title: Croatia

text: Croatia is situated in Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Hungary is to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro to the southeast and Slovenia to the northwest. It lies mostly between latitudes 42° and 47° N and longitudes 13° and 20° E. Part of the territory in the extreme south surrounding Dubrovnik is a practical exclave connected to the rest of the mainland by territorial waters, but separated on land by a short coastline strip belonging to Bosnia and Herzegovina around Neum. The Pelješac Bridge connects the exclave with mainland Croatia.


title: Croatia

text: The territory covers , consisting of of land and of water. It is the world's 127th largest country. Elevation ranges from the mountains of the Dinaric Alps with the highest point of the Dinara peak at near the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina in the south to the shore of the Adriatic Sea which makes up its entire southwest border. Insular Croatia consists of over a thousand islands and islets varying in size, 48 of which permanently inhabited. The largest islands are Cres and Krk, each of them having an area of around .


title: Croatia

text: The hilly northern parts of Hrvatsko Zagorje and the flat plains of Slavonia in the east which is part of the Pannonian Basin are traversed by major rivers such as Danube, Drava, Kupa, and the Sava. The Danube, Europe's second longest river, runs through the city of Vukovar in the extreme east and forms part of the border with Vojvodina. The central and southern regions near the Adriatic coastline and islands consist of low mountains and forested highlands. Natural resources found in quantities significant enough for production include oil, coal, bauxite, low-grade iron ore, calcium, gypsum, natural asphalt, silica, mica, clays, salt, and hydropower. Karst topography makes up about half of Croatia and is especially prominent in the Dinaric Alps. Croatia hosts deep caves, 49 of which are deeper than , 14 deeper than and three deeper than . Croatia's most famous lakes are the Plitvice lakes, a system of 16 lakes with waterfalls connecting them over dolomite and limestone cascades. The lakes are renowned for their distinctive colours, ranging from turquoise to mint green, grey or blue.


title: Croatia

text: Most of Croatia has a moderately warm and rainy continental climate as defined by the Köppen climate classification. Mean monthly temperature ranges between in January and in July. The coldest parts of the country are Lika and Gorski Kotar featuring a snowy, forested climate at elevations above . The warmest areas are at the Adriatic coast and especially in its immediate hinterland characterised by Mediterranean climate, as the sea moderates temperature highs. Consequently, temperature peaks are more pronounced in continental areas. The lowest temperature of was recorded on 3 February 1919 in Čakovec, and the highest temperature of was recorded on 4 August 1981 in Ploče.


title: Croatia

text: Mean annual precipitation ranges between and depending on geographic region and climate type. The least precipitation is recorded in the outer islands (Biševo, Lastovo, Svetac, Vis) and the eastern parts of Slavonia. However, in the latter case, rain occurs mostly during the growing season. The maximum precipitation levels are observed on the Dinara mountain range and in Gorski Kotar.


title: Croatia

text: Prevailing winds in the interior are light to moderate northeast or southwest, and in the coastal area, prevailing winds are determined by local features. Higher wind velocities are more often recorded in cooler months along the coast, generally as the cool northeasterly bura or less frequently as the warm southerly jugo. The sunniest parts are the outer islands, Hvar and Korčula, where more than 2700 hours of sunshine are recorded per year, followed by the middle and southern Adriatic Sea area in general, and northern Adriatic coast, all with more than 2000 hours of sunshine per year.


title: Croatia

text: Croatia can be subdivided into ecoregions based on climate and geomorphology. The country is one of the richest in Europe in terms of biodiversity. Croatia has four types of biogeographical regions—the Mediterranean along the coast and in its immediate hinterland, Alpine in most of Lika and Gorski Kotar, Pannonian along Drava and Danube, and Continental in the remaining areas. The most significant are karst habitats which include submerged karst, such as Zrmanja and Krka canyons and tufa barriers, as well as underground habitats. The country contains three ecoregions: Dinaric Mountains mixed forests, Pannonian mixed forests, and Illyrian deciduous forests.


title: Croatia

text: The karst geology harbours approximately 7,000 caves and pits, some of which are the habitat of the only known aquatic cave vertebrate—the olm. Forests are significantly present, as they cover representing 44% of Croatian land area. Other habitat types include wetlands, grasslands, bogs, fens, scrub habitats, coastal and marine habitats.


title: Croatia

text: In terms of phytogeography, Croatia is a part of the Boreal Kingdom and is a part of Illyrian and Central European provinces of the Circumboreal Region and the Adriatic province of the Mediterranean Region. The World Wide Fund for Nature divides Croatia between three ecoregions—Pannonian mixed forests, Dinaric Mountains mixed forests and Illyrian deciduous forests.


title: Croatia

text: Croatia hosts 37,000 known plant and animal species, but their actual number is estimated to be between 50,000 and 100,000. More than a thousand species are endemic, especially in Velebit and Biokovo mountains, Adriatic islands and karst rivers. Legislation protects 1,131 species. The most serious threat is habitat loss and degradation. A further problem is presented by invasive alien species, especially "Caulerpa taxifolia" algae. Croatia had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 4.92/10, ranking it 113th of 172 countries.


title: Croatia

text: Invasive algae are regularly monitored and removed to protect benthic habitat. Indigenous cultivated plant strains and domesticated animal breeds are numerous. They include five breeds of horses, five of cattle, eight of sheep, two of pigs, and one poultry. Indigenous breeds include nine that are endangered or critically endangered. Croatia has 444 protected areas, encompassing 9% of the country. Those include eight national parks, two strict reserves, and ten nature parks. The most famous protected area and the oldest national park in Croatia is Plitvice Lakes National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Velebit Nature Park is a part of the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme. The strict and special reserves, as well as the national and nature parks, are managed and protected by the central government, while other protected areas are managed by counties. In 2005, the National Ecological Network was set up, as the first step in the preparation of the EU accession and joining of the Natura 2000 network.


title: Croatia

text: The Republic of Croatia is a unitary, constitutional state using a parliamentary system. Government powers in Croatia are legislative, executive, and judiciary powers.


title: Croatia

text: The President of the Republic () is the head of state, directly elected to a five-year term and is limited by the Constitution to two terms. In addition to serving as commander in chief of the armed forces, the president has the procedural duty of appointing the prime minister with the parliament and has some influence on foreign policy.


title: Croatia

text: The Government is headed by the Prime Minister, who has four deputy prime ministers and 16 ministers in charge of particular sectors. As the executive branch, it is responsible for proposing legislation and a budget, enforcing the laws, and guiding foreign and internal policies. The Government is seated at Banski dvori in Zagreb.


title: Croatia

text: A unicameral parliament ("") holds legislative power. The number of Sabor members can vary from 100 to 160. They are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms. Legislative sessions take place from 15 January to 15 July, and from 15 September to 15 December annually. The two largest political parties in Croatia are the Croatian Democratic Union and the Social Democratic Party of Croatia.


title: Croatia

text: Croatia has a civil law legal system in which law arises primarily from written statutes, with judges serving as implementers and not creators of law. Its development was largely influenced by German and Austrian legal systems. Croatian law is divided into two principal areas—private and public law. Before EU accession negotiations were completed, Croatian legislation had been fully harmonised with the Community acquis.


title: Croatia

text: The main national courts are the Constitutional Court, which oversees violations of the Constitution, and the Supreme Court, which is the highest court of appeal. Administrative, Commercial, County, Misdemeanor, and Municipal courts handle cases in their respective domains. Cases falling within judicial jurisdiction are in the first instance decided by a single professional judge, while appeals are deliberated in mixed tribunals of professional judges. Lay magistrates also participate in trials. The State's Attorney Office is the judicial body constituted of public prosecutors empowered to instigate prosecution of perpetrators of offences.


title: Croatia

text: Law enforcement agencies are organised under the authority of the Ministry of the Interior which consist primarily of the national police force. Croatia's security service is the Security and Intelligence Agency (SOA).


title: Croatia

text: Croatia has established diplomatic relations with 194 countries. supporting 57 embassies, 30 consulates and eight permanent diplomatic missions. 56 foreign embassies and 67 consulates operate in the country in addition to offices of international organisations such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), International Organization for Migration (IOM), Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), World Bank, World Health Organization (WHO), International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and UNICEF.


title: Croatia

text: As of 2019, the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration employed 1,381 personnel and expended 765.295 million kunas (€101.17 million). Stated aims of Croatian foreign policy include enhancing relations with neighbouring countries, developing international co-operation and promotion of the Croatian economy and Croatia itself.


title: Croatia

text: Croatia is a member of the European Union. As of 2021, Croatia had unsolved border issues with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia. Croatia is a member of NATO. The country is preparing to join the Schengen Area and the Eurozone, after joining ERM II on 10 July 2020.


title: Croatia

text: The Croatian Armed Forces (CAF) consist of the Air Force, Army, and Navy branches in addition to the Education and Training Command and Support Command. The CAF is headed by the General Staff, which reports to the Defence Minister, who in turn reports to the President. According to the constitution, the President is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. In case of immediate threat during wartime, he issues orders directly to the General Staff.


title: Croatia

text: Following the 1991–95 war, defence spending and CAF size began a constant decline. , military spending was an estimated 1.68% of the country's GDP, 67th globally. In 2005 the budget fell below the NATO-required 2% of GDP, down from the record high of 11.1% in 1994. Traditionally relying on conscripts, the CAF went through a period of reforms focused on downsizing, restructuring and professionalisation in the years before accession to NATO in April 2009. According to a presidential decree issued in 2006, the CAF employed around 18,100 active duty military personnel, 3,000 civilians and 2,000 voluntary conscripts between 18 and 30 years old in peacetime.


title: Croatia

text: Compulsory conscription was abolished in January 2008. Until 2008 military service was obligatory for men at age 18 and conscripts served six-month tours of duty, reduced in 2001 from the earlier scheme of nine months. Conscientious objectors could instead opt for eight months of civilian service.


title: Croatia

text: , the Croatian military had 72 members stationed in foreign countries as part of United Nations-led international peacekeeping forces. , 323 troops served the NATO-led ISAF force in Afghanistan. Another 156 served with KFOR in Kosovo.


