT rights in Taiwan

text: On 24 November 2018, Taiwanese voters were presented with five LGBT-related initiatives: to ban same-sex marriage (Question 10), to ban LGBT-inclusive sex education in schools (Question 11), to allow another type of union for same-sex couples (Question 12), to allow same-sex marriage (Question 14), and lastly to retain LGBT-inclusive sex education in schools (Question 15). Three of these questions were submitted by opponents of LGBT rights and the other two were submitted by advocates of LGBT rights. Voters rejected the idea of same-sex marriage, passing Questions 10, 11, and 12 and rejecting Questions 14 and 15. However, the Taiwan Government was still legally bound to provide legislation that complied with the Constitutional Court ruling. Instead of changing the existing Civil Code, legislators were expected to pass a separate law for same-sex couples.


title: LGBT rights in Taiwan

text: On 21 February 2019, the Executive Yuan passed a draft bill, entitled the "Enforcement Act of Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 748" (), which was released on the previous day. The draft bill serves as the legal basis for same-sex marriages and was sent to the Legislative Yuan for fast-tracked review before being enacted on 24 May 2019. The draft bill confers to same-sex married couples almost all the rights granted to heterosexual married couples under the Civil Code, but it only allows same-sex couples to adopt children that are genetically related to one of them.


title: LGBT rights in Taiwan

text: On 17 May 2019, the Legislative Yuan approved the same-sex marriage bill. President Tsai Ing-wen signed the bill into law on 22 May 2019 and it came into effect on 24 May. The country therefore became the first in Asia to open marriage to same-sex couples.


title: LGBT rights in Taiwan

text: The bill, submitted by the Executive Yuan, and approved by the Legislative Yuan, lets same-sex couples join an "exclusive permanent union" and apply for a "marriage registration" with government agencies. Two other bills, backed by conservative lawmakers who sought to refer to partnerships as "same-sex family relationships" or "same-sex unions" rather than "marriages", were submitted to lawmakers and debated. 2,939 same-sex marriages occurred in 2019, the first year same-sex couples were allowed to marry.


title: LGBT rights in Taiwan

text: In May 2021, the Taipei High Administrative Court revoked a government office's 2019 decision to reject the marriage registration of Ting Tse-yen and his partner Leong Chin-fai from Macau.


title: LGBT rights in Taiwan

text: Leong Chin-fai, moved from Macao to Taiwan in 2017, and has since stayed with his Taiwanese partner Ting Tse-yen. However, they were refused to register for marriage, despite Taiwan being Leong's habitual residence. The two met with reporters outside the court after they learned of their victory.


title: LGBT rights in Taiwan

text: Same-sex couples are able to legally adopt. However, they can only adopt the biological child of their same-sex partner (so-called stepchild adoptions). Taiwan law only allows for married people to adopt, but also allows single individuals to adopt, depending on the circumstances, including individual LGBT people. The same-sex marriage law (that passed the Legislative Yuan in May 2019) grants married same-sex couples the right to adopt children genetically related to one of the partners.


title: LGBT rights in Taiwan

text: In January 2022, by a unprecedented court order a same-sex couple legally adopted a child in Taiwan. The Taiwan legislature is yet to codify within legislation the recent court ruling (based on a 2019 "partial" adoption law).


title: LGBT rights in Taiwan

text: Under the "Artificial Reproduction Act" (), assisted reproductive technologies are available only to heterosexual married couples. However, the Taiwan IVF Group, which has worked in collaboration with the Stanford University Fertility & Reproductive Health Center in the United States, has operated at least one center which has provided IVF access and sperm surrogacy to individual gays and lesbians in Taiwan since the 1990s.


title: LGBT rights in Taiwan

text: Discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and other gender-related attributes in education has been banned since June 2004 when the "Gender Equity Education Act" () was passed. Specifically, schools that discriminate against students due to their sexual orientation or gender identity, in terms of admission, instruction, assessment, etc., are subject to a fine of NT$100,000. In June 2011, new clauses on sexual bullying were added to the Act. Schools are obliged to prevent and report bullying that is directed at a person's sexual orientation or gender identity.


title: LGBT rights in Taiwan

text: In 2007 and 2008, the Legislative Yuan passed amendments to two employment laws banning discrimination based on sexual orientation at work. Any employer who breaches the anti-discrimination clauses in the "Employment Service Act" () or the "Act of Gender Equality in Employment" () could face a fine of NT$300,000 to NT$1,500,000.


title: LGBT rights in Taiwan

text: In March 2010, the Ministry of Education announced that, starting from 2011, school curriculum and textbooks would include topics on LGBT rights and nondiscrimination. According to the Ministry, the reform seeks to "root out discrimination", since "students should be able to grow up happily in an environment of tolerance and respect". Due to strong opposition from anti-LGBT groups, a compromise was made. For instance, one teaching objective was changed from "understanding one's sexual orientation" to "respecting diverse sexual orientations". In November 2018, following a referendum, Education Minister Yeh Jiunn-rong said that the approval of the initiative ("Do you agree that the Ministry of Education and individual schools should not teach homosexual-related education in schools?") does not mean that the Ministry of Education will stop promoting gender equality education, but LGBT-related content will be reviewed to see if it needs revising in accordance with the referendum results.


title: LGBT rights in Taiwan

text: The "Long-Term Care Services Act" (), enacted in January 2017 to regulate long-term care services for persons with illness or disability who cannot live fully independently, contains an anti-discrimination clause that covers sexual orientation and gender identity.