title: Galician language

text: There are two different ways of addressing people: one is the most usual informal pronoun "ti" for the second person singular and "vos" for the second person plural. There are formal ways of addressing directly people "vostede" for the singular and "vostedes" for the plural.


title: Galician language

text: The last review of the official grammar has established that, if there is no risk of confusion, the exclamation and question marks will appear only at the end of the sentence, thus deprecating the general use of Spanish-like inverted question and exclamation marks.


title: Galician language

text: The verb is inflected. There are regular and irregular verbs in the language. All verbs will appear listed by means of their infinitive form in dictionaries, and there are three typical endings for verbs "-ar / -er / -ir".


title: Galician language

text: The current official Galician orthography is guided by the "Normas ortográficas e morfolóxicas do Idioma Galego" (NOMIGa), first introduced in 1982, by the Royal Galician Academy (RAG), based on a report by the Instituto da Lingua Galega (ILG). These norms were not accepted by some sectors desiring a norm closer to modern Portuguese (see reintegrationism). In July 2003, the Royal Galician Academy modified the language normative to admit and promote some archaic Galician-Portuguese forms conserved in modern Portuguese, merging the NOMIG and the main proposals of the moderate sectors of reintegrationism; the resulting orthography is used by the vast majority of media, cultural production and virtually all official matters including education.


title: Galician language

text: There still exists a reintegrationist movement that opts for the use of writing systems that range from adapted to whole Portuguese orthography.


title: Galician language

text: Syllabic stress is significant in Galician. One syllable in each word receives primary stress. The syllable receiving the primary stress can generally be identified by the spelling of the word according to the language's rules of orthography. In cases where the stress is not at the default location indicated by the spelling, an acute accent (´) is placed over the main vowel of the stressed syllable, as in "paspallás" ('quail'), "móbil" ('mobile'), and "cárcere" ('jail', 'gaol').


title: Galician language

text: The acute accent has some other functions. Sometimes it shows that adjacent vowels represent separate syllables rather than a diphthong, as in "aínda" ('yet'). Acute accents are written on top of upper- as well as lower-case letters: "Óscar". An acute accent may also be used to distinguish between two words that are otherwise homonyms, as in the case of "cómpre" ('it is necessary') and "compre" ('to buy').


title: Yogi Bear

text: Yogi Bear is an anthropomorphic animal character who has appeared in numerous comic books, animated television shows and films. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in "The Huckleberry Hound Show".


title: Yogi Bear

text: Yogi Bear was the first breakout character in animated television; he was created by Hanna-Barbera and was eventually more popular than ostensible star Huckleberry Hound. In January 1961, he was given his own show, "The Yogi Bear Show", sponsored by Kellogg's, which included the segments "Snagglepuss" and "Yakky Doodle". "Hokey Wolf" replaced his segment on "The Huckleberry Hound Show". A musical animated feature film, "Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!", was released in 1964.


title: Yogi Bear

text: Yogi was one of the several Hanna-Barbera characters to have a collar. This allowed animators to keep his body relatively static, redrawing only his head in each frame when he spokeone of the ways Hanna-Barbera cut costs, reducing the number of drawings needed for a seven-minute cartoon from around 14,000 to around 2,000.


title: Yogi Bear

text: Like many Hanna-Barbera characters, Yogi's personality and mannerisms were based on a popular celebrity of the time. Art Carney's Ed Norton character on "The Honeymooners" was said to be Yogi's inspiration; his voice mannerisms broadly mimic Carney as Norton. Carney, in turn, received influence from the Borscht Belt and comedians of vaudeville.


title: Yogi Bear

text: Yogi's name was similar to that of contemporary baseball star Yogi Berra, who was known for his amusing quotes, such as "half the lies they tell about me aren't true." Berra sued Hanna-Barbera for defamation, but their management claimed the similarity was just coincidence. Berra withdrew his suit, but the defense was considered implausible. At the time Yogi Bear first hit TV screens, Yogi Berra was a household name. Journalist Walter Brasch once wrote that "whether coincidence or not, it is difficult to find anyone else in the [animation] industry who believes it."


title: Yogi Bear

text: The plot of most of Yogi's cartoons centered on his antics in the fictional Jellystone Park, a variant of the real Yellowstone National Park. Yogi, accompanied by his constant companion Boo-Boo Bear, would often try to steal picnic baskets from campers in the park, much to the displeasure of Park Ranger Smith. Yogi's girlfriend, Cindy Bear, sometimes appeared and usually disapproved of Yogi's antics.


title: Yogi Bear

text: Besides often speaking in rhyme, Yogi Bear had a number of catchphrases, including his famous chant of excitement and greeting ("Hey, Hey, Hey"), his pet name for picnic baskets ("pic-a-nic baskets"), and his favorite self-promotion ("I'm smarter than the av-er-age bear!"), although he often overestimates his own cleverness. Another characteristic of Yogi was his deep and silly voice. He often greets the ranger with a cordial, "Hello, Mr. Ranger, sir!" and "Hey there, Boo Boo!" as his preferred greeting to his sidekick, Boo Boo. Yogi would also often use puns in his speech and had a habit of pronouncing large words with a long vocal flourish.


title: Yogi Bear

text: From the time of the character's debut until 1988, Yogi was voiced by voice actor Daws Butler. Butler died in 1988; his last performance as Yogi was in the television film "Yogi and the Invasion of the Space Bears".


title: Yogi Bear

text: In 1983, a Yogi Bear balloon made its first appearance in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, becoming the final balloon that year. That same year, he appeared on a float named "A Hanna-Barbera Christmas" alongside many other Hanna-Barbera characters, as they cleaned up the streets of Broadway. The performance was bookended with animated segments featuring Yogi and Boo-Boo, voiced by Mel Blanc and Butler, respectively.


title: Yogi Bear

text: After Butler's death in 1988, Greg Burson stepped in to perform the role; Butler had taught Burson personally how to voice Yogi as well as his other characters. Worsening alcoholism and a legal incident led to Burson's firing in 2004 and eventually his death in 2008.


title: Yogi Bear

text: Yogi's current voice actor is Jeff Bergman. Bergman and Billy West also performed the character throughout the 1990s and early to mid-2000s for various Cartoon Network and Boomerang commercials and bumpers.


title: Yogi Bear

text: Australian voice actor, animation historian and impressionist Keith Scott provided Yogi's voice in a Pauls commercial and the live show "Hanna-Barbera Gala Celebrity Night" at the Wonderland Sydney amusement park in Australia, where Yogi and other Hanna-Barbera characters including Huckleberry Hound, Scooby-Doo, George Jetson, Fred Flintstone, Barney Rubble, Wilma Flintstone and Betty Rubble make guest appearances.


title: Yogi Bear

text: In the animated stop motion sketch comedy show "Robot Chicken", Dan Milano and Seth Green (creator of the show) voiced Yogi Bear.


title: Yogi Bear

text: Scott Innes performed the voice of Yogi, along with Boo-Boo, in "At Picnic", "Forest", and "Honey Lesson".


title: Yogi Bear

text: A live-action/computer-animated film titled "Yogi Bear" was released by Warner Bros. in December 2010. The movie featured Dan Aykroyd as the voice of Yogi Bear. The film, adapting the television series, follows the adventures of Yogi Bear and his pal Boo-Boo in Jellystone Park, as they team up with Ranger Smith to save Jellystone Park from being shut down and logged.


title: Yogi Bear

text: "Yogi" by The Ivy Three (1960), sung in a voice mimicking Yogi Bear. The song reached no.8 on the "Billboard" Hot100.


title: Yogi Bear

text: In 1999, animator John Kricfalusi's Spümcø company created and directed two Yogi cartoons, "A Day in the Life of Ranger Smith" and "Boo Boo Runs Wild". Both shorts aired that year on the Cartoon Network as part of a Yogi Bear marathon.


title: Yogi Bear

text: In 2002, Spümcø created another Boo Boo cartoon, "Boo Boo and the Man", which was made with Macromedia Flash and released on Cartoon Network's website.


title: Yogi Bear

text: A music video (known as a "Cartoon Groovie") for Yogi Bear used to air on Cartoon Network and Boomerang. It showcases clips of Yogi and Boo Boo stealing picnic baskets and annoying Ranger Smith.


title: Yogi Bear

text: "Yogi Bear" aired on Cartoon Network from 1992 to 2004 and its sister channel, Boomerang until 2014. Additionally, Nickelodeon re-aired "The Yogi Bear Show", "Yogi's Gang", and "Galaxy Goof-Ups" under the umbrella title "Nickelodeon's Most Wanted: Yogi Bear" throughout the early 1990s.


title: Yogi Bear

text: In the UK it aired on Cartoon Network from 1993 to 2001, CN TOO from 2006 to 2010 and Boomerang from 2000 to 2002.


title: Yogi Bear

text: In the Hanna-Barbera "Personal Favorites" video, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera picked their favorite Yogi Bear episodes, including the very first one, "Yogi Bear's Big Break", and Yogi's meeting some storybook friends: The Three Little Pigs, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Little Red Riding Hood.


title: Yogi Bear

text: The "Yogi Bear" comic strip began February 5, 1961. Created by Gene Hazelton and distributed by the McNaught Syndicate, it ran from 1961 to 1988.