title: Croatia

text: Croatia has a military-industrial sector that exported around 493 million kunas (€65,176 million) worth of military equipment in 2020. Croatian-made weapons and vehicles used by CAF include the standard sidearm HS2000 manufactured by HS Produkt and the M-84D battle tank designed by the Đuro Đaković factory. Uniforms and helmets worn by CAF soldiers are locally produced and marketed to other countries.


title: Croatia

text: Croatia was first divided into counties in the Middle Ages. The divisions changed over time to reflect losses of territory to Ottoman conquest and subsequent liberation of the same territory, changes of the political status of Dalmatia, Dubrovnik, and Istria. The traditional division of the country into counties was abolished in the 1920s when the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and the subsequent Kingdom of Yugoslavia introduced oblasts and banovinas respectively.


title: Croatia

text: Communist-ruled Croatia, as a constituent part of post-World War II Yugoslavia, abolished earlier divisions and introduced municipalities, subdividing Croatia into approximately one hundred municipalities. Counties were reintroduced in 1992 legislation, significantly altered in terms of territory relative to the pre-1920s subdivisions. In 1918, the Transleithanian part was divided into eight counties with their seats in Bjelovar, Gospić, Ogulin, Osijek, Požega, Varaždin, Vukovar, and Zagreb.


title: Croatia

text: As of 1992, Croatia is divided into 20 counties and the capital city of Zagreb, the latter having the dual authority and legal status of a county and a city. County borders changed in some instances, last revised in 2006. The counties subdivide into 127 cities and 429 municipalities. Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) division is performed in several tiers. NUTS 1 level considers the entire country in a single unit; three NUTS 2 regions come below that. Those are Northwest Croatia, Central and Eastern (Pannonian) Croatia, and Adriatic Croatia. The latter encompasses the counties along the Adriatic coast. Northwest Croatia includes Koprivnica-Križevci, Krapina-Zagorje, Međimurje, Varaždin, the city of Zagreb, and Zagreb counties and the Central and Eastern (Pannonian) Croatia includes the remaining areas—Bjelovar-Bilogora, Brod-Posavina, Karlovac, Osijek-Baranja, Požega-Slavonia, Sisak-Moslavina, Virovitica-Podravina, and Vukovar-Syrmia counties. Individual counties and the city of Zagreb also represent NUTS 3 level subdivision units in Croatia. The NUTS local administrative unit divisions are two-tiered. LAU 1 divisions match the counties and the city of Zagreb in effect making those the same as NUTS 3 units, while LAU 2 subdivisions correspond to cities and municipalities.


title: Croatia

text: Croatia's economy qualifies as high-income. International Monetary Fund data projected that Croatian nominal GDP reached $67,84 billion, or $17.398 per capita for 2021 while purchasing power parity GDP was $132,88 billion, or $32.942 per capita. According to Eurostat, Croatian GDP per capita in PPS stood at 65% of the EU average in 2019. Real GDP growth in 2021 was per cent. The average net salary of a Croatian worker in October 2019 was 6,496 HRK per month (roughly 873 EUR), and the average gross salary was 8,813 HRK per month (roughly 1,185 EUR). , the unemployment rate dropped to 7.2% from 9.6% in December 2018. The number of unemployed persons was 106.703. The unemployment rate between 1996 and 2018 averaged 17.38%, reaching an all-time high of 23.60% in January 2002 and a record low of 8.40% in September 2018. In 2017, economic output was dominated by the service sector - accounting for 70.1% of GDP - followed by the industrial sector with 26.2% and agriculture accounting for 3.7%.


title: Croatia

text: According to 2017 data, 1.9% of the workforce were employed in agriculture, 27.3% by industry and 70.8% in services. Shipbuilding, food processing, pharmaceuticals, information technology, biochemical, and timber industry dominate the industrial sector. In 2018, Croatian exports were valued at 108 billion kunas (€14.61 billion) with 176 billion kunas (€23.82 billion) worth of imports. Croatia's largest trading partner was the rest of the European Union, led by Germany, Italy, and Slovenia.


title: Croatia

text: As a result of the war, economic infrastructure sustained massive damage, particularly the tourism industry. From 1989 to 1993, the GDP fell 40.5%. The Croatian state still controls significant economic sectors, with government expenditures accounting for 40% of GDP. A particular concern is a backlogged judiciary system, with inefficient public administration and corruption, upending land ownership. In the 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index, published by Transparency International, the country ranked 60th. At the end of June 2020, the national debt stood at 85,3% of GDP.


title: Croatia

text: Tourism dominates the Croatian service sector and accounts for up to 20% of GDP. Tourism income for 2019 was estimated to be €10.5 billion. Its positive effects are felt throughout the economy, increasing retail business, and increasing seasonal employment. The industry is counted as an export business because foreign visitor spending significantly reduces the country's trade imbalance. The tourist industry has rapidly grown, recording a fourfold rise in tourist numbers since independence, attracting more than 11 million visitors each year. Germany, Slovenia, Austria, Italy, Poland and Croatia itself provide the most visitors. Tourist stays averaged 4.7 days in 2019.


title: Croatia

text: Much of the tourist industry is concentrated along the coast. Opatija was the first holiday resort. It first became popular in the middle of the 19th century. By the 1890s, it had become one of the largest European health resorts. Resorts sprang up along the coast and islands, offering services catering to mass tourism and various niche markets. The most significant are nautical tourism, supported by marinas with more than 16 thousand berths, cultural tourism relying on the appeal of medieval coastal cities and cultural events taking place during the summer. Inland areas offer agrotourism, mountain resorts, and spas. Zagreb is a significant destination, rivalling major coastal cities and resorts.


title: Croatia

text: Croatia has unpolluted marine areas with nature reserves and 116 Blue Flag beaches. Croatia ranks as the 23rd most popular tourist destination in the world. About 15% of these visitors, or over one million per year, participate in naturism, for which Croatia is famous. It was the first European country to develop commercial naturist resorts.


title: Croatia

text: The motorway network was largely built in the late 1990s and the 2000s (decade). As of December 2020, Croatia had completed of motorways, connecting Zagreb to other regions and following various European routes and four Pan-European corridors. The busiest motorways are the A1, connecting Zagreb to Split and the A3, passing east to west through northwest Croatia and Slavonia.


title: Croatia

text: A widespread network of state roads in Croatia acts as motorway feeder roads while connecting major settlements. The high quality and safety levels of the Croatian motorway network were tested and confirmed by EuroTAP and EuroTest programmes.


title: Croatia

text: Croatia has an extensive rail network spanning , including of electrified railways and of double track railways. The most significant railways in Croatia are within the Pan-European transport corridors Vb and X connecting Rijeka to Budapest and Ljubljana to Belgrade, both via Zagreb. Croatian Railways operates all rail services.


title: Croatia

text: The construction of 2.4-kilometre-long Pelješac Bridge, the biggest infrastructure project in Croatia connects the two halves of Dubrovnik-Neretva County and shortens the route from the West to the Pelješac peninsula and the islands of Korčula and Lastovo by more than 32 km. The construction of the Pelješac Bridge started in July 2018 after Croatian road operator Hrvatske ceste (HC) signed a 2.08 billion kuna deal for the works with a Chinese consortium led by China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC). The project is co-financed by the European Union with 357 million euro. The construction was completed in July 2022.


title: Croatia

text: There are international airports in Dubrovnik, Osijek, Pula, Rijeka, Split, Zadar, and Zagreb. The largest and busiest is Franjo Tuđman Airport in Zagreb. , Croatia complies with International Civil Aviation Organization aviation safety standards and the Federal Aviation Administration upgraded it to Category 1 rating.


title: Croatia

text: The busiest cargo seaport is the Port of Rijeka. The busiest passenger ports are Split and Zadar. Many minor ports serve ferries connecting numerous islands and coastal cities with ferry lines to several cities in Italy. The largest river port is Vukovar, located on the Danube, representing the nation's outlet to the Pan-European transport corridor VII.


title: Croatia

text: of crude oil pipelines serve Croatia, connecting the Rijeka oil terminal with refineries in Rijeka and Sisak, and several transhipment terminals. The system has a capacity of 20 million tonnes per year. The natural gas transportation system comprises of trunk and regional pipelines, and more than 300 associated structures, connecting production rigs, the Okoli natural gas storage facility, 27 end-users and 37 distribution systems.


title: Croatia

text: Croatian energy production covers 85% of nationwide natural gas and 19% of oil demand. In 2008, 47.6% of Croatia's primary energy production involved natural gas (47.7%), hydropower (25.4%), crude oil (18.0%), fuelwood (8.4%), and other renewable energy sources (0.5%). In 2009, net total electrical power production reached 12,725 GWh. Croatia imported 28.5% of its electric power energy needs.


title: Croatia

text: Krško Nuclear Power Plant (Slovenia) supplies a large part of Croatian imports. 50% is owned by Hrvatska elektroprivreda, providing 15% of Croatia's electricity.


title: Croatia

text: With an estimated population of 4.13 million in 2019, Croatia ranks 127th by population in the world. Its 2018 population density was 72,9 inhabitants per square kilometre, making Croatia one of the more sparsely populated European countries. The overall life expectancy in Croatia at birth was 76.3 years in 2018.


title: Croatia

text: The total fertility rate of 1.41 children per mother, is one of the lowest in the world, far below the replacement rate of 2.1, it remains considerably below the high of 6.18 children rate in 1885. Croatia's death rate has continuously exceeded its birth rate since 1991. Croatia subsequently has one of the world's oldest populations, with an average age of 43.3 years. The population rose steadily from 2.1 million in 1857 until 1991, when it peaked at 4.7 million, with the exceptions of censuses taken in 1921 and 1948, i.e. following the world wars. The natural growth rate is negative with the demographic transition completed in the 1970s. In recent years, the Croatian government has been pressured to increase permit quotas for foreign workers, reaching an all-time high of 68.100 in 2019. In accordance with its immigration policy, Croatia is trying to entice emigrants to return. From 2008 to 2018, Croatia's population dropped by 10%.


title: Croatia

text: The population decrease was greater a result of war for independence. The war displaced large numbers of the population and emigration increased. In 1991, in predominantly occupied areas, more than 400,000 Croats were either removed from their homes by Serb forces or fled the violence. During the war's final days, about 150–200,000 Serbs fled before the arrival of Croatian forces during Operation Storm. After the war, the number of displaced persons fell to about 250,000. The Croatian government cared for displaced persons via the social security system and the Office of Displaced Persons and Refugees. Most of the territories abandoned during the war were settled by Croat refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina, mostly from north-western Bosnia, while some displaced people returned to their homes.