title: Yogi Bear

text: Hanna-Barbera has also produced giveaway instructional Yogi Bear comics on first aid ("Creative First Aid: Yogi's Bear Facts" (1986)) and earthquake preparedness ("Yogi, the Be-Prepared Bear: Earthquake Preparedness for Children" (1984) and "Yogi's Bear Facts: Earthquake Preparedness" (1988)). These were issued in connection with Yogi Bear being used as the mascot for Earthquake Preparedness Month in California, an annual campaign that ran each April for over ten years and also utilized Yogi in earthquake preparedness posters, advertisements, a cartoon, and other promotions including a special "Quakey Shakey Van" exhibit.


title: Brandon Novak

text: Brandon Thomas Novak (born December 10, 1978) is an American motivational speaker, author, and former professional skateboarder and "CKY crew" member. He also had appearances in the "Viva La Bam" reality comedy series and the "Jackass" films.


title: Brandon Novak

text: Novak started skateboarding at 7 years old and was soon discovered by Tony Hawk. He was the first skateboarder in the world to be sponsored by Gatorade when he was 14 years old and filmed commercials with Michael Jordan. At this same time, he was a professional skateboarder on the Powell Peralta Team, traveling the country with Bucky Lasek, Bam Margera, Tony Hawk, and others. His substance abuse led to his quitting the team after being discovered by Mike Vallely and Hawk presented him with the option to quit or attend rehab which he chose to quit.


title: Brandon Novak

text: Upon achieving sobriety in 2015, Novak returned to skateboarding. In 2020, he finally achieved his dream of creating a pro-deck with The Heart Supply (ran by CEO and Founder of Element, Johnny Schillereff). They released the Brandon Novak Heart Supply collection in June 2020.


title: Brandon Novak

text: In July 2021, Novak and fellow professional skateboarder Joey Jett released a short film of their journey to Barcelona titled "The Awakening" showcasing their skateboarding and journey.


title: Brandon Novak

text: Novak makes appearances in the "CKY" videos, Bam Margera's films "" and "Minghags" as well as "Viva La Bam", "Jackass Number Two", "Jackass 2.5", "Jackass 3D", "Jackass 3.5", "Bam's Unholy Union", and "Bam's Bad Ass Game Show". In "Haggard", Novak plays a friendly drug dealer named Dooli, which was the real nickname of Novak's dealer in northwest Baltimore.


title: Brandon Novak

text: He appeared regularly on the SIRIUS Satellite Radio show "Radio Bam". One notable radio appearance was on December 26, 2005, where Margera gave Novak $500 to hire two sex workers as a Christmas gift. As Novak was having sex with the women live on air in the studio, SIRIUS Satellite Radio cut off the show. This was significant as it was the first time SIRIUS had ever censored a program before.


title: Brandon Novak

text: Also in 2005, Novak arrived on the red carpet at the MTV VMAs wearing nothing except a computer keyboard. The night prior he had brought back girls to his hotel room and sometime in the night had thrown his clothes off the balcony. Having no clothes for the VMA’s, he decided on a keyboard.


title: Brandon Novak

text: In 2008, Novak appeared in "Bam Margera Presents: Where the#$&% Is Santa?", which featured Novak and several other cast members trying to find Santa Claus. That same year, Novak appeared in a pornographic film by Gina Lynn called "The Fantasstic Whores 4" with Margera while Margera had a "prominent, non-sex role".


title: Brandon Novak

text: In 2010, Novak appeared in "Jackass 3D" in multiple scenes. Novak also had a more prominent role in the follow-up film "Jackass 3.5", which was released in 2011.


title: Brandon Novak

text: 2013-2014 Novak traveled around the world as the opening act for rock and roll band Fuckface Unstoppable. Performing as “Pill” Collins, a spoof of Phil Collins, he would sing “In The Air Tonight” to open the shows. He would be heavily intoxicated, known for coming out naked and spraying the crowd with wine.


title: Brandon Novak

text: He has also been featured on Howard Stern's Most Outrageous Moments for his appearance in a 2008 episode where he stripped naked and licked Richard Christy's anus for $280.


title: Brandon Novak

text: Novak, along with co-author and CKY filmographer Joe Frantz, authored his first book, titled "Dreamseller", which is based on his life and experiences with heroin in Baltimore. The book was published on October 18, 2008. A paperback version of the book was released exactly a year after its original publishing on October 18, 2009.


title: Brandon Novak

text: A movie, also to be titled "Dreamseller", was supposed to be in production in early 2007, but was stopped when Novak began using heroin again. On the December 17, 2007 episode of Radio Bam, it was announced that the movie may be completed in the near future with Bam Margera starring as Novak in the film.


title: Brandon Novak

text: In 2015, the idea of a movie was again floated, but Novak claimed that to secure funding they would have to approve Justin Bieber playing Novak, which they felt wasn't the right direction. Production ceased again.


title: Brandon Novak

text: In 2018, Novak and Frantz released a graphic novel titled: “The Brandon Novak Chronicles: The Shocking True Addiction Stories of a Counter-Culture Icon.”


title: Brandon Novak

text: Novak released a second book titled "The Streets of Baltimore" in 2020 (marking the five-year anniversary of his sobriety) which chronicles more of his struggle with addiction.


title: Brandon Novak

text: Before achieving sobriety in 2015, Novak struggled for over 20 years with addictions to heroin, cocaine, pain pills, benzodiazepines, and alcohol. He spent his 19th, 20th, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 27th, 28th, 29th, 32nd, 33rd, 34th, and 35th birthdays in a jail or treatment center.


title: Brandon Novak

text: When Novak was 14, he was a professional skateboarder on the Powell Peralta Team, traveling the country with Bucky Lasek, Bam Margera, Tony Hawk, and others. Despite his meteoric rise to success, his drug use was discovered by Mike Vallely and Tony Hawk presented him with the choice to leave the team or attend rehab for his "psychoactive substance abuse"; he elected to leave the team. Over the next 20 years, he went to rehab 13 times, was frequently arrested, overdosed over 4 times, stole from his friends and family, and prostituted himself to pay for drugs.


title: Brandon Novak

text: Novak was absent from the January 23, 2006 episode of "Radio Bam" on SIRIUS Satellite Radio while he attended rehab for addiction to pills. On February 26, 2007, Novak admitted on Radio Bam that while he had quit using heroin, he still regularly abused cocaine and pain medication and frequently drank alcohol. While it was not mentioned on the radio show, Novak broke both ankles the day before Margera's wedding while skating with Tony Hawk and Margera during filming for "Bam's Unholy Union" on February 2, 2007. He was shown holding a bottle of prescription pain killers afterwards. Margera stated on "Radio Bam" that Novak relapsed in March 2007 and was seeking treatment in a rehabilitation clinic. It is unclear if this incident led to his relapse, or if the relapse was already occurring by this time.


title: Brandon Novak

text: Margera announced on the April 3, 2007 episode of Radio Bam that Novak had a relapse with his addiction to heroin and was back in rehab. On the July 30, 2007 episode of Radio Bam, Margera and Chad I Ginsburg were discussing the topic of heroin and announced that Novak's addiction was "the worst [Bam] had ever seen" and that Novak was "just killing himself now". He was kicked out of rehab in Scranton, Pennsylvania, after heroin pills were found in his bag. Novak claimed that the pills were "planted" on him. On a Radio Bam episode in November, Novak stated that he had attempted suicide three weeks before the radio show, as a result of a heroin binge, but survived it.


title: Brandon Novak

text: On the December 17, 2007 episode of Radio Bam, Novak was asked to leave Margera's house again when he lied on air about not having pills and being clean. He had recently been released from a psychiatric ward he had been held in for 12 days because of suicidal tendencies and drug use. The crew found multiple bars of Xanax on Novak, which he claimed had been prescribed to him. Joe Frantz and Margera exiled Novak for a period of time as a result. On the March 3, 2008 episode of Radio Bam, Novak stated that he was 33 days clean and would appear in Bam's new MTV show.


title: Brandon Novak

text: In March 2009, Frantz had a phone conversation with Novak about his attempted suicide and mental health issues that resulted in him being institutionalized. On March 9, 2009 Novak appeared on Radio Bam and discussed getting out of the mental institution, his drug use, and the delusions that led to the problems.


title: Brandon Novak

text: In a 2006 episode of "Loveline" with Dr. Drew, lead vocalist of HIM, Ville Valo confirmed their song "Killing Loneliness" was inspired by Novak who blamed his heroin addiction on a need to, "kill the loneliness."


title: Brandon Novak

text: Bam Margera's band Fuckface Unstoppable produced two songs heavily featuring Novak. "Moonshine", where in the chorus Margera sings about Novak and the music video begins with a naked Novak throwing a fit outside of a gas station.


title: Brandon Novak

text: In 2013, Margera also developed the song "Till the Wheels Fal Alf". The music video opens with Novak intoxicated on the phone and ends with a naked Novak being dragged out of a building. The song contains lyrics alluding to Novak's addiction to pills.


title: Brandon Novak

text: In 2017, the band Black Haze released a song titled "Dreamseller", as an ode to Novak's nickname. The music video contains videos of Novak pre-sobriety.


title: Brandon Novak

text: Prior to achieving sobriety, Novak had a long history in and out of the legal system. Novak has been charged over 30 times with charges ranging from burglary to possession over the course of 1997-2014.


title: Brandon Novak

text: On July 7, 2010, Novak was arrested at Chester County Hospital for an outstanding warrant after being admitted to the hospital for breaking several bones filming a scene for "Jackass 3D". He was charged with forging a prescription after he tried to pass a fake prescription for Xanax at a Walgreens in Media, Pennsylvania.


title: Brandon Novak

text: On November 3, 2010, Novak was sentenced to 11–23 months. His initial sentence called for the first 30 weeks, to be spent as weekend confinement at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility in Thornton, Pennsylvania. After his weekends were completed, Novak would spend six months on house arrest until eligible for release.


title: Brandon Novak

text: In early February 2011, Novak claimed on "Radio Bam" that he had used his cellmate's urine to pass a drug test and mentioned the facility by name. The episode was intercepted by the staff at the correctional facility, and on February 11, 2011, the judge revoked Novak's weekend sentence and ordered him to be jailed for 10 months. Novak was released from the jail on December 30, 2011. He was then on parole for one year and was on probation until the end of 2013, during which time he had to stay clean of illegal substances.


title: Brandon Novak

text: In a 2014 interview, Bam Margera details how Novak was featured on World's Dumbest Criminals following a humorous arrest where Novak breaks into a gas station during a blizzard, leaves with the stolen goods, then realizing he has no where to go decides to return to the gas station and sleep. He awakes to the police questioning him.


title: Brandon Novak

text: A feud between Novak and childhood best friend Bam Margera began in 2019 as a result of Margera's continued substance abuse problems. Margera has routinely taken to Instagram to attack Novak. In early 2021, Margera shared a series of text messages between himself and Novak with him saying to Novak, "Your not signing a book on my turf till you admit who you are. You can't just keep coming around my way. Dont you reply to your best friend?" He additionally went on Instagram Live while intoxicated, claiming his best friend and "life partner" Brandon Novak promised him a new car and Margera felt betrayed by him. In further posts, alluding to the financial support he provided Novak for rehab attempts, he says, "If you fucking faggots don't think I fixed Novak then tell that to the 150,000.00. I have spent on fixing him! Fuckers."


title: Brandon Novak

text: In a 2019 interview, Novak addresses the personal attacks from Margera, "You see Bam's public tirades and the fact that he focused a lot of his attention and his anger on me for a little while.. Did it hurt? Absolutely. Was I angry? Absolutely. Did I retaliate? Definitely not. The reality is why me, why me, it's like why the fuck not me? As many times as I hurt him, I took advantage of him, I lied to him, I stole from him, he always lent a hand. And now what better person to understand where he's at than me? There's nothing he could say that would offend me or make me abandon our friendship. I won't and I'll see this through with him till the very end, good, bad, or indifferent."


title: Brandon Novak

text: After a string of relapses and homelessness, Novak entered Today, Inc. in Langhorne, Pennsylvania and successfully completed treatment. He has been clean and sober since May 25, 2015. He now serves as a Certified Intervention Professional and serves as a motivational speaker.


title: Brandon Novak

text: Brandon tours the nation sharing his story of recovery and message of hope, seeking to help suffering addicts. He has appeared on broadcasts nationally. In all media appearances he encourages anyone who is struggling to reach out to him for help directly. He even provides his personal cellphone number to audiences for anyone who needs help.


title: Brandon Novak

text: Brandon serves as the keynote speaker for the DEA’s Youth Summit events, bringing drug awareness and education to high schools and organizations across the nation.


title: Brandon Novak

text: He starred in “Facing Addiction in America,” a television special featuring celebrities who had been affected by addiction. The special was aired on BET, Comedy Central, CMT, Logo, MTV, MTV2, MTV Classic, MTV Live, Spike, TV Land, and VH1.


title: Brandon Novak

text: TENGA Productions produced a video with Brandon telling his story that went viral on YouTube. It was shown in more than 40 US markets and garnered more than 4.5 million views inspiring countless individuals to reach out for help.


title: Brandon Novak

text: Brandon, alongside George Evagelou, founded Novak's House, a sober home in Delaware for young men in recovery. As of 2022, there are 3 Novak's Houses located in Wilmington, DE.


title: Brandon Novak

text: In February 2022, Brandon, alongside Manager Allison Rush and Julie Johnson, held the first-ever Novak's House gala in Boca Raton, FL to raise money for sober living scholarships. The event raised nearly $70,000 and was featured on WPTV-TV, Yahoo! Sports and ESPN.


title: Brandon Novak

text: Additionally in 2022, Brandon and Julie partnered with the Mountain Dew Skate Tour and Punk Rock and Paintbrushes to sponsor an art show and also raise money for Novak's House scholarships through a VIP event. Brandon and Julie continued their support for Punk Rock and Paintbrushes artists and scholarships by sponsoring a show at Tony Hawk’s Weekend Jam in May 2022.


title: Presence (album)

text: Presence is the seventh studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released by Swan Song Records on 31 March 1976. While the record was a commercial success, reaching the top of both the British and American album charts, and achieving a triple-platinum certification in the United States, it received mixed reviews from critics and was the lowest-selling studio album by the band while they were still active.


title: Presence (album)

text: The album was written and recorded in the last months of 1975, during a difficult time in the band's history. Singer Robert Plant was recuperating from serious injuries he had sustained earlier that year in a car accident; this led to tours being cancelled and the band booking studio time to record "Presence" instead. The entire album was completed in a few weeks, with guitarist and producer Jimmy Page putting in several long shifts to complete recording and mixing. The title came from the strong presence the group felt as they worked together. The LP's artwork from Hipgnosis featured several photographs focused on a mysterious black object, called "The Object".


title: Presence (album)

text: "Presence" is dominated by compositions by Page and Plant, with only one track credited to the entire group; unlike other Zeppelin albums, it features no keyboards and little acoustic guitar. Because Plant was still recuperating, the band could not tour to capitalise on the release, and only two tracks, including the ten-minute opener "Achilles Last Stand", were performed live. However, the album has been re-appraised in retrospective reviews for its hard rock dynamics and simplicity compared to the group's other work.


title: Presence (album)

text: After touring in support of their previous album, "Physical Graffiti", released in early 1975, Led Zeppelin took a brief break from touring that summer, intending to start a major US tour on 23 August. Critics had said they were at the height of their popularity at this time. However, singer Robert Plant sustained serious injuries from a car accident on the Greek island of Rhodes on 4 August, which forced the band to cancel the tour and reschedule their activities.


title: Presence (album)

text: Because of their status as tax exiles, Plant was forced to recuperate abroad, initially in Jersey in the Channel Islands, then in Malibu, California, and wrote several sets of lyrics that reflected on his personal situation and wondering about the future. Guitarist Jimmy Page joined him in Malibu in September and the pair began to think about plans to make an album instead. The two prepared enough material to be able to present to the rest of the band. The other two members, drummer John Bonham and bassist John Paul Jones, joined them at Hollywood's SIR Studio where they rehearsed the material throughout October 1975.


title: Presence (album)

text: Once they had worked out arrangements, the group were eager to record. Page favoured going to Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany, which he felt had state-of-the-art recording facilities. Plant was still recovering from the accident during recording and sang his vocals in a wheelchair, which led to Page assuming most of the responsibilities at the sessions. The album was recorded and mixed with longtime group associate and engineer Keith Harwood, and completed in just eighteen days, with the final mixes finished on 27 November. This was the fastest recording turnaround time achieved by the band since their debut album.


title: Presence (album)

text: The rushed recording sessions were in part a result of Led Zeppelin having booked the studio immediately prior to the Rolling Stones, who were shortly to record songs for their album "Black and Blue" (released, like "Presence", in the spring of 1976). Page negotiated with the Stones to borrow two days from their recording session time, during which he completed all the guitar overdubs in one lengthy session. Page and Harwood then worked on the mixes virtually non-stop until they fell asleep; whoever woke up first went back to the desk to carry on. Page later stated he worked around 18–20 hours every day during the sessions.


title: Presence (album)

text: The recording sessions for "Presence" were also particularly challenging for Plant. The studio was in a basement of an old hotel, and the singer felt claustrophobic. He also experienced physical difficulties as a result of his car accident, and missed his family. He later said he was upset about Page and manager Peter Grant booking the "Presence" sessions and began to re-evaluate the priorities in his life.


title: Presence (album)

text: Because the album was completed one day before the American holiday of Thanksgiving, Plant suggested to the record company the album should be called "Thanksgiving". This idea was quickly dropped in favour of a title that was thought would represent the powerful force and presence that the band members felt surrounded the group.


title: Presence (album)

text: Six of the seven songs on the album are Page and Plant compositions; the remaining song, "Royal Orleans", is credited to all four band members. This is because the majority of the songs were formulated at Malibu, where Page (but not Bonham and Jones) had initially joined a recuperating Plant. With Plant at less than full fitness, Page took responsibility for the album's completion, and his playing dominates the album's tracks.


title: Presence (album)

text: Both Page and Plant had planned this album's recording session as a return to hard rock, much like their debut album, except at a new level of complexity. It marked a change in the Led Zeppelin sound towards more straightforward, guitar-based jams. Whereas their previous albums up to and including the previous year's "Physical Graffiti" contain electric hard rock anthems balanced with acoustic ballads and intricate arrangements, "Presence" was seen to include more simplified riffs, and is Led Zeppelin's only studio album that features no keyboards, and with the exception of a rhythm track on "Candy Store Rock", no acoustic guitar. The changed stylistic emphasis on this album was a direct result of the troubled circumstances experienced by the band around the time of its recording. Page later said the music came from this spontaneity. Plant later described it as "a cry of survival" and speculated the group would not make another album like it.