title: Croatia

text: According to the 2013 United Nations report, 17.6% of Croatia's population were immigrants. The majority of inhabitants are Croats (90.4%), followed by Serbs (4.4%), Bosniaks (0.73%), Italians (0.42%), Albanians (0.41%), Roma (0.40%), Hungarians (0.33%), Slovenes (0.25%), Czechs (0.22%), Montenegrins (0.11%), Slovaks (0.11%), Macedonians (0.10%), and others (2.12%). Approximately 4 million Croats live abroad.


title: Croatia

text: Croatia has no official religion. Freedom of religion is a Constitutional right that protects all religious communities as equal before the law and separated from the state. According to the 2011 census, 91.36% of Croatians identify as Christian; of these, Catholics make up the largest group, accounting for 86.28% of the population, after which follows Eastern Orthodoxy (4.44%), Protestantism (0.34%), and other Christians (0.30%). The largest religion after Christianity is Islam (1.47%). 4.57% of the population describe themselves as non-religious. In the Eurostat Eurobarometer Poll of 2010, 69% of the population responded that "they believe there is a God". In a 2009 Gallup poll, 70% answered yes to the question "Is religion an important part of your daily life?" However, only 24% of the population attends religious services regularly.


title: Croatia

text: Croatian is the official language of Croatia and became the 24th official language of the European Union upon its accession in 2013. Minority languages are in official use in local government units where more than a third of the population consists of national minorities or where local enabling legislation applies. Those languages are Czech, Hungarian, Italian, Serbian, and Slovak. The following minority languages are also recognised: Albanian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, German, Hebrew, Macedonian, Montenegrin, Polish, Romanian, Istro-Romanian, Romani, Russian, Rusyn, Slovene, Turkish, and Ukrainian.


title: Croatia

text: According to the 2011 Census, 95.6% of citizens declared Croatian as their native language, 1.2% declared Serbian as their native language, while no other language reaches more than 0.5%. Croatian is a member of the South Slavic languages of Slavic languages group and is written using the Latin alphabet. There are three major dialects spoken on the territory of Croatia, with standard Croatian based on the Shtokavian dialect. The Chakavian and Kajkavian dialects are distinguished from Shtokavian by their lexicon, phonology and syntax.


title: Croatia

text: Croatian replaced Latin as the official language of the Croatian government in the 19th century. Following the Vienna Literary Agreement in 1850, the language and its Latin script underwent reforms to create an unified "Croatian or Serbian" or "Serbo-Croatian" standard, which under various names became the official language of Yugoslavia. In SFR Yugoslavia, from 1972 to 1989, the language was constitutionally designated as the "Croatian literary language" and the "Croatian or Serbian language". It was the result of the resistance to "Serbo-Croatian" in the form of a Declaration on the Status and Name of the Croatian Literary Language and Croatian Spring. Croats protect their language from foreign influences and are known for Croatian linguistic purism, as the language was under constant change and threats imposed by previous rulers. Croats reject loanwords in favor of Croatian counterparts.


title: Croatia

text: A 2011 survey revealed that 78% of Croats claim knowledge of at least one foreign language. According to a 2005 EC survey, 49% of Croats speak English as the second language, 34% speak German, 14% speak Italian, and 10% speak French. Russian is spoken by 4%, and 2% of Croats speak Spanish. However several large municipalities support minority languages. A majority of Slovenes (59%) have some knowledge of Croatian. The country is a part of various language-based international associations, most notably the European Union Language Association.


title: Croatia

text: Literacy in Croatia stands at 99.2 per cent. Primary education in Croatia starts at the age of six or seven and consists of eight grades. In 2007 a law was passed to increase free, noncompulsory education until 18 years of age. Compulsory education consists of eight grades of elementary school.


title: Croatia

text: Secondary education is provided by gymnasiums and vocational schools. As of 2019, there are 2,103 elementary schools and 738 schools providing various forms of secondary education. Primary and secondary education are also available in languages of recognised minorities in Croatia, where classes are held in Czech, German, Hungarian, Italian, and Serbian languages.


title: Croatia

text: There are 137 elementary and secondary level music and art schools, as well as 120 schools for disabled children and youth and 74 schools for adults. Nationwide leaving exams () were introduced for secondary education students in the school year 2009–2010. It comprises three compulsory subjects (Croatian language, mathematics, and a foreign language) and optional subjects and is a prerequisite for university education.


title: Croatia

text: Croatia has eight public universities and two private universities. The University of Zadar, the first university in Croatia, was founded in 1396 and remained active until 1807, when other institutions of higher education took over until the foundation of the renewed University of Zadar in 2002. The University of Zagreb, founded in 1669, is the oldest continuously operating university in Southeast Europe. There are also 15 polytechnics, of which two are private, and 30 higher education institutions, of which 27 are private. In total, there are 55 institutions of higher education in Croatia, attended by more than 157 thousand students.


title: Croatia

text: There are 205 companies, government or education system institutions and non-profit organisations in Croatia pursuing scientific research and development of technology. Combined, they spent more than 3 billion kuna (€400 million) and employed 10,191 full-time research staff in 2008. Among the scientific institutes operating in Croatia, the largest is the Ruđer Bošković Institute in Zagreb. The Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Zagreb is a learned society promoting language, culture, arts and science from its inception in 1866. Croatia was ranked 42th in the Global Innovation Index in 2021


title: Croatia

text: The European Investment Bank provided digital infrastructure and equipment to around 150 primary and secondary schools in Croatia. Twenty of these schools got specialised assistance in the form of gear, software, and services to help them integrate the teaching and administrative operations.


title: Croatia

text: Croatia has a universal health care system, whose roots can be traced back to the Hungarian-Croatian Parliament Act of 1891, providing a form of mandatory insurance of all factory workers and craftsmen. The population is covered by a basic health insurance plan provided by statute and optional insurance. In 2017, annual healthcare related expenditures reached 22.0 billion kuna (€3.0 billion). Healthcare expenditures comprise only 0.6% of private health insurance and public spending. In 2017, Croatia spent around 6.6% of its GDP on healthcare.


title: Croatia

text: In 2020, Croatia ranked 41st in the world in life expectancy with 76.0 years for men and 82.0 years for women, and it had a low infant mortality rate of 3.4 per 1,000 live births.


title: Croatia

text: There are hundreds of healthcare institutions in Croatia, including 75 hospitals, and 13 clinics with 23,049 beds. The hospitals and clinics care for more than 700 thousand patients per year and employ 6,642 medical doctors, including 4,773 specialists. There is total of 69,841 health workers. There are 119 emergency units in health centres, responding to more than a million calls. The principal cause of death in 2016 was cardiovascular disease at 39.7% for men and 50.1% for women, followed by tumours, at 32.5% for men and 23.4% for women. In 2016 it was estimated that 37.0% of Croatians are smokers. According to 2016 data, 24.40% of the Croatian adult population is obese.


title: Croatia

text: Because of its geographical position, Croatia represents a blend of four different cultural spheres. It has been a crossroads of influences from western culture and the east since the schism between the Western Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire, and also from Central Europe and Mediterranean culture. The Illyrian movement was the most significant period of national cultural history, as the 19th century proved crucial to the emancipation of Croatians and saw unprecedented developments in all fields of art and culture, giving rise to many historical figures.


title: Croatia

text: The Ministry of Culture is tasked with preserving the nation's cultural and natural heritage and overseeing its development. Further activities supporting the development of culture are undertaken at the local government level. The UNESCO's World Heritage List includes ten sites in Croatia. The country is also rich with intangible culture and holds 15 of UNESCO's World's intangible culture masterpieces, ranking fourth in the world. A global cultural contribution from Croatia is the necktie, derived from the cravat originally worn by the 17th-century Croatian mercenaries in France.


title: Croatia

text: In 2019, Croatia had 95 professional theatres, 30 professional children's theatres, and 51 amateur theatres visited by more than 2.27 million viewers per year. Professional theatres employ 1,195 artists. There are 42 professional orchestras, ensembles, and choirs, attracting an annual attendance of 297 thousand. There are 75 cinemas with 166 screens and attendance of 5.026 million.


title: Croatia

text: Croatia has 222 museums, visited by more than 2.71 million people in 2016. Furthermore, there are 1,768 libraries, containing 26.8 million volumes, and 19 state archives. The book publishing market is dominated by several major publishers and the industry's centrepiece event—Interliber exhibition held annually at Zagreb Fair.


title: Croatia

text: Architecture in Croatia reflects influences of bordering nations. Austrian and Hungarian influence is visible in public spaces and buildings in the north and the central regions, architecture found along coasts of Dalmatia and Istria exhibits Venetian influence. Squares named after culture heroes, parks, and pedestrian-only zones, are features of Croatian towns and cities, especially where large scale Baroque urban planning took place, for instance in Osijek (Tvrđa), Varaždin, and Karlovac. The subsequent influence of the Art Nouveau was reflected in contemporary architecture. The architecture is the Mediterranean with a Venetian and Renaissance influence in major coastal urban areas exemplified in works of Juraj Dalmatinac and Nicolas of Florence such as the Cathedral of St. James in Šibenik.


title: Croatia

text: The oldest preserved examples of Croatian architecture are the 9th-century churches, with the largest and the most representative among them being Church of St. Donatus in Zadar.


title: Croatia

text: Besides the architecture encompassing the oldest artworks, there is a history of artists in Croatia reaching the Middle Ages. In that period the stone portal of the Trogir Cathedral was made by Radovan, representing the most important monument of Romanesque sculpture from Medieval Croatia. The Renaissance had the greatest impact on the Adriatic Sea coast since the remainder was embroiled in the Hundred Years' Croatian–Ottoman War. With the waning of the Ottoman Empire, art flourished during the Baroque and Rococo. The 19th and the 20th centuries brought about affirmation of numerous Croatian artisans, helped by several patrons of the arts such as bishop Josip Juraj Strossmayer. Croatian artists of the period achieving renown were Vlaho Bukovac, Ivan Meštrović, and Ivan Generalić.