title: Presence (album)

text: The ten-minute opening song, "Achilles Last Stand", was first recorded on 12 November, when the basic backing track was laid down. Jones played an Alembic 8 string bass on the track, giving it a distinctive tone. Plant wrote the lyrics based on travelling across Africa in mid-1975 with Page. Page added six guitars in the marathon overdubbing session at the end of the recording period.


title: Presence (album)

text: "For Your Life" was mostly arranged in the studio. Page played a Fender Stratocaster on the track. "Royal Orleans" was written about life on the road; the title refers to the Royal Orleans Hotel in New Orleans while the lyrics refer to soul singer Barry White. It was the only track on the album credited to the entire band.


title: Presence (album)

text: "Nobody's Fault but Mine", though credited to Page and Plant, is a cover of on an old Blind Willie Johnson blues song called "It's Nobody's Fault but Mine", first recorded in 1928 and also covered by Nina Simone in 1969. The guitar, melody and lyrics come from the Blind Willie Johnson song. "Candy Store Rock" was inspired by 1950s rock 'n' roll. "Hots On For Nowhere" was written about Plant's time in Malibu, while Page played the Stratocaster on the track. The closing number, "Tea For One", was a slow blues written by Plant about the problems he faced being separated from his family, and was an attempt to update their earlier "Since I've Been Loving You" from "Led Zeppelin III".


title: Presence (album)

text: In contrast to earlier albums that contained several tracks that the band chose to play live at Led Zeppelin concerts, only two tracks from "Presence" were played in full on stage while the band was active. "Achilles Last Stand" and "Nobody's Fault but Mine" were added to the setlist for the 1977 tour of the United States and stayed on it through the band's final concerts in 1980. "Tea For One" was performed live on the Page and Plant tour of Japan in 1996, where the main group was backed by an orchestra. "For Your Life" was played in full by Led Zeppelin for the first (and only) time at the Ahmet Ertegün Tribute Concert on 10 December 2007.


title: Presence (album)

text: The cover and inside sleeve, created by Hipgnosis with George Hardie, features images of people interacting with a black obelisk-shaped object. Inside the sleeve, the item is referred to simply as "The Object". It was intended to represent Zeppelin's "force and presence". Hipgnosis co-founder Storm Thorgerson wrote that the obelisk represented the power of Led Zeppelin, saying they were "so powerful, they didn't need to be there". Both Page and Plant have said that the presence of the object in the photographs made people stop and think about what is real, which reflected the music.


title: Presence (album)

text: The background in the cover photograph is an artificial marina, installed in London's Earl's Court arena for the annual Boat Show, in the winter of 1974–75. The band played a series of concerts at this venue in May 1975, a few months after the boat show. The inner sleeve photographs came from various archive stock pictures, and was designed to resemble a feature in "National Geographic". The girl on the back cover photo was Samantha Gates, and she had also appeared (with her brother Stefan) on the cover of "Houses of the Holy". Hipgnosis and Hardie were nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Album Package in 1977.


title: Presence (album)

text: The album was released on 31 March 1976, having been delayed by the completion of the album sleeve. In Britain it attained one of the highest ever advance orders, shipping gold on the day of release. It entered at and peaked the following week at on the US "Billboard" Pop Albums chart. However, this album is the lowest selling of their careers as it was overshadowed by the release of the band's movie and soundtrack "The Song Remains the Same". "Candy Store Rock" was released as a single in the US, but it failed to chart.


title: Presence (album)

text: In a contemporary review for "Rolling Stone", Stephen Davis said "Presence" established Led Zeppelin as the premier heavy metal act and featured some exceptional rock music, highlighting the "clean and purifying" guitar riffs. In spite of a few dull blues rock songs, the album was "another monster in what by now is a continuing tradition of battles won by this band of survivors", in Davis' opinion. Robert Christgau was less enthusiastic in "The Village Voice", citing "Hots on for Nowhere" as a "commanding cut" while finding much of the rest consistent but unnecessary in comparison with earlier recordings.


title: Presence (album)

text: Neil McCormick of "The Daily Telegraph" claimed it was "Zeppelin at their most blunted", awarding it two stars out of five. In a retrospective review, a "Q" critic who gave the album three out of five stars wrote, ""Presence" sounds as rushed as it was."


title: Presence (album)

text: According to Dave Lewis, "The direct, hard-hitting nature of the seven recordings failed to connect with a fan base more accustomed to the diversity and experimental edge of their previous work. Page later acknowledged that, because the album conveys a sense of urgency resulting from the troubled circumstances in which it was recorded, "it's not an easy album for a lot of people to access ... [I]t's not an easy album for a lot of people to listen to." Lewis nonetheless believed that "Presence" was underrated, as its music "packs a considerable punch", highlighting Page's playing and the production on the album. Fellow journalist Mick Wall said it "pulled Led Zeppelin back from the brink of crisis".


title: Presence (album)

text: A remastered version of "Presence", along with "In Through the Out Door" and "Coda" were reissued on 31 July 2015. The reissue comes in six formats, including CD, vinyl and digital download. The deluxe and super deluxe editions feature bonus material containing alternative takes and one previously unreleased instrumental, "10 Ribs & All/Carrot Pod Pod". The reissue was released with an altered colour version of the original album's artwork as the bonus disc's cover.


title: Presence (album)

text: The reissue received generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 77, based on eight reviews. "Pitchfork" wrote, "It might be their weakest album, but "Presence" is among the most special; none of these songs sound like they could have come from another record." "Uncut" said the original album is grand "in lyric form and musical scale", while "the discs of 'companion audio,' often short on revelation, here reveal a moment of sheer anomaly. '10 Ribs & All/Carrot Pod Pod (Pod)' is whatever that title may mean, everything the LP is not: a tender piano piece." "PopMatters" was less impressed, saying "like the rest of the re-releases, the bonus material leaves too much to be desired", but concluded, "despite its weak second half, "Presence" is too good of an album to be dismissed."


title: Presence (album)

text: Ddetails are taken from the original UK and US Swan Song albums; all tracks are credited to Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, except where noted.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: The free-market economy of Sri Lanka was worth $84 billion by nominal gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019 and $296.959 billion by purchasing power parity (PPP). The country had experienced an annual growth of 6.4 percent from 2003 to 2012, well above its regional peers. This growth was driven by the growth of non-tradable sectors, which the World Bank warned to be both unsustainable and unequitable. Growth has slowed since then. In 2019 with an income per capita of 13,620 PPP Dollars or 3,852 (2019) nominal US dollars, Sri Lanka was re-classified as a lower middle income nation by the World Bank from a previous upper middle income status.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: Sri Lanka has met the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of halving extreme poverty and is on track to meet most of the other MDGs, outperforming other South Asian countries. Sri Lanka's poverty headcount index was 4.1% by 2016. Since the end of the three-decade-long Sri Lankan Civil War, Sri Lanka has begun focusing on long-term strategic and structural development challenges. It strives to transition to an upper middle-income country. Sri Lanka also faces challenges in social inclusion, governance and sustainability.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: Services accounted for 58.2% of Sri Lanka's economy in 2019 up from 54.6% in 2010, industry 27.4% up from 26.4% a decade earlier and agriculture 7.4%. Though there is a competitive export agricultural sector, technological advances have been slow to enter the protected domestic sector. Sri Lanka is the largest solid and industrial tyres manufacturing centre in the world and has an apparel sector which is moving up the value chain. But rising trade protection over the past decade has also caused concern over the resurgence of inward looking policies.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: In services, ports and airports are helping the country's newfound status as a shipping and aviation hub. Port of Colombo is the largest transshipment hub in South Asia. There is a growing software and information technology sector, which is competitive and is open to global competition. Tourism is a fast expanding area. Lonely Planet named Sri Lanka the best destination to visit in 2019 and Travel+Leisure the best island. Sri Lanka's top export destinations are the United States, United Kingdom and India. China, India and the UAE are the main import partners.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, lingering concerns over Sri Lanka's slowing growth, money printing and government debt has spilled over into a series of sovereign rating downgrades. Import controls and import substitution have intensified after heightened monetary instability coming from debt monetization.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: Sri Lanka has been named among the top 10 countries in the world in its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, the Sri Lankan Government officially declared the worst economic crisis in the country in 73 years. Sri Lanka said most foreign debt repayments had been suspended from April 12, after two years of money printing to support tax cuts, ending an unblemished record of debt service.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: Sri Lanka has a long history as a trading hub as a result of being located at the centre of east–west trade and irrigated agriculture in the hinterland, which is known from historical texts surviving within the island and from accounts of foreign travellers. The island has irrigation reservoirs called tanks built by ancient Kings starting after Indo-Aryan migration, many of which survive to this day. They form part of an irrigation system interlinked with more modern constructions.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: Faxian (also Fa Hsien) a Chinese Monk who travelled to India and Sri Lanka around 400 BC, writes of existing legends at his time of merchants from other countries trading with native tribal peoples in the island before Indo-Aryan settlement. "The country which originally had no human inhabitants but was occupied by spirits and nagas (serpent worshipers) with which merchants of various countries carried on a trade," Faxian wrote in 'A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms'. He writes of precious stones and pearl fisheries with a 30% tax by the king.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: The monk had embarked "in a large merchant vessel" from India to arrive in the island. To go back to China he "took passage in a large merchantman on board which were more than 200 men", ran into a storm where the merchants were forced to throw part of the cargo overboard and arrived at Java-dvipa (Indonesia), showing Sri Lanka had active coastal and long distance maritime trade links.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: Cosmas Indicopleustes (Indian Voyager), a merchant/monk from Alexandria of Egypt, who visited the Indian sub-continent in the 6th century, wrote in detail about Sri Lanka as a centre of commerce, referring to the island as Taprobane and Sieladiba.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: "The island being, as it is, in a central position, is much frequented by ships from all parts of India and from Persia and Ethiopia, and it likewise sends out many of its own," he wrote in Christian Topography. "And from the remotest countries, I mean Tzinista [China] and other trading places, it receives silk, aloes, cloves, sandalwood and other products, and these again are passed on to marts on this side, such as Male [Malabar or South West Indian coast] ... and to Calliana [Kalyana]... This same Sielediba then, placed as one may say, in the centre of the Indies and possessing the hyacinth [sapphire] receives ... and in turn exports to them, and is thus itself a great seat of commerce."