title: Croatia

text: Croatian music varies from classical operas to modern day rock. Vatroslav Lisinski created the country's first Opera, "Love and Malice", in 1846. Ivan Zajc composed more than a thousand pieces of music, including masses and oratorios. Pianist Ivo Pogorelić has performed across the world.


title: Croatia

text: The Baška tablet, a stone inscribed with the glagolitic alphabet found on the Krk island and dated to circa 1100, is considered to be the oldest surviving prose in Croatian. The beginning of more vigorous development of Croatian literature is marked by the Renaissance and Marko Marulić. Besides Marulić, Renaissance playwright Marin Držić, Baroque poet Ivan Gundulić, Croatian national revival poet Ivan Mažuranić, novelist, playwright, and poet August Šenoa, children's writer Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić, writer and journalist Marija Jurić Zagorka, poet and writer Antun Gustav Matoš, poet Antun Branko Šimić, expressionist and realist writer Miroslav Krleža, poet Tin Ujević and novelist, and short story writer Ivo Andrić are often cited as the greatest figures in Croatian literature.


title: Croatia

text: In Croatia, the Constitution guarantees the freedom of the press and the freedom of speech. Croatia ranked 64th in the 2019 Press Freedom Index report compiled by Reporters Without Borders which noted that journalists who investigate corruption, organised crime or war crimes face challenges and that the Government was trying to influence the public broadcaster HRT's editorial policies. In its 2019 Freedom in the World report, the Freedom House classified freedoms of press and speech in Croatia as generally free from political interference and manipulation, noting that journalists still face threats and occasional attacks. The state-owned news agency HINA runs a wire service in Croatian and English on politics, economics, society, and culture.


title: Croatia

text: , there are thirteen nationwide free-to-air DVB-T television channels, with Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT) operating four, RTL Televizija three, and Nova TV operating two channels, and the Croatian Olympic Committee, Kapital Net d.o.o., and Author d.o.o. companies operate the remaining three. Also, there are 21 regional or local DVB-T television channels. The HRT is also broadcasting a satellite TV channel. In 2020, there were 155 radio stations and 27 TV stations in Croatia. Cable television and IPTV networks are gaining ground. Cable television already serves 450 thousand people, around 10% of the total population of the country.


title: Croatia

text: In 2010, 314 newspapers and 2,678 magazines were published in Croatia. The print media market is dominated by the Croatian-owned Hanza Media and Austrian-owned Styria Media Group who publish their flagship dailies "Jutarnji list", "Večernji list" and "24sata". Other influential newspapers are "Novi list" and "Slobodna Dalmacija". In 2020, "24sata" was the most widely circulated daily newspaper, followed by "Večernji list" and "Jutarnji list".


title: Croatia

text: Croatia's film industry is small and heavily subsidised by the government, mainly through grants approved by the Ministry of Culture with films often being co-produced by HRT. Croatian cinema produces between five and ten feature films per year. Pula Film Festival, the national film awards event held annually in Pula, is the most prestigious film event featuring national and international productions. Animafest Zagreb, founded in 1972, is the prestigious annual film festival dedicated to the animated film. The first greatest accomplishment by Croatian filmmakers was achieved by Dušan Vukotić when he won the 1961 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for "Ersatz" (). Croatian film producer Branko Lustig won the Academy Awards for Best Picture for "Schindler's List" and "Gladiator".


title: Croatia

text: Croatian traditional cuisine varies from one region to another. Dalmatia and Istria have culinary influences of Italian and other Mediterranean cuisines which prominently feature various seafood, cooked vegetables and pasta, and condiments such as olive oil and garlic. Austrian, Hungarian, and Turkish culinary styles influenced continental cuisine. In that area, meats, freshwater fish, and vegetable dishes are predominant.


title: Croatia

text: There are two distinct wine-producing regions in Croatia. The continental in the northeast of the country, especially Slavonia, produces premium wines, particularly whites. Along the north coast, Istrian and Krk wines are similar to those in neighbouring Italy, while further south in Dalmatia, Mediterranean-style red wines are the norm. Annual production of wine exceeds 140 million litres. Croatia was almost exclusively a wine-consuming country up until the late 18th century when a more massive beer production and consumption started. The annual consumption of beer in 2020 was 78.7 litres per capita which placed Croatia in 15th place among the world's countries.


title: Croatia

text: There are more than 400,000 active sportspeople in Croatia. Out of that number, 277,000 are members of sports associations and nearly 4,000 are chess members and contract bridge associations. Association football is the most popular sport. The Croatian Football Federation (), with more than 118,000 registered players, is the largest sporting association. The Prva HNL football league attracts the highest average attendance of any professional sports league. In season 2010–11, it attracted 458,746 spectators.


title: Croatia

text: Croatian athletes competing at international events since Croatian independence in 1991 won 44 Olympic medals, including 15 gold medals. Also, Croatian athletes won 16 gold medals at world championships, including four in athletics at the World Championships in Athletics. In tennis, Croatia won Davis Cup in 2005 and 2018. Croatia's most successful male players Goran Ivanišević and Marin Čilić have both won Grand Slam titles and have got into the top 3 of the ATP rankings. Iva Majoli became the first Croatian female player to win the French Open when she won it in 1997. The Croatian national football team came in third in 1998 and 2022 and second in the 2018 FIFA World Cup.


title: Croatia

text: Croatia hosted several major sports competitions, including the 2009 World Men's Handball Championship, the 2007 World Table Tennis Championships, the 2000 World Rowing Championships, the 1987 Summer Universiade, the 1979 Mediterranean Games, and several European Championships.


title: Croatia

text: The governing sports authority is the Croatian Olympic Committee (), founded on 10 September 1991 and recognised by the International Olympic Committee since 17 January 1992, in time to permit the Croatian athletes to appear at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France representing the newly independent nation for the first time at the Olympic Games.


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: Avengers: Endgame is a 2019 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the direct sequel to "" (2018) and the 22nd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo and written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, the film features an ensemble cast including Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Paul Rudd, Brie Larson, Karen Gillan, Danai Gurira, Benedict Wong, Jon Favreau, Bradley Cooper, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Josh Brolin. In the film, the surviving members of the Avengers and their allies attempt to reverse the destruction caused by Thanos in "Infinity War".


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: The film was announced in October 2014 as "Avengers: Infinity War – Part 2", but Marvel later removed this title. The Russo brothers joined as directors in April 2015, with Markus and McFeely signing on to write the script a month later. The film serves as a conclusion to the story of the MCU up to that point, ending the story arcs for several main characters. The plot revisits several moments from earlier films, bringing back actors and settings from throughout the franchise. began in August 2017 at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Fayette County, Georgia, shooting back-to-back with "Infinity War", and ended in January 2018. Additional filming took place in the Metro and Downtown Atlanta areas, the state of New York, Scotland, and England. The official title was revealed in December 2018. With an estimated budget of $356–400million, the film is one of the most expensive films ever made.


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: "Avengers: Endgame" premiered in Los Angeles on April 22, 2019, and was released in the United States on April 26, as part of of the MCU. The film received praise for its direction, acting, musical score, action sequences, visual effects, and emotional weight, with critics lauding its culmination of the 22-film story. The film grossed $2.798 billion worldwide, surpassing "Infinity War" entire theatrical run in just eleven days and breaking numerous , including becoming the highest-grossing film of all time from July 2019 until March 2021. It received a nomination for Best Visual Effects at the 92nd Academy Awards, among . A fifth and sixth film, "Avengers: The Kang Dynasty" and "Avengers: Secret Wars", are scheduled to be released in 2025 and 2026.


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: In 2018, twenty-three days after Thanos erased half of all life in the universe, Carol Danvers rescues Tony Stark and Nebula from deep space and they reunite with the remaining Avengers—Bruce Banner, Steve Rogers, Thor, Natasha Romanoff, and James Rhodes—and Rocket on Earth. Locating Thanos on an uninhabited planet, they plan to use the Infinity Stones to reverse his actions, but discover Thanos has already destroyed them to prevent further use. Enraged, Thor decapitates Thanos.


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: Five years later, Scott Lang escapes from the Quantum Realm. Reaching the Avengers Compound, he explains that he experienced only five hours while trapped. Theorizing that the Quantum Realm allows time travel, they ask Stark to help them retrieve the Stones from the past to reverse the actions of Thanos in the present. Stark, Rocket, and Banner, who has since merged his intelligence with the Hulk's strength, build a time machine. Banner notes that altering the past does not affect their present; any changes create alternate realities. Banner and Rocket travel to Norway, where they visit the Asgardian refugees' settlement New Asgard and recruit an overweight and despondent Thor. In Tokyo, Romanoff recruits Clint Barton, who became a vigilante after the death of his family.


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: Banner, Lang, Rogers, and Stark time-travel to New York City during Loki's attack in 2012. At the Sanctum Sanctorum, Banner convinces the Ancient One to give him the Time Stone after promising to return the various Stones to their proper points in time. At Stark Tower, Rogers retrieves the Mind Stone from Hydra sleeper agents, but Stark and Lang's attempt to steal the Space Stone fails, allowing 2012-Loki to escape with it. Rogers and Stark travel to Camp Lehigh in 1970, where Stark obtains an earlier version of the Space Stone and encounters his father, Howard. Rogers steals Pym Particles from Hank Pym to return to the present and spies his lost love, Peggy Carter.


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: Meanwhile, Rocket and Thor travel to Asgard in 2013; Rocket extracts the Reality Stone from Jane Foster, while Thor gets encouragement from his mother, Frigga, and retrieves his old hammer, Mjolnir. Barton, Romanoff, Nebula, and Rhodes travel to 2014; Nebula and Rhodes go to Morag and steal the Power Stone before Peter Quill can, while Barton and Romanoff travel to Vormir. The Soul Stone's keeper, Red Skull, reveals it can only be acquired by sacrificing a loved one. Romanoff sacrifices herself, allowing Barton to get the Stone. Rhodes and Nebula attempt to return to their own time, but Nebula is incapacitated when her cybernetic implants link with her past self, allowing 2014-Thanos to learn of his future self's success and the Avengers' attempt to undo it. 2014-Thanos sends 2014-Nebula forward in time to prepare for his arrival.