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: Sri Lanka was ahead of many Asian nations and had economic and social indicators comparable to Japan when it gained independence from the British in 1948.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: Sri Lanka's social indicators were considered "exceptionally high". Literacy was already 21.7% by the late 19th century. A Malaria eradication policy of 1946 had cut the death rate from 20 per thousand in 1946 to 14 by 1947. Life expectancy at birth of a Sri Lankan in 1948 at 54 years was just under Japan's 57.5 years. Sri Lanka's infant mortality rate in 1950 was 82 deaths per thousand live births, Malaysia 91 and Philippines 102.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: With its strategic location in the Indian Ocean Sri Lanka was expected to have a better chance than most other Asian neighbors to register a rapid economic take-off and had "appeared to be one of the most promising new nations." But the optimism in 1948 had dimmed by 1960. Nationalism had also come to the fore, stoking ethnic tensions.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: East Asia was gradually overtaking Sri Lanka. In 1950 Sri Lanka's un-adjusted school enrolment ratio as a share of the 5-19 year age group was 54%, India 19%, Korea 43% and the Philippines 59%. But by 1979 Sri Lanka's school enrollment rate was 74%, but the Philippines had improved to 85% and Korea was 94%.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: Sri Lanka had inherited a stable macro-economy at independence. A central bank was set up and Sri Lanka became a member of the IMF entering the Bretton Woods system of currency pegs on August 29, 1950. By 1953 exchange controls were tightened with a new law.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: The economy was then progressively controlled and relaxed in response to foreign exchange crises as monetary and fiscal policies deteriorated. Controls and restrictions in 1961-64 were followed by partial liberalization in 1965–70. Controls were continued after a devaluation in the wake of 1967 Sterling Crisis. Controls were tightened from 1970 to 1977 alongside the collapse of the Bretton Woods system. "In sum it was a story of tightening partial relaxing, and again tightening the trade regime and associated areas to over a perceived foreign exchange crisis," writes Saman Kelegama in 'Development in Independent Sri Lanka what went wrong'. "In the early 1960s strategy for dealing with the foreign exchange crisis was the gradual isolation of the economy from external market forces. It was the beginning of a standard import-substitution industrial regime with all the controls and restrictions associated with such a regime. Expropriation and state intervention in economic activities was common."


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: In 1960 Sri Lanka's (then Ceylon) per capita GDP was 152 dollars, Korea 153, Malaysia 280, Thailand 95, Indonesia 62, Philippines 254, Taiwan 149. But by 1978 Sri Lanka's per capita GDP was 226, Malaysia 588, Indonesia 370 and Taiwan 505.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: The 1970s also saw an uprising in the south from the JVP insurrection, and the roots of a civil war in the North and the East.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: In 1977, Colombo abandoned statist economic policies and its import substitution industrialisation policy for market-oriented policies and export-oriented trade. Sri Lanka would after that be known to handle dynamic industries such as food processing, textiles and apparel, food and beverages, telecommunications, and insurance and banking. In the 1970s, the share of the middle class increased.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: Between 1977 and 1994 the country came under UNP rule in which under President J.R Jayawardana Sri Lanka began to shift away from a socialist orientation in 1977. Since then, the government has been deregulating, privatizing, and opening the economy to international competition. In 2001, Sri Lanka faced bankruptcy, with debt reaching 101% of GDP. The impending currency crisis was averted after the country reached a hasty ceasefire agreement with the LTTE and brokered substantial foreign loans. After 2004 the UPFA government has concentrated on mass production of goods for domestic consumption such as rice, grain and other agricultural products.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: however twenty-five years of civil war slowed economic growth, diversification and liberalisation, and the political group Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) uprisings, especially the second in the early 1980s, also caused extensive upheavals.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: Following the quelling of the JVP insurrection, increased privatization, economic reform, and the stress on export-oriented growth helped improve the economic performance, increasing GDP growth to 7% in 1993. By 1996 plantation crops made up only 20% of exports (compared with 93% in 1970), while textiles and garments accounted for 63%. GDP grew at an annual average rate of 5.5% throughout the 1990s until a drought and a deteriorating security situation lowered growth to 3.8% in 1996.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: The economy rebounded in 1997–98 with a growth of 6.4% and 4.7% – but slowed to 3.7% in 1999. For the next round of reforms, the central bank of Sri Lanka recommends that Colombo expand market mechanisms in nonplantation agriculture, dismantle the government's monopoly on wheat imports, and promote more competition in the financial sector. Economic growth has been uneven in the ensuing years as the economy faced a multitude of global and domestic economic and political challenges. Overall, average annual GDP growth was 5.2% over 1991–2000.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: In 2001, however, GDP growth was negative 1.4% – the first contraction since independence. The economy was hit by a series of global and domestic economic problems and was affected by terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka and the United States. The crises also exposed the fundamental policy failures and structural imbalances in the economy and the need for reforms. The year ended in parliamentary elections in December, which saw the election of United National Party to Parliament, while Sri Lanka Freedom Party retained the presidency.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: During the short-lived peace process from 2002 to 2004, the economy benefited from lower interest rates, a recovery in domestic demand, increased tourist arrivals, a revival of the stock exchange, and increased foreign direct investment (FDI). In 2002, the economy experienced a gradual recovery. During this period Sri Lanka has been able to reduce defense expenditures and begin to focus on getting its large, public sector debt under control. In 2002, economic growth reached 4%, aided by strong service sector growth. The agricultural sector of the economy staged a partial recovery. Total FDI inflows during 2002 were about $246 million


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: The Mahinda Rajapakse government halted the privatization process and launched several new companies as well as re-nationalising previous state owned enterprises, one of which the courts declared that privatization is null and void. Some state-owned corporations became overstaffed and less efficient, making huge losses with series of frauds being uncovered in them and nepotism rising. During this time, the EU revoked GSP plus preferential tariffs from Sri Lanka due to alleged human rights violations, which cost about US$500 million a year.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: The resumption of the civil-war in 2005 led to a steep increase defense expenditures. The increased violence and lawlessness also prompted some donor countries to cut back on aid to the country.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: A sharp rise in world petroleum prices combined with the economic fallout from the civil war led to inflation that peaked at 20%.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: Pre-2009, there was a continuing cloud over the economy with the civil war and fighting between the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE; however, the war ended with a resounding victory for the Sri Lankan Government on 19 May 2009 with the total elimination of the LTTE.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: As the civil war ended in May 2009 the economy started to grow at a higher rate of 8.0% in the year 2010 and reached 9.1% in 2012, mostly due to the boom in non-tradable sectors; however, the boom did not last and the GDP growth for 2013 fell to 3.4% in 2013, and only slightly recovered to 4.5% in 2014.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: According to government policies and economic reforms stated by Prime Minister and Minister of National Policy and economic affairs Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lanka plans to create Western Region Megapolis a Megapolis in the western province to promote economic growth. The creation of several business and technology development areas island-wide specialised in various sectors, as well as tourism zones are also being planned. In the mid to late 2010s, Sri Lanka faced a danger of falling into economic malaise, with increasing debt levels and a political crisis which saw the country's debt rating being dropped.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: In 2016 the government succeeded in lifting an EU ban on Sri Lankan fish products which resulted in fish exports to EU rising by 200% and in 2017 improving human rights conditions resulted in the European Commission proposing to restore GSP plus facility to Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka's tax revenues per GDP also increased from 10% in 2014, which was the lowest in nearly two decades to 12.3% in 2015. Despite reforms, Sri Lanka was listed among countries with the highest risk for investors by Bloomberg. Growth also further slowed to 3.3% in 2018 and 2.3% in 2019. The rupee fell from 131 to the US dollar to 182 from 2015 to 2019, inflating foreign debt and slowing domestic consumption ending a period of relative stability. China became a top creditor to Sri Lanka over the last decade, overtaking Japan and the World Bank.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: The main economic sectors of the country are tourism, tea export, apparel, textile, rice production and other agricultural products. In addition to these economic sectors, overseas employment contributes highly in foreign exchange.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: As of the early 2020s, the debt-laden country is undergoing an economic crisis where locals are experiencing months of shortages of food, fuel and electricity. Inflation has peaked to 57% according to official data. In June 2022, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe declared in parliament the collapse of the Sri Lankan economy, leaving it unable to pay for essentials.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: The chart below summarizes the trend of Sri Lanka's gross domestic product at market prices. by the International Monetary Fund with figures in millions of Sri Lankan Rupees.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: After two years of money printing and tax cuts made for fiscal and monetary stimulus Sri Lanka declared a 'pre-emptive negotiated default' saying most foreign debt would not be repaid from April 12 Fitch Ratings downgraded Sri Lanka to 'C' from 'CC' and said the country would be further downgraded to restricted default (RD) once the first payment was missed. Standard and Poor's downgraded the sovereign rating to 'CC' and said the country would be downgraded to selective default (SD) after a payment was missed.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: Sri Lanka's economy could grow 3% in 2022, the International Monetary Fund has said while warning that risk were on the downside and the economy could implode with trade contractions and monetary instability money printing (central bank credit) continued. In 2021 Sri Lanka grew 4% amid though excessive central bank financing had led to balance of payments deficits and foreign exchange shortages. Despite progress in managing Coronavirus, external debt remains a challenge amid concerns over money printing under Modern Monetary Theory independent economists had warned earlier. The central bank has said the economy is managed in an alternative way. The country's public and publicly guaranteed debt could rise to 115% in 2021 and poverty could worsen, the World Bank has warned.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: Sri Lanka's gross domestic product contracted 4% in 2020 due to the government response to the Coronavirus pandemic which was higher than the previous contraction reported in 2001, on top of several years of slow growth and depreciation of the currency. Sri Lanka was making a strong recovery after lockdowns ended in May 2020 but a new outbreak of Coronavirus slowed exports and industry. The International Monetary Fund initially projected a 4.6-pct contraction for 2020.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: In the second quarter of 2020 Sri Lanka's GDP was estimated to have contracted by 16% the biggest quarterly fall on record and expanded 2% in the third quarter. In the first nine months of the year, GDP was estimated to have contracted 5%.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: The economy suffered a series of shocks in the form of a currency crisis which brought an International Monetary Fund program in 2016, political instability in 2018 combined with a second currency crisis and suicide bombings by an Islamist extremist group on Easter Sunday 2019.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: Sri Lanka is expecting a budget deficit of 9.4% of GDP in 2021, after the nominal output for the year was revised down following a Coronavirus pandemic in 2020. A budget submitted to parliament originally expected a deficit of 8.9% in 2021 with a Coronavirus pandemic slowing growth, compounded by tax cuts. Concerns were raised that the targets were too ambitious given Coronavirus pandemic uncertainties as well as global economic weakness with Fitch Ratings projecting a deficit of 11.5%.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: The Finance Ministry has countered saying a lower interest bill, a gradual recovery in 2021, stronger foreign direct investments to the Port City will strengthen economic activity and state finances. The Treasury also hopes to borrow more domestically instead of from abroad.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: Sri Lanka's national debt has been gradually rising amid weak growth and policy gridlock. Following the steep rise in the deficit in 2020, central government debt rose to 101% of GDP. The debt to GDP ratio rose to 86.8% in 2019 from 77.9% in 2017.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: Sri Lanka's Ministry of Finance in 2020 changed its cash-basis accounting convention and charged some payment arrears to the previous year, reporting an 11.1% of GDP deficit for 2020 and revising up the 6.8 deficit in 2019 to 9.6%. Sri Lanka's main opposition charged that it was accounting fraud since arrears are always charged to the year it was paid under the country's cash-basis accounting convention. The deficit that was financed in 2020 was 14.0% of GDP. A Sri Lanka-based fact-checking portal, FactCheck.lk said the shift in numbers to 2019 "cannot be validated by an accounting standard."


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: Sri Lanka applied for credit ratings from international agencies in its efforts to apply for loans from international markets in 2005 after the election of Mahinda Rajapakse as president. Standard and Poor's gave Sri Lanka a "B+" speculative rating, four levels below investment grade and Fitch "BB−", three grades below investment grade. Standard and Poor's maintained Sri Lanka was constrained by providing widespread subsidies, a bloated public sector, transfers to loss-making state enterprises, and high interest local and international burdens . Standard and Poor's estimates public sector debt has reached 95% of GDP , in comparison to CIA estimates of 89% of GDP . Sri Lanka in mid-2007 sought to borrow $500 million from international markets to shore up the deteriorating exchange rate and reduce pressure on repayment of the domestic debt market . The head of the opposition UNP, Ranil Wickremasinghe has warned that such intense borrowing is unsustainable and will not repay these loans if elected to power .


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: Sri Lanka's credit rating was progressively downgraded following a series of currency crises and output shocks. In December 2018 Fitch downgraded Sri Lanka to 'B' and in April 2020 to 'B−' amid a global Coronavirus pandemic.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: Moody's downgraded Sri Lanka to Caa1 in September 2020, which was disputed by the Finance Ministry. In November 2020, Fitch Ratings also downgraded Sri Lanka to CCC citing fiscal and external concerns. In December 2020, Standard and Poor's followed, downgrading to 'CCC+', citing high fiscal deficits and excessive domestic liquidity, which was also protested by the Finance Ministry.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: Sri Lanka's investment to GDP ratio is around 31%, made up of about 24% private and 5% public investment. The private savings rate is about 24% and the government is a net dis-saver leaving a domestic savings investment gap of around 7% of GDP. In 2019 investment fell to 27.4% of GDP from 30.4% a year earlier with the domestic savings rate also falling to 21.3% of GDP from 23%. Sri Lanka's savings rate is undermined by government dis-saving (the revenue deficit), which rose from 1.2 to 2.7% in 2019.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: There are attempts to improve Sri Lanka's "Ease of Doing Business index' (Sri Lanka stood at 111 for 2018 down from 85th in 2014) and the overall tariff structure. In 1992, Sri Lanka's exports were on par with countries like Vietnam and Bangladesh (at US$2bn), which has only grown to US$12bn by end of 2017 compared to Vietnam's US$214bn and Bangladesh's US$36bn for 2017.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: Inflation in Sri Lanka measured by the Colombo Consumer Price Index grew 6.0% in the 12-months to August 2021 picking up from 5.7 percent in July. Inflation was 4.2% in the year to December 2020. In 2019 inflation was 4.8 percent.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: The Department of Census Statistics also compiles a National Consumer Price Index which is released with a delay. Inflation measured by the NCPI increased to 6.8% in July 2021 from 6.1% in June 2021, higher than the central banks target rate