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: Reuniting in the present, the Avengers place the Stones into a gauntlet that Stark, Banner, and Rocket had built. Having the most resistance to their radiation, Banner wields the gauntlet and reverses Thanos's disintegrations. Meanwhile, 2014-Nebula, impersonating her future self, uses the time machine to transport 2014-Thanos and his warship to the present, which he then uses to destroy the Avengers Compound. Present-day Nebula convinces 2014-Gamora to betray Thanos, but is unable to convince 2014-Nebula and kills her. Thanos overpowers Stark, Thor, and a Mjolnir-wielding Rogers and summons his army to retrieve the Stones, intent on using them to destroy the universe and create a new one. A restored Stephen Strange arrives with other sorcerers, the restored Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy, the Ravagers, and the armies of Wakanda and Asgard to fight Thanos's army. Danvers also arrives and destroys Thanos's warship, but Thanos overpowers her and seizes the gauntlet. Stark steals the Stones and uses them to disintegrate Thanos and his army, at the cost of his life.


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: Following Stark's funeral, Thor appoints Valkyrie as the new king of New Asgard and joins the Guardians. Rogers returns the Stones and Mjolnir to their proper timelines and remains to live with Carter in the past. In the present, an elderly Rogers passes his shield to Sam Wilson.


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: Several actors from "Infinity War" reprise their roles in "Endgame", including Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Stephen Strange, Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa / Black Panther, Tom Holland as Peter Parker / Spider-Man, Zoe Saldaña as Gamora, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson / Falcon, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, Letitia Wright as Shuri, William Hurt as Thaddeus Ross, Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill, Winston Duke as M'Baku, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor as Ebony Maw, Jacob Batalon as Ned, Vin Diesel as Groot, Chris Pratt as Peter Quill / Star-Lord, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Ross Marquand as Red Skull / Stonekeeper, Michael James Shaw as Corvus Glaive, Terry Notary as Cull Obsidian, and Kerry Condon as the voice of Stark's suit AI F.R.I.D.A.Y. Monique Ganderton again provides motion capture for Proxima Midnight.


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: Also reprising their roles from previous MCU films are Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne / Wasp, Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie, Rene Russo as Frigga, John Slattery as Howard Stark, Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One, Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, Marisa Tomei as May Parker, Taika Waititi as Korg, Angela Bassett as Ramonda, Michael Douglas as Hank Pym, Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet van Dyne, Linda Cardellini as Laura Barton, Maximiliano Hernández as Jasper Sitwell, Frank Grillo as Brock Rumlow, Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce, Callan Mulvey as Jack Rollins, and Ty Simpkins as Harley Keener. Sean Gunn reprised his role as Kraglin and was credited for the role, though footage of his appearance is not clearly visible in the film. Natalie Portman appears as Jane Foster through the use of footage from a "" (2013) deleted scene, as well as new voice over that Portman recorded for when Foster appears talking in the distance. James D'Arcy reprises his role as Edwin Jarvis from the MCU television series "Agent Carter", marking the first time a character introduced in an MCU television series appears in an MCU film.


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: Additionally, Hiroyuki Sanada portrays Akihiko, a Yakuza boss operating in Tokyo who opposes Barton. Lexi Rabe portrays Morgan Stark, Tony and Pepper's daughter. Katherine Langford was cast as an older Morgan, but her scene was cut from the final film. Emma Fuhrmann portrays an older Cassie Lang, Scott's daughter, after the character was played as a child by Abby Ryder Fortson in previous MCU films. Avengers co-creator Stan Lee has a posthumous cameo in the film, appearing digitally de-aged as a car driver in 1970; this was his final film appearance. Ken Jeong and Yvette Nicole Brown cameo as a storage facility guard and a S.H.I.E.L.D. employee, respectively. Co-director Joe Russo (credited as Gozie Agbo) has a cameo appearance as a grieving gay man, which is the first time an openly homosexual character has been portrayed in an MCU film. Joe's daughters Ava and Lia Russo portray Barton's daughter Lila and a fan of Hulk, respectively. Thanos creator Jim Starlin also appears as a grieving man. The character Howard the Duck appears in a non-speaking cameo.


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: In October 2014, Marvel announced a two-part sequel to "" (2015), titled "Avengers: Infinity War". "Part 1" was scheduled to be released on May 4, 2018, with "Part 2" scheduled for May 3, 2019. In April 2015, Marvel announced that Anthony and Joe Russo would direct both parts of "Avengers: Infinity War", with back-to-back filming expected to begin in 2016. That same month, Kevin Feige said the films were titled as two parts of a single film because of the shared elements between the films, but he felt they would be "two distinct" films, not one story split across two films. By May 2015, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely signed on to write the screenplays for both parts of the film. In May 2016, the Russos revealed that they would be retitling the two films, to further remove this misconception. That July, Marvel removed the film's title, simply referring to it as untitled "Avengers" film. Feige and the Russo brothers indicated the title was being withheld because it would give away plot details for this film and "Infinity War".


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: Principal photography began on August 10, 2017, under the working title "Mary Lou 2", at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Fayette County, Georgia, with Trent Opaloch serving as director of photography. The film, along with "Infinity War", were shot using ARRI Alexa IMAX 2D cameras, thus marking the first time that a Hollywood feature film was shot entirely with IMAX digital cameras. That same month, filming occurred in The Gulch area of Downtown Atlanta, near the Five Points MARTA station, and Piedmont Park. Feige explained that the films were originally scheduled to be filmed simultaneously but were ultimately shot back-to-back, as "It became too complicated to cross-board them like that, and we found ourselves—again, something would always pay the price. We wanted to be able to focus and shoot one movie and then focus and shoot another movie." Anthony Russo originally felt it made more sense to shoot the films simultaneously due to financial and logistical reasons considering the large number of cast members, and had suggested that "some days we'll be shooting the first movie and some days we'll be shooting the second movie. Just jumping back and forth." The 2013 Asgard scenes were shot at Durham Cathedral in Durham, England during production of "Infinity War" in early May 2017. Production wrapped on January 11, 2018, although additional filming took place in Dutchess and Ulster counties in New York in June 2018. Reshoots began by September 7, 2018, and concluded on October 12, 2018. More reshoots occurred in January 2019. Location shooting also took place in St Abbs, Scotland, which doubled for New Asgard in Norway. Evans and Hemsworth each earned $15million for the film.


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: The film's official title, "Avengers: Endgame", and final U.S. release date of April 26, 2019, were revealed with the film's first trailer in December 2018. Visual effects for the film were created by Industrial Light & Magic, Weta Digital, DNEG, Framestore, Cinesite, Digital Domain, Rise, Lola VFX, Cantina Creative, Capital T, Technicolor VFX, and Territory Studio. As with previous MCU films, Lola worked on the de-aging sequences; the film features 200 de-aging and aging shots. Downey, Evans, Ruffalo, Hemsworth, Johansson, and Renner were de-aged to their 2012 appearances for scenes recreated from "The Avengers" (2012). Michael Douglas, John Slattery, and Stan Lee were also de-aged for the 1970 New Jersey sequence; Douglas's appearance in "The Streets of San Francisco" was referenced. Lola also aged-up Evans for the final scene where he is portrayed as an elderly man, using some make-up and a stand-in as reference. Jeffrey Ford and Matthew Schmidt served as the film's editors.


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: In June 2016, Alan Silvestri, who composed the score for "The Avengers", was revealed to be returning to score both "Infinity War" and "Endgame". The Russos started working with Silvestri on the "Endgame" score in early November 2018, and it was completed in late March 2019. A soundtrack album featuring Silvestri's score was released by Hollywood Records digitally on April 26, 2019, with a physical release on May 24. A video for the track "Portals", composed for the climactic scene in which reinforcements arrive for the Avengers, was released on June 13.


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: Silvestri described the score as having the most versatile tone of the franchise, ranging from "thunderous percussion and powerful brass" for the action sequences to minimalist, jazz-inspired music for Ant-Man and the Quantum Realm. Silvestri reprises his themes from the previous "Avengers" films and "Captain America: The First Avenger", including material he wrote for Thanos and the Infinity Stones in "Infinity War". He found writing the music to end Captain America's story poignant, since he had "been on this journey with him since the beginning". The film also uses the "Ant-Man" (2015) theme by Christophe Beck, the "Doctor Strange" (2016) theme by Michael Giacchino, and the "Captain Marvel" theme by Pinar Toprak. Additionally, the songs "Come and Get Your Love" by Redbone and "It's Been a Long, Long Time" by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn are used, after previously being heard in "Guardians of the Galaxy" and "" (2014), respectively.


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: The marketing campaign for "Endgame" cost over $200 million, the most for any Marvel Studios film. Promotional partners included Stand Up to Cancer, Mastercard, Ulta Beauty, the Audi e-tron GT concept car (which appears in the film), McDonald's, GEICO, Coca-Cola, Google, General Mills, Hertz, Ziploc, Oppo, and Synchrony Financial.


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: A year prior to the film's release, Germain Lussier of "io9" spoke on the approach Marvel might have to take in marketing the film, given the end of "Infinity War" where many established characters die. He questioned if those characters would appear on posters and in toy campaigns and if the actors portraying them would participate in press events leading up to the film's release. Lussier felt Disney and Marvel could focus on the original Avengers team members, who make up the majority of the living characters, but noted it would be more beneficial to show the return of the dead characters, which would create a "mystery and curiosity about they come back" and a "whole new level of interest" for the film "while having all the stars front and center". Feige spoke to this in June 2018, stating that these dead characters would not be featured in any marketing for the film. He presented a behind-the-scenes video from the film at CineEurope, and said that the official marketing campaign for the film would begin at the end of 2018. In early December 2018, ahead of the first trailer's release, Graeme McMillan of "The Hollywood Reporter" spoke to the "fevered anticipation" surrounding it and felt "remarkable", which was mostly "fan-created, without [the] noticeable direction from Marvel or the filmmakers involved" and that the amount of knowledge surrounding the film without any type of promotion was "a kind of brand awareness" that the most distributors want for. Because of this, McMillan urged Marvel not to release any trailers for the film since "the advanced level of enthusiasm [...] [was] likely to build" before the film's release. That said, he added that the eventual release of the trailer would take away the "Schrödinger's cat-esque position" as it was "almost guaranteed" to cause fans a disappointment at this point.


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: The first trailer for the film was released on December 7, 2018. Dustin Sandoval, vice president of digital marketing for Marvel Studios, stated the marketing team "made the choice" to prevent including the "title or hashtag" for the film of its trailer's posts, allowing fans to see the trailer without spoiling it by watching "at the end". Richard Newby, also of "The Hollywood Reporter" felt that, while not much new material had been revealed in the trailer, it offered a "somber glimpse of a universe made unrecognizable" and let the viewer consider "the ending of "Avengers: Infinity War" and our questions of loss". Newby also noted how the trailer highlighted the characters' "humble beginnings" with its visual language, and concluded it left viewers with "just as many questions as we had before". Austen Goslin of "Polygon" pointed out that the title not only references a line Doctor Strange tells Tony Stark in "Infinity War", but also a line spoken by Stark in "Age of Ultron". Goslin said, "The scene surrounding this line in "Age of Ultron" is one of the most important ones in the movie. Things look dark, and the group of heroes face an enemy they don't think they can defeat." As such, the "Endgame" trailer "mirrors this perfectly" and "shows us that the Avengers' two most prominent characters are who they've always been: Iron Man, a pessimist who keeps fighting no matter how hopeless things look, and Captain America, an optimist who believes that nothing is hopeless when the world's heroes fight together." The trailer was viewed 289 million times in its first 24 hours, becoming the most viewed trailer in that time period, surpassing the record of "Avengers: Infinity War" (230 million views). The trailer also set a record for Twitter conversation for a film trailer in the first 24 hours, generating 549,000 mentions. By January 3, 2019, "BoxOffice" "Trailer Impact" metric service indicated approximately 77–78% of people surveyed who viewed the "Endgame" trailer in the past three weeks had expressed interest in seeing the film. In the three weeks it was measured by the service, the trailer was number one for all and had the top two percent of respondents express interest in seeing the film since the service's introduction in March 2018.


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: The second trailer for the film, along with the theatrical release poster, was released on March 14, 2019. All 13 actors featured on the poster received top-billing except for Danai Gurira, whose name still appeared in the poster's bottom billing block along with Benedict Wong, Jon Favreau, and Gwyneth Paltrow (none of whom were featured on the poster). Despite this, her exclusion in the top billing prompted criticism from some fans. Petrana Radulovic of "Polygon" noted how an actor is credited on the poster "is a complex process" based on "dealing with agents, fees, and movie star demands." However, Marvel Studios released an updated poster later that day with Gurira in the top billing. The second trailer was viewed 268 million times in the first 24 hours, becoming the second most-viewed trailer in that time period behind the film's first trailer.


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: "Avengers: Endgame" had its world premiere at the Los Angeles Convention Center on April 22, 2019. Disney converted the convention center's Hall K for the film's premiere, working with Dolby and QSC Audio to install a screen, Dolby Vision projectors, and a Dolby Atmos sound system. The convention center also held the premiere's red carpet arrival and after-party. The film was released in Australia, China, and other parts of Asia and Europe on April 24, in the United Kingdom on April 25, in the United States and India on April 26, and in Russia on April 29, in IMAX and 3D. It was originally scheduled to be released in the United States on May 3. Radio Liberty alleged that the Russian government postponed the film's release in that country to promote Russian-produced films. "Avengers: Endgame" is part of of the MCU.


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: Following the release of the second trailer for Marvel Studios' "" (2019) on May 6, Marvel began showing it at the end of "Endgame" screenings with a message before the film from "Far From Home" star Tom Holland telling the audience to stay until the end of the credits to see the trailer. In June, Feige announced that "Avengers: Endgame" would be re-released in theaters with seven minutes of new post-credits footage, including a Stan Lee tribute, an unfinished deleted scene, and the opening scene of "Far From Home". A limited edition poster would also be given out at select theaters. The re-release began on June 28 in the United States, across 1,040 theaters.


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: "Avengers: Endgame" was released in the US on digital download by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on July 30, and on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on August 13. The film was released on both Digital HD and Blu-ray on September 2 in the UK. Streaming is exclusive to Disney+ since November 12. The digital and Blu-ray releases include behind-the-scenes featurettes, audio commentary, deleted scenes, and a blooper reel. Despite being filmed with IMAX cameras and released in IMAX theaters in the 1.90:1 aspect ratio, the home media release only includes the cropped aspect ratio version that was used for non-IMAX screenings. The IMAX Enhanced version of the film was made available on Disney+ beginning on November 12, 2021. The film generated from DVD and Blu-ray sales in the US.


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: "Avengers: Endgame" grossed in the United States and Canada, and in other territories, for a worldwide total of , becoming the highest-grossing film of all time (until it was surpassed by "Avatar" (2009) due to the 2021 re-release in China), as well as the second-highest-grossing film of all time in the United States and Canada. Adjusted for inflation, "Gone with the Wind" (1939) remains the highest-grossing film, and "Avengers: Endgame" is the fifth-highest-grossing film of all time worldwide.


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: Defying pre-release projections, the film had a worldwide opening of $1.2billion, the biggest of all time and nearly double "Infinity War" previous record of $640million. It is also the fastest film ever to eclipse the $1billion and $1.5billion mark, doing so in just five days and eight days, respectively. "Deadline Hollywood" estimated the film would break even just five days after its release, which is "unheard of for a major studio tentpole during its opening weekend". The website eventually calculated the film's final net profit as $890million, accounting for production budgets, marketing, talent participations, and other costs; box office grosses and home media revenues placed it first on their list of 2019's "Most Valuable Blockbusters".


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: On May 4, the film's earnings at the global box office passed the entire theatrical run of "Infinity War" and became the fastest film ever to gross $2billion worldwide, amassing the amount in only 11 days (beating "Avatar", which did so in 47 days). It also became the fifth film to surpass this threshold (after "Avatar", "Titanic" (1997), "" (2015), and "Infinity War"), and the second film to surpass the threshold of $2.5billion, doing so in just 20 days, outpacing "Avatar" record of 72 days.


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: In late December 2018, "Endgame" was listed as one of the most anticipated films of 2019, ranking second by IMDb, and first by Fandango and Atom Tickets.


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: Due to the high demand when pre-sale tickets became available in the U.S. on April 2, 2019, customers on both Atom Tickets and Fandango experienced long wait times and system delays, while AMC Theatres' website and app crashed completely for several hours. That same day, Fandango announced the film became its top-selling pre-sale title for the first 24 hours, topping "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" previous record in just six hours. Atom said the film was also the website's bestselling first-day film (outselling "Aquaman" (2018) by four times), and Regal Cinemas reported that "Endgame" had sold more tickets in its first eight hours than "Infinity War" did in its entire first week. The film grossed $120–140million in pre-sales alone. The day prior to the film's release, Fandango announced it was its biggest pre-selling title of all time, beating "The Force Awakens", with over 8,000 sold-out showtimes across the country.


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: In India, the film sold one million tickets in just one day for the English, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu language screenings; 18 tickets were sold every second. In China, pre-sale tickets became available on April 12 and sold a record one million tickets in just six hours, outselling "Infinity War" first 24-hour total within the first hour, and made $114.5million (RMB 770 million) just from pre-sales.


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: On April 4, industry tracking projected the film would gross $200–250million domestically during its opening weekend, although some insiders saw those figures as conservative and expected a $260–300million debut. By the week of its release, domestic estimates had risen to $260–270million, with some insiders still suggesting a $300million debut was possible. The film played in 4,662 theaters, 410 of which were in IMAX; it was the widest release ever, surpassing the record of "Despicable Me 3" (2017) 4,529 theaters. "Avengers: Endgame" earned $357.1million in its opening weekend, breaking "Infinity War" record by nearly $100million. It also set records for Friday ($157.5million, including $60million from Thursday night previews), Saturday ($109.3million), and Sunday ($90.4million) totals, as well as was more of a total gross alone than the previous box office high of all films combined ($314million). The film then made $36.9million on Monday and $33.1million on Tuesday, both the third-highest of all time. In its second weekend the film made $147.4million (the second-best sophomore frame ever) for a 10-day total of $621.3million. It was the fastest film to ever pass the $600million milestone, beating "The Force Awakens" 12 days and less than half the 26 days it took "Infinity War". The following week, the film grossed $64.8million, the fourth-best third weekend ever. It also passed the $700million mark, tying "The Force Awakens" record of 16 days. "Endgame" was finally dethroned in its fourth weekend by newcomer "" (2019). It made $17.2million the following weekend (and a total of $22.3million over the four-day Memorial Day frame), crossing the $800million threshold domestically. During the re-release, which occurred over its tenth weekend, the film was added to 1,040 theaters and made $6.1million, an increase of 207% from the previous weekend. In its thirteenth weekend the film made $1.2million, which put it over the threshold to top "Avatar" all-time record.


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: Internationally, "Endgame" was projected to gross around $680million over its first five days for a global debut of $850–950million. The film was initially projected to gross $250–280million in China in its opening weekend, but made a record $107.5million (RMB 719 million) in the country on its first day, including $28.2million (RMB 189million) from midnight, 3 AM and 6 AM screenings, beating "The Fate of the Furious" (2017) previous record of $9.1million. Due to the record-breaking first day, partnered with word of mouth (with a 9.1 on local review aggregator Douban and a 9.3 on ticket website Maoyan), debut projections were increased to over $300million. Overall, the film made $169million on the first day from international countries, the highest total of all time. Its largest markets after China were India ($9million), South Korea ($8.4million; the largest non-holiday single day gross ever), Australia ($7.1million), France ($6million), and Italy ($5.8million). Like domestically, the film ended up over-performing and debuted to $866million overseas. Its largest markets, every one of which set the record for best-ever opening in the country, were China ($330.5million; RMB 2.22billion), the United Kingdom ($53.8million), South Korea ($47.4million), Mexico ($33.1million), Australia ($30.8million), Brazil ($26million), Spain ($13.3million), Japan ($13million), and Vietnam ($10million). It also made $21.6million over its first four days in Russia after a delay of its premiere that was caused by the Russian government.


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: In its first week, the film's top five largest international markets were China (), the United Kingdom (), South Korea (), Mexico (), and India (). A week after its release, it became the highest-grossing foreign film of all time in China and India. In its second weekend the film's running total passed $1.569billion from international markets, passing "Titanic" as the second-highest film overseas of all time.


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: , the film's top international markets were China ($629million), United Kingdom ($115million), South Korea ($105million), Brazil ($86million), and Mexico ($78million).


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of , with an average score of , based on reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Exciting, entertaining, and emotionally impactful, "Avengers: Endgame" does whatever it takes to deliver a satisfying finale to Marvel's epic Infinity Saga." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 78 out of 100 based on 57 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a rare "A+" grade on an A+ to F scale, the third Marvel film to earn the score after "The Avengers" and "Black Panther" (2018), and those at PostTrak gave the film 5 out of 5 stars and an 85% "definite recommend".


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: Writing for NPR, Glen Weldon gave the film a positive review and found the film to be a worthy sequel to its predecessor, stating, "The Russos' decision to stick close to the experiences of the remaining Avengers proves a rewarding one, as they've expressly constructed the film as an extended victory lap for the Marvel Cinematic Universe writ large. Got a favorite character from any Marvel movie over the past decade, no matter how obscure? Prepare to get serviced, fan." Peter Travers in his review for "Rolling Stone" gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, saying, "You don't have to make jokes about the clichéd time travel plot – the film is ready, willing and able to make its own, with "Back to the Future" coming in for a serious ribbing."


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: Peter Debruge of "Variety" wrote, "After the must-see showdown that was "Infinity War", the Russo brothers deliver a more fan-facing three-hour follow-up, rewarding loyalty to Marvel Cinematic Universe." J. R. Kinnard of "PopMatters" wrote, "Big budget action filmmaking doesn't get much better than this." Todd McCarthy of "The Hollywood Reporter" said, "[W]hat comes across most strongly here, oddly enough for an effects-driven comic-book-derived film, is the character acting, especially from Downey, Ruffalo, Evans, Hemsworth, Brolin, and Paul Rudd". Richard Roeper, writing for the "Chicago Sun-Times", gave the film four stars and praised its "emotional punch", as well as the "funny, well-paced, smart, expertly rendered screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, crisp direction from Anthony Russo and Joe Russo, [...] and the universally stellar performances".


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: "The New York Times" reviewer A. O. Scott gave the film a positive though guarded review, stating, ""Endgame" is a monument to adequacy, a fitting capstone to an enterprise that figured out how to be good enough for enough people enough of the time. Not that it's really over, of course: Disney and Marvel are still working out new wrinkles in the time-money continuum. But the Russos do provide the sense of an ending, a chance to appreciate what has been done before the timelines reset and we all get back to work." Justin Chang of the "Los Angeles Times" wrote that ""Avengers: Endgame" achieves and earns its climactic surge of feeling, even as it falls just short of real catharsis". Some have noted the film as a notable improvement over its predecessor, "Avengers: Infinity War", such as Brian Tallerico of "RogerEbert.com", who stated that "Endgame" is "a more patient, focused film [than "Infinity War"], even as its plot draws in elements of a dozen other movies." Matt Zoller Seitz, also of "RogerEbert.com", gave the film a positive assessment as compared with "Infinity War", which he considered "too crowded, too rushed and yet too long". Seitz stated that "Endgame" is "a heartfelt and satisfying experience", along with being a "surprisingly relaxed, character-driven, self-aware yet sincere comedy [for] two-thirds of [the film]. Much of the script suggests a laid-back Richard Linklater movie with superheroes". Joe Morgenstern of "The Wall Street Journal" acknowledged the unique achievement that "Avengers: Endgame" accomplished as the conclusion of the Infinity Saga, calling the final battle "inevitably unwieldy [...] but thrilling all the same, and followed by a delicate coda. So many stories. So many adventures. So much to sort out before the next cycle starts."


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: Richard Brody, writing for "The New Yorker", was more critical of the film, opining that the good acting was not matched by comparable skill from the directors. He said, "The Russos have peculiarly little sense of visual pleasure, little sense of beauty, little sense of metaphor, little aptitude for texture or composition; their spectacular conceit is purely one of scale, which is why their finest moments are quiet and dramatic ones". Anthony Lane of "The New Yorker" gave the film a compromising review, finding it to be overdeveloped and overwrought, stating, "The one thing you do need to know about "Avengers: Endgame" is that it runs for a little over three hours, and that you can easily duck out during the middle hour, do some shopping, and slip back into your seat for the climax. You won't have missed a thing."


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: At the 92nd Academy Awards, "Avengers: Endgame" received a nomination for Best Visual Effects. The film's other nominations include an Annie Award (which it won), a British Academy Film Award, and three Critics' Choice Movie Awards (winning two). It was , garnering 44.2 million page views. In February 2022, the Avengers assembling moment was named one of the five finalists for Oscars Cheer Moment as part of the "Oscars Fan Favorite" contest for the 94th Academy Awards, despite the film not being eligible for other Academy Awards that year.


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: In May 2018, Disney CEO Bob Iger said of Marvel's plans beyond "Endgame", "I'm guessing we will try our hand at what I'll call a new franchise beyond "Avengers", but that doesn't necessarily mean you won't see more "Avengers" down the road. We just haven't made any announcements about that." Iger added, "Given the popularity of the characters and given the popularity of the franchise, I don't think people should conclude there will never be another "Avengers" movie." Shortly after the film's premiere, the Russo brothers said they were not opposed to returning to the MCU in the future due to their positive relationship with Marvel Studios, but did not plan to do so at that time. In January 2021, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige said another "Avengers" film would happen "at some point".


title: Avengers: Endgame

text: At San Diego Comic-Con in July 2022, Feige announced "Avengers: The Kang Dynasty" and "Avengers: Secret Wars", scheduled to be released on May 2, 2025, and November 7, 2025, respectively. The two films will serve as the conclusion to of the MCU. Feige later stated that the Russo brothers would not be returning to direct the films. Shortly after, Destin Daniel Cretton, who directed "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" (2021), was confirmed as director of "The Kang Dynasty". In September, "" (2023) writer Jeff Loveness was revealed to be writing the screenplay. The next month, "Loki" season one (2021) head writer and "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" (2022) writer Michael Waldron was hired to write the screenplay for "Avengers: Secret Wars". Shortly after, "Secret Wars"s release date was pushed back to May 1, 2026.


title: Caitlyn Jenner

text: Caitlyn Marie Jenner (born William Bruce Jenner; October 28, 1949) is an American media personality and retired Olympic gold medal-winning decathlete.


title: Caitlyn Jenner

text: Jenner played college football for the Graceland Yellowjackets before incurring a knee injury that required surgery. Convinced by Olympic decathlete Jack Parker's coach, L. D. Weldon, to try the decathlon, Jenner had a six-year decathlon career, culminating in winning the men's decathlon event at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, setting a third successive world record and gaining fame as "an all-American hero". Given the unofficial title of "world's greatest athlete", Jenner established a career in television, film, writing, auto racing, business, and as a "Playgirl" cover model.


title: Caitlyn Jenner

text: Jenner has six children with three successive wives – Chrystie Crownover, Linda Thompson, and Kris Jenner – and from 2007 to 2021 appeared on the reality television series "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" with Kris, their daughters Kendall and Kylie Jenner, as well as Kris's other children from her previous marriage, Kourtney, Kim, Khloé, and Rob Kardashian.


title: Caitlyn Jenner

text: Jenner publicly came out as a trans woman in April 2015, announcing her new name in July of that year. From 2015 to 2016, she starred in the reality television series "I Am Cait", which focused on her gender transition. At the time of her coming out, she had been called the most famous trans woman in the world. Jenner is a transgender rights activist, although her views on transgender issues have been criticized by many other trans and LGBTQ+ activists.


title: Caitlyn Jenner

text: A member of the Republican Party, Jenner ran as a replacement candidate in the 2021 California gubernatorial recall election. The recall failed, and she only received one percent of the vote, finishing in 13th place among the candidates running to replace governor Gavin Newsom. Six months after the election, Jenner was hired by Fox News as an on-air contributor.


title: Caitlyn Jenner

text: Caitlyn Marie Jenner was born on October 28, 1949, in Mount Kisco, New York, as William Bruce Jenner, and was known as Bruce until June 2015. Her parents are Esther Ruth ("née" McGuire) and William Hugh Jenner, who was an arborist originally from New Brunswick, Canada. She is of English, Scottish, Irish, Dutch, and Welsh descent. Her younger brother, Burt, was killed in a car accident in Canton, Connecticut, on November 30, 1976, shortly after Jenner's success at the Olympic Games. As a child, Jenner was diagnosed with dyslexia.


title: Caitlyn Jenner

text: Jenner attended Sleepy Hollow High School in Sleepy Hollow, New York, for her freshman and sophomore years and Newtown High School in Newtown, Connecticut, for her junior and senior years, graduating in 1968. Jenner earned a football scholarship and attended Graceland College (now Graceland University) in Lamoni, Iowa, but was forced to stop playing football because of a knee injury. Recognizing Jenner's potential, Graceland track coach L. D. Weldon encouraged Jenner to switch to the decathlon. Jenner debuted as a decathlete in 1970 in the Drake Relays decathlon in Des Moines, Iowa, finishing in fifth place. Jenner graduated from Graceland College in 1973 with a degree in physical education.


title: Caitlyn Jenner

text: At the 1972 U.S. Olympic Trials at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, Jenner was eleventh after the first day in the men's decathlon, and climbed to fifth behind Steve Gough and Andrew Pettes with one event remaining on the Fourth of July. Needing to make up a 19-second gap on Gough in the 1500 meters, Jenner qualified for the Olympic team by finishing first, 22 seconds ahead of the others. This prompted the "Eugene Register-Guard" to ask: "Who's Jenner?" Following the trials, Jenner was tenth in the decathlon at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. By watching Soviet Mykola Avilov win the event, Jenner was inspired to start an intense training regimen. "For the first time, I knew what I wanted out of life and that was it, and this guy has it. I literally started training that night at midnight, running through the streets of Munich, Germany, training for the Games. I trained that day on through the 1976 Games, 6–8 hours a day, every day, 365 days a year."


title: Caitlyn Jenner

text: After graduating from Graceland, Jenner married girlfriend Chrystie Crownover and moved to San Jose, California. Crownover provided most of the family income as a flight attendant for United Airlines. Jenner trained during the day and sold insurance at night, earning a year. In the era before professional athletes were allowed to compete in Olympic sports, this kind of training was unheard of. On the other hand, Soviet athletes were state sponsored, which gave them an advantage over amateur American athletes. During this period, Jenner trained at the San Jose City College (SJCC) and San Jose State University (SJSU) tracks. San Jose athletics centered on SJCC coach Bert Bonanno; at that time, the city was a hotbed for training and was called the "Track Capital of the World". Many other aspiring Olympic athletes also trained at San Jose; the list included Millard Hampton, Andre Phillips, John Powell, Mac Wilkins, and Al Feuerbach. Jenner's best events were on day two of the decathlon: hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin, and 1500 meters.