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: Sri Lanka's central bank is targeting inflation at 4-6 per cent in 2021, though the policy will be loose to promote growth. "The Central Bank is of the view that continued support through monetary and fiscal interventions is essential to provide adequate impetus to the economy amidst the challenging domestic and global macroeconomic conditions," Governor W D Lakshman said in January 2021. "Therefore, the Central Bank will continue the prevailing accommodative monetary policy stance in 2021 to ensure the envisaged recovery of economic activity. The Central Bank will continue to remain vigilant but is confident that inflation will remain within the targeted range of 4-6 per cent over the medium-term. But after worsening balance of payments trouble and inflation, rates were hiked in August and the statutory reserve ratio was also raised.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: Sri Lanka used a 'flexible inflation targeting' framework for monetary policy at least until 2019. In 2020 growth took a priority, Governor Lakshman has said as efforts are made to boost output amid a COVID-19 pandemic. Sri Lanka suffered a US$3.2bn balance of payments deficit in 2020 amid monetary easing.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: The CBSL has reduced its T bill holding significantly from April 2017 to date reversing any monetary stimulated inflationary actions. Thus the resultant liquidity levels in the money market broadly reflect natural market conditions compared to the market that was there a year ago, which reflected more realistic banking sector interest rates as of June 2018. Private sector credit growth declined from high levels of 29% YoY in July 2016 to 15% YoY levels in 1Q2018.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: Given the changes taking place in the private credit space (i.e. the retail tilt), and provided the CBSL's recent policy rate cut in April 2018, credit growth may still continue to move either horizontally (i.e. at a 15% level) or continue to reduce slightly given anticipated near term inflationary pressures, as the consumption-led borrowings may also tend to decline on account of the anticipated reduction in near term disposable income. This will however not add any excessive upward pressures on interest rates (including 12-month T bill yields) especially during 2H2018E. As a result, 12-month Treasury bill yields may in fact slightly decline from its June 2018 --> 9.4% to 9% levels by end of 2018E. However, given the International Sovereign Bond (ISB) bullet payments >US$3bn p.a. commencing from 2019E may likely add some upward pressure on interest rates, resulting in the 12-month T bill yields rising to at least 10% by 30 June 2019.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: In the recent past, the Sri Lankan Government has identified some key focal areas to address the external imbalances of the economy, especially with regard to reducing its high trade deficit (~15% of GDP for 2012) in order to make the economy comply with the Marshall–Lerner condition. Sri Lanka's oil import bill accounts for an estimated 27% of total imports while its pro-growth policies have resulted in an investment goods import component of 24% of total imports. These inelastic import components have led to Sri Lanka's Export goods price elasticity + Import goods price elasticity totalling less than 1, resulting in the country not complying with the Marshall–Lerner condition.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: The Central Bank of Sri Lanka is the monetary authority of Sri Lanka and was established in 1950. The Central Bank is responsible for the conduct of monetary policy in the country and also has supervisory powers over the financial system.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) is the main stock exchange in Sri Lanka. It is one of the most modern exchanges in South Asia, providing a fully automated trading platform. The vision of the CSE is to contribute to the wealth of the nation by creating value through securities. The headquarters of the CSE has been located at the World Trade Center Towers in Colombo since 1995 and it also has branches across the country in Kandy, Matara, Kurunegala, Negombo and Jaffna. In 2009, after the 30 years-long civil war came to an end, the CSE was the best performing stock exchange in the world.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: Most Sri Lankan cities and towns are connected by the Sri Lanka Railways, the state-run railway operator. The Sri Lanka Transport Board is the state-run agency responsible for operating public bus services across the island.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: The government has launched several highway projects to bolster the economy and national transport system, including the Colombo-Katunayake Expressway, the Colombo-Kandy (Kadugannawa) Expressway, the Colombo-Padeniya Expressway and the Outer Circular Highway to ease Colombo's traffic congestion. The government-sponsored Road Development Authority (RDA) has been involved in several large-scale projects all over the island in an attempt to improve the road network in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka's commercial and economic centres, primarily the capitals of the nine provinces are connected by the "A-Grade" roads which are categorically organised and marked. Furthermore, "B-Grade" roads, also paved and marked, connect district capitals within provinces. The grand total of A, B and E grade roads are estimated at 12,379.49 km.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: The energy policy is governed by the Ministry of Power and Energy, while the production and retailing of electricity is carried out by the Ceylon Electricity Board. Policy recommendations and planning comes under the oversight of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka. Energy in Sri Lanka is mostly generated by hydroelectric power stations in the Central Province.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: Sri Lanka has a well-established education system that has successfully created a vast supply of skilled labour. Sri Lanka's population has a literacy rate of 92%, higher than that expected for a developing country; it has the highest literacy rate in South Asia and overall, one of the highest literacy rates in Asia. Information technology literacy of the urban sector population is also satisfactory at 39.9 per cent and people around the country use web-based job boards to find skilled employment together with other sources such as newspapers and government gazette. In Sri Lanka, all persons above the age limit 15 years and above of either gender are identified as the working-age population. In the fourth quarter of 2017, Sri Lanka had an unemployment rate of 4.2 percent and is shown to reduce gradually over the years.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: Tourism is one of the main industries in Sri Lanka. Major tourist attractions are focused around the islands famous beaches located in the southern and the eastern parts of the country and ancient heritage sites located in the interior of the country and resorts located in the mountainous regions of the country. Also, due to precious stones such as rubies and sapphires being frequently found and mined in Ratnapura and its surrounding areas, they are a major tourist attraction.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami and the past civil war have reduced the tourist arrivals, as a civil war intensified. Foreign visitors fell from 566,202 in 2004 during a ceasefire with Tamil Tiger separatists to 447,890 by the end of the war in 2009. From then arrivals grew rapidly to 2,333,796 in 2019. The 2019 Easter Sunday bombings reduced arrivals to 1,913,702 though authorities acted quickly to round up the group and travel advisories were relaxed by key generating markets such as UK as early as June 2019. Lonely Planet named Sri Lanka the best destination to visit in 2019 and Travel+Leisure the best island.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: The COVID-19 pandemic dealt a major blow to the industry after airports were closed in March 2020. Tourism revenues were estimated to have fallen to US$956mn in 2020 from US$3.6bn in 2020 hurting over 300,000 said to be connected to the industry. The government has announced a number relief measures including a debt moratorium, which were then extended. In 2020 arrivals fell 70 percent to 507,704 from 1,913,702 in 2019, with almost all arrivals coming before airports closed in March. In December 2020, under what was called a 'pilot project' 393 package tourists came to Sri Lanka on a charter flights from Ukraine. On January 21 tourism resumed officially allowing independent travellers to also come subject to a series of health rules and Coronavirus tests.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: The tea industry, operating under the Ministry of Public Estate Management and Development, is one of the main industries in Sri Lanka. It became the world's leading exporter in 1995 with a 23% share of global tea export, higher than Kenya's 22% share. The central highlands of the country have a low-temperature climate throughout the year and annual rainfall and humidity levels that are suitable for growing tea. The industry was introduced to the country in 1867 by James Taylor, a British planter who arrived in 1852.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: Recently, Sri Lanka has become one of the countries exporting fair trade tea to the UK and other countries. It is believed that such projects could reduce rural poverty.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: The apparel industry of Sri Lanka mainly exports to the United States and Europe. There are about 900 factories throughout country serving companies such as Victoria's Secret, Liz Claiborne and Tommy Hilfiger. Textiles & Apparels, as categorized and reported by the Sri Lanka Export Development Board, made up to around 44% of Sri Lankan merchandise exports, in the year 2017.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: The agricultural sector of the country produces mainly rice, coconut and grain, largely for domestic consumption and occasionally for export. The tea industry which has existed since 1867 is not usually regarded as part of the agricultural sector, which is mainly focused on export rather than domestic use in the country.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: Sri Lanka's agricultural and agri-allied manufacturing is likely affected by climate variations. There was a flood in May 2018 followed by floods in May 2016 and May 2017.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: In June 2021, Sri Lanka started the first 100% organic farming or biological agriculture program and imposed a countrywide ban on inorganic fertilizers and pesticides. The program was welcomed by its advisor Vandana Shiva, but ignored critical voices from scientific and farming community who warned about possible collapse of farming, including financial crisis due to devaluation of national currency pivoted around tea industry. In the autumn of 2021 Sri-Lanka experienced massive drop in farming output by up to 50% and food shortages. The situation in the tea industry was described as critical, with farming under the organic program being described as 10x more expensive and producing half of the yield by the farmers. In September 2021 the government announced "economic emergency", as the situation was further aggravated by falling national currency exchange rate, inflation rising as result of high food prices, and pandemic restrictions in tourism which further decreased country's income. The government cancelled some of these measures, but importing urea remains banned. Sri Lanka is seeking to introduce peacetime rationing of essential goods.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: In mid-October 2021 the ban was largely lifted "until the island was able to produce enough organic fertiliser". In November 2021, Sri Lanka abandoned its plan to become the world's first organic farming nation following rising food prices and weeks of protests against the plan. As of December 2021, the damage to the agricultural production was already done, with prices having risen substantially for vegetables in Sri Lanka, and time needed to recover from the crisis. The ban on fertilizer has been lifted for certain crops, but the price of urea has risen internationally due to the price for oil and gas. Jeevika Weerahewa, a senior lecturer at the University of Peradeniya, predicted that the ban would reduce the paddy harvest in 2022 by an unprecedented 50%.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: Sri Lanka is known for producing a variety of gemstones, including chrysoberyl, corundum, garnet, ruby, spinel, and tourmaline, and is a leading producer of the Ceylon Blue sapphire. The best known areas for gemstone mining in Sri Lanka were Balangoda, Elahera, Kamburupitiya, Moneragala, Okkampitiya, and Ratnapura. In addition Sri Lanka has a variety of industrial minerals, which include ball clay, kaolin, and other clays, calcite, dolomite, feldspar, graphite, limestone, Ilmenite, mica, rutile mineral sands, phosphate rock, quartz, zircon, dolomite and silica sand. Pulmoddai beach sand deposit is the most important non-ferrous mineral reserve in Sri Lanka as well as one of the world's most richest mineral sand deposits with heavy mineral concentrates of 50% to 60% and contain manyminerals including titanium.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: Sri Lanka is famous specially for its highly valued and high-purity vein graphite. As of 2014, graphite was produced at the two largest graphite mines in Sri Lanka, the Bogala and the Kahatagaha Mines. Major investors in graphite mining are Graphite Lanka Ltd., Bogala Graphite Lanka Plc, Bora Bora Resources Ltd. (BBR) of Australia, MRL Corp. Ltd. of Australia, and Saint Jean Carbon Inc. of Canada.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: Sri Lanka has developed several multi-national companies and international brands. The most notable conglomerate include Cargills, JKH, Hayleys, LOLC Holdings and Softlogic Holdings. The largest apparel companies are MAS Holdings and Brandix. While LAUGFS Holdings is a notable company in the energy sector. A well known hospitality conglomerate is Aitken Spence. Dilmah and Island Tea are both a well known tea brand. While consumer goods brands include Ceylon Tobacco Company, Elephant House, DCSL, CBL, Maliban and GRI Tires.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: Exports to the United States, Sri Lanka's most important market, were valued at $1.8 billion in 2002, or 38% of total exports. For many years, the United States has been Sri Lanka's largest market for garments, receiving more than 63% of the country's total garment exports. India is Sri Lanka's largest supplier, with imports worth $835 million in 2002. Japan, traditionally Sri Lanka's largest supplier, was its fourth-largest in 2002 with exports of $355 million. Other important suppliers include Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea. The United States is the 10th-largest supplier to Sri Lanka; US imports amounted to $218 million in 2002, according to Central Bank trade data.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: A new port is being built in Hambantota in Southern Sri Lanka, funded by the Chinese government as a part of the Chinese aid to Sri Lanka. This will ease the congestion in Sri Lankan ports, particularly in Colombo. In 2009, 4456 ships visited Sri Lankan ports.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: Sri Lanka is highly dependent on foreign assistance, and several high-profile assistance projects were launched in 2003. The most significant of these resulted from an aid conference in Tokyo in June 2003; pledges at the summit, which included representatives from the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Japan, the European Union and the United States, totalled $4.5 billion.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: During the years before 2016, the country's debt has soared as it was developing its infrastructure to the point of near bankruptcy which required a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). "Without an IMF loan, Sri Lanka would have been in a precarious position" in May 2016, according to Krystal Tan, an Asia economist at Capital Economics, who added "foreign exchange reserves only covered around 80 per cent of short-term external debt." The IMF had agreed to provide a $1.5 billion bailout loan in April 2016 after Sri Lanka provided a set of criteria intended to improve its economy.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: By the fourth quarter of 2016, the debt was estimated to be $64.9 billion. Additional debt had been incurred in the past by state-owned organizations and this was said to be at least $9.5 billion. Since early 2015, domestic debt has increased by 12 per cent and external debt by 25 per cent.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: In late 2016 the World Bank provided US$100 million in financing and the Japan International Cooperation Agency provided a US$100M loan, both intended to "provide budget financing and to support reforms in competitiveness, transparency, public sector and fiscal management", according to the World Bank. The bank also reported that the country's government had agreed that there was a need for reforms "in the areas of fiscal operations, competitiveness and governance" and if fully implemented, "these could help the country reach Upper Middle-Income status in the medium term" according to the bank.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: In November 2016, the International Monetary Fund reported that it would disburse a higher amount than the US$150 million originally planned, a full US$162.6 million (SDR 119.894 million), to Sri Lanka. The agency's evaluation was cautiously optimistic about the future: "While inflation has abated, credit growth remains strong. The central bank indicates its readiness to tighten the monetary policy stance further if inflationary pressures resurge or credit growth persists. The authorities intend to continue building up reserves through outright purchases while allowing for greater exchange rate flexibility. The banking sector is currently well capitalized. Steps are being taken to find a resolution mechanism for the distressed financial institutions. Going forward, there is a need to strengthen the supervisory and regulatory framework, and identify and mitigate vulnerabilities in the financial sector, particularly with regard to non-banks and state-owned banks."