title: Caitlyn Jenner

text: Jenner was the American champion in the men's decathlon event in 1974, and was featured on the cover of "Track & Field News" magazine's August 1974 issue. While on tour in 1975, Jenner won the French national championship, and a gold medal at the 1975 Pan American Games, setting the tournament record with 8,045 points. This was followed by world records of 8,524 points at the U.S.A./U.S.S.R./Poland triangular meet in Eugene, Oregon, on August 9–10, 1975, breaking Avilov's record, and 8,538 points at the 1976 Olympic trials, also in Eugene. The second Eugene record was a hybrid score because of a timing system failure and it was wind aided. Still, Jenner was proud of "A nice little workout, huh?"


title: Caitlyn Jenner

text: We got what we wanted. We scared the hell out of everybody in the world only a month away from the Games.


title: Caitlyn Jenner

text: Of the 13 decathlons Jenner competed in between 1973 and 1976, the only loss was at the 1975 AAU National Championships, when a "no height" in the pole vault marred the score.


title: Caitlyn Jenner

text: At the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Jenner achieved personal bests in all five events on the first day of the men's decathlona "home run"despite being in second place behind Guido Kratschmer of West Germany. Jenner was confident: "The second day has all my good events. If everything works out all right, we should be ahead after it's all over." Following a rainstorm on the second day, Jenner watched teammate Fred Dixon get injured in the 110 meter hurdles and so adopted a cautious approach to the hurdles and discus, then had personal bests in the pole vault, when Jenner took the lead, and javelin. At that point, victory was virtually assured, and it remained to be seen by how much Jenner would improve the record. In the final event – the 1500 meters, which was seen live on national television – Jenner looked content to finish the long competition. Jenner sprinted the last lap, making up a 50-meter deficit and nearly catching the event favorite, Soviet Leonid Litvinenko, who was already well out of contention for the gold medal, and whose personal best had been eight seconds better than Jenner's personal best before the race. Jenner set a new personal best time and won the gold medal with a world-record score of 8,618 points.


title: Caitlyn Jenner

text: After the event, Jenner took an American flag from a spectator and carried it during the victory lap, starting a tradition that is now common among winning athletes. Abandoning vaulting poles in the stadium, with no intention of ever competing again, she stated that: "In 1972, I made the decision that I would go four years and totally dedicate myself to what I was doing, and then I would move on after it was over with. I went into that competition knowing that would be the last time I would ever do this." She explained, "It hurts every day when you practice hard. Plus, when this decathlon is over, I got the rest of my life to recuperate. Who cares how bad it hurts?"


title: Caitlyn Jenner

text: Jenner became a national hero and received the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States. Jenner was named the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year in 1976.


title: Caitlyn Jenner

text: Jenner's 1976 world and Olympic record was broken by four points by Daley Thompson at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. In 1985, Jenner's Olympic decathlon score was reevaluated against the IAAF's updated decathlon scoring table and was reported as 8,634 for comparative purposes. This converted mark stood as the American record until 1991, when it was surpassed by eventual gold medalist, and world record holder, Dan O'Brien of Dan & Dave fame. , Jenner was ranked twenty-sixth on the world all-time list and ninth on the American all-time list.


title: Caitlyn Jenner

text: Jenner was inducted into the United States National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1980, the Olympic Hall of Fame in 1986, the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame and the Connecticut Sports Hall of Fame in 1994, and the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame in 2010. For almost 20 years, San Jose City College hosted an annual Bruce Jenner Invitational competition.


title: Caitlyn Jenner

text: In the 1970s, Olympic athletes were considered to be amateurs and were not allowed to seek or accept payment for their positions as sports celebrities. During the Cold War in 1972, three major Olympic titles that had a long history of American successbasketball, the 100 meter dash, and decathlonwere won by Soviet athletes. All Soviet athletes were professionals, while the United States was limited to amateurs. Jenner became an American hero by returning the decathlon title to the United States. "After the Games were over," Jenner said, "I happened to be the right guy, at that right place, at that right time." Tony Kornheiser of "The New York Times" wrote that along with wife, Chrystie, Jenner was "so high up on the pedestal of American heroism, it would take a crane to get them down."


title: Caitlyn Jenner

text: After the expected Olympic success, Jenner planned to cash in on whatever celebrity status could follow a gold medal in the same mold as Johnny Weissmuller and Sonja Henie, who had become major movie stars following their gold medals. This would require forgoing any future Olympic competition. At the time, Jenner's agent George Wallach felt there was a four-year windowuntil the next Olympicsupon which to capitalize. Wallach reported that Jenner was being considered for the role of "Superman", which ultimately went to Christopher Reeve. "I really don't know how many offers we have", Wallach claimed. "There are still unopened telegrams back at the hotel and you just can't believe the offers that poured in during the first two days."


title: Caitlyn Jenner

text: Jenner appeared on the cover of the August 9, 1976, issue of "Sports Illustrated", the February 1979 issue of "Gentleman's Quarterly", and on the cover of "Playgirl" magazine. Jenner became a spokesperson for Tropicana, Minolta, and Buster Brown shoes. Jenner was also selected by the Kansas City Kings with the 139th overall pick in the seventh round of the 1977 NBA draft despite not having played basketball since high school. The publicity stunt was executed by team president/general manager Joe Axelson to mock the Kansas City Chiefs' yearly claims that they planned on selecting "the best athlete available" in the National Football League Draft. Jenner was presented with a jersey customized with the number 8618, the Olympic-gold-medal-winning score, but would never appear as an active player with the Kings.


title: Caitlyn Jenner

text: In 1977, Jenner became a spokesperson for Wheaties brand breakfast cereal and appeared in a photograph on the cover of the cereal box. After taking over from Olympic champion Bob Richards, Jenner was second in a succession of athletes featured as spokespersons for the brand. Mary Lou Retton succeeded Jenner in 1984.


title: Caitlyn Jenner

text: On November 22, 1977, Jenner went to San Francisco to refute charges filed by San Francisco district attorney Joseph Freitas that General Mills, the maker of Wheaties, had engaged in deceptive advertising in its campaign that featured Jenner. Jenner liked Wheaties and ate the breakfast cereal two or three times a week, which supported the advertising campaign's claims. Two days later, Freitas withdrew the suit, saying that it was "a case of overzealousness" on the part of his staff.


title: Caitlyn Jenner

text: When Jenner came out as a trans woman in 2015, General Mills stated that: "Bruce Jenner continues to be a respected member of Team Wheaties." After a negative response to this initial statement, Mike Siemienas, General Mills's brand media relations manager, clarified it by saying: "Bruce Jenner has been a respected member of Team Wheaties, and Caitlyn Jenner will continue to be."


title: Caitlyn Jenner

text: Jenner began television appearances in the mid-1970s, both as herself and in character roles. One of Jenner's first recurring television roles was as a co-host of the short-lived daytime talk and variety series "America Alive!" in 1978. The comedy "Can't Stop the Music" (1980) was Jenner's first film appearance. She starred in the made-for-TV movies "The Golden Moment: An Olympic Love Story" (1980) and "Grambling's White Tiger" (1981). During the 1981–1982 season, Jenner became a semi-regular cast member in the police series "CHiPs", guest-starring as Officer Steve McLeish for six episodes, substituting for star Erik Estrada, who was locked in a contract dispute with NBC and MGM. Jenner also appeared in an episode of the sitcom "Silver Spoons" called "Trouble with Words", wherein her personal issues with dyslexia were revealed in a storyline about a recurring teenage character with the same problem.


title: Caitlyn Jenner

text: Jenner appeared in the series "Learn to Read" and in the video games "Olympic Decathlon" (1981) and "Bruce Jenner's World Class Decathlon" (1996). The "hero shot", the finish of the final event of the 1976 Olympic decathlon, and the Wheaties cover, were parodied by John Belushi on "Saturday Night Live", endorsing "Little Chocolate Donuts". In 1989, Jenner played herself in the comedy short "Dirty Tennis" written by James Van Patten.


title: Caitlyn Jenner

text: Jenner has appeared in a variety of game shows and reality television programs, including starring with Grits Gresham in an episode of "The American Sportsman". In the early 1990s, Jenner was the host of an infomercial for a stair-climbing exercise machine called the Stair Climber Plus.


title: Caitlyn Jenner

text: In January 2002, Jenner participated in an episode of the American series "The Weakest Link", featuring Olympic athletes. In February and March 2003, Jenner was part of the cast of the American series "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!". She made a cameo appearance in a season-three episode of "The Apprentice", which aired in May 2005. She also partnered with Tai Babilonia for "Skating with Celebrities" in a series that aired JanuaryMarch 2006 (they were eliminated during the fifth of seven episodes), served as a guest judge on "Pet Star" on Animal Planet. In November 2010, a photograph of Jenner was shown in a janitor's resume in an episode of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia".


title: Caitlyn Jenner

text: Additional television and talk show appearances by Jenner include: Nickelodeon's made-for-TV film "" as well as episodes of "Murder, She Wrote", the "Lingo" Olympic Winners episode, and talk shows such as "Hannity" and season1, episode21 of "The Bonnie Hunt Show" in 2008.


title: Caitlyn Jenner

text: Since late 2007, Jenner has starred in the E! reality series "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" along with wife Kris Jenner, stepchildren Kourtney, Kimberley, Khloé, and Rob Kardashian (from Kris's marriage to attorney Robert Kardashian), and daughters Kylie and Kendall for 160 episodes.


title: Caitlyn Jenner

text: In 2011, Jenner appeared in the Adam Sandler comedy "Jack and Jill" in a scene with Al Pacino as an actor in a play. Like "Can't Stop the Music", the film won the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Picture and swept every Razzie category.


title: Caitlyn Jenner

text: In September 2016, Jenner appeared as herself on the Amazon Prime TV series "Transparent" in a dream sequence during the season three episode "To Sardines and Back".