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: As part of the debt management program, the Sri Lankan government carried out several reforms which included the implementation of a new Inland Revenue Act as well as an automatic fuel pricing formula. Tax reforms also increased VAT rates and narrowed exemptions and the third review by the IMF noted that performance was on track regarding fiscal consolidation, revenue mobilization, monetary policy management, and reserves accumulation. In the fourth review in June 2018, the IMF claimed that "Sri Lanka has made important progress under its Fund-supported program", but stressed the need for further progress with revenue-based fiscal consolidation and a prudent monetary policy with sustained efforts to build up international reserves. In 2018 China extended a loan of $1.25 billion consisting of a below-market-rate syndicated loan and smaller Panda bond to bail out Sri Lanka.


title: Economy of Sri Lanka

text: In 2021, Bangladesh agreed to give Sri Lanka loans of at least $200 million from the foreign exchange reserves under a currency swap deal. The currency swap initiative was taken after Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s visit to Bangladesh to attend the joint celebrations of the golden jubilee of Bangladesh's independence and the birth centenary of Bangabandhu. In December 2021, Sri Lanka announced that it would pay off a $251 million oil debt to Iran by sending $5 million worth of Ceylon tea every month.


title: Cedar Point

text: Cedar Point is a amusement park located on a Lake Erie peninsula in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. Opened in 1870, it is considered the second-oldest operating amusement park in the U.S. behind Lake Compounce. Cedar Point is owned and operated by Cedar Fair and is the flagship of the amusement park chain. Known as "America's Roller Coast", the park features 15 roller coasters – fourth-most in the world with Six Flags Great America, behind Canada's Wonderland and Energylandia (17), as well as Six Flags Magic Mountain (20). Cedar Point's most recent roller coaster, Steel Vengeance, opened to the public on May 5, 2018.


title: Cedar Point

text: Cedar Point's normal operating season runs from early May until Labor Day in September, after which it reopens only on weekends through Halloween, featuring events such as HalloWeekends. Other attractions near the park include a white-sand beach, an outdoor water park called Cedar Point Shores, an indoor water park called Castaway Bay, two marinas, an outdoor sports complex called Cedar Point Sports Center, and several nearby resorts.


title: Cedar Point

text: The park has reached several milestones. Prior to the retirement of Top Thrill Dragster in 2022, it was the only amusement park in the world with five roller coasters that are at least in height – Magnum XL-200, Millennium Force, Valravn, Steel Vengeance, and Top Thrill Dragster – as well as the only one with roller coasters in all four height classifications. Cedar Point also received the Golden Ticket Award for "Best Amusement Park in the World" from "Amusement Today" for 16 consecutive years from 1997 to 2013. The park is in the top 20 amusement parks in the United States with an estimated 3.6 million visitors in 2017. The park also has several buildings that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.


title: Cedar Point

text: In the late-19th century, the south shore region of Lake Erie became a popular vacation destination for the emerging middle-class in the United States. The Lake's islands, such as Kelleys Island and South Bass Island, were gaining a reputation for their freshwater bathing resorts. The Cedar Point peninsula, named for its abundance of cedar trees, was originally known for its fishing. Local fishermen leased land and built living quarters there. Sandusky, which featured an important shipping harbor and two railroads, transformed into a major economic center over the next three decades. Railroad and steamship travel supported an emerging tourism industry, and rapid development of the area began.


title: Cedar Point

text: In the 1860s during the American Civil War, housing for a battery of four field artillery pieces was constructed at the tip of the peninsula. It was used to defend a prison for Confederate soldiers on nearby Johnson's Island. Louis Zistel, a German immigrant, built two boats to transport the prisoners. In 1870, he began to ferry locals to the Cedar Point peninsula, which opened as a public bathing beach. Zistel opened a bathhouse on the north shore of the peninsula and the same year built a beer garden with a small dance floor. He charged 25 cents per person to ride from Sandusky to Cedar Point on his boat, "Young Reindeer".


title: Cedar Point

text: In 1878 James West opened a group of bathhouses near the beach. Although there was no steamboat service, private boats often docked and sailboats anchored just offshore. By 1880 a local newspaper observed that the popularity of the beach was increasing and picnicking on the grounds had become a popular pastime. The popularity of the peninsula attracted the attention of Benjamin F. Dwelle and Captain William Slackford who leased land on the peninsula in 1882 and built eight new bathhouses, a dance hall and wooden walkways on the beach. The steamboats "R.B. Hayes" and "Lutts" provided transport to Biemiller's Cove and Cedar Point Light. Building on early success, Dwelle and Slackford continued to expand the offerings for their visitors each year and added picnic tables, cleared acres of brush, and built a baseball diamond. After Slackford became ill in 1888, Dwelle entered into a more lucrative partnership with Adam Stoll and Louis Adolph, who owned land at Cedar Point, along with investors Charles Baetz and Jacob Kuebeler. The partnership's first venture was constructing a Grand Pavilion, which opened the same year in 1888 and marked the first concerted effort to operate the peninsula as a public resort. It was a two-story theater and concert hall with a bowling alley and photographer's studio. The building was recognized for its unusual architecture and still stands in the park. The first amusement ride at Cedar Point, a water toboggan ride consisting of a ramp that launched riders into Lake Erie, opened in 1890. Electricity was installed at Cedar Point in 1891. The first roller coaster, Switchback Railway, opened the following year. It stood high and had a top speed of . The Switchback Railway was designed as two identical tracks side-by-side – one for the ride down and the other for the train to be hauled back to the top by the ride attendant.


title: Cedar Point

text: Representatives of the Lake Erie and Western Railroad purchased the peninsula for in 1897 and formed the Cedar Point Pleasure Resort Company. The company appointed George A. Boeckling, a businessman from Indiana, as the park's new manager. Under his tenure, the peninsula was transformed from a picnic ground into a nationally recognized amusement park and resort destination.


title: Cedar Point

text: The second roller coaster at Cedar Point, the Figure-Eight Roller Toboggan, debuted in 1902. It was moved several years later and renamed The Racer. A pony track was built near the beach the same year. Mosquitos were an issue, so in 1904, the park hired the Detroit Dredging Company to drain swampy areas on the peninsula, thereby connecting a series of lagoons to form a water passageway that quickly became one of the park's signature attractions. Aside from sightseeing passenger boats, the passageway was used to transport coal to power plants near the center of the peninsula. The historic Hotel Breakers opened in 1905 as one of the largest hotels in the Midwest; it had 600 guest rooms and a cafe that could seat 400 guests. A new area of the park called "Amusement Circle" was designed in 1906 to link the pier to the beach. It was located southeast of the Coliseum, a large arena built the same year that featured a grand ballroom and other attractions.


title: Cedar Point

text: The Dip the Dips Scenic Railway roller coaster opened in 1908, but it was soon overshadowed by the larger Leap the Dips ride that opened in 1912. In 1917, Dip the Dips was razed and replaced by the Leap Frog Scenic Railway. With a growing assortment of rides including three roller coasters, Cedar Point was beginning to grow as an amusement park. However, that wasn't a priority for Boeckling. He marketed the peninsula primarily as a bathing resort complete with shows, exhibits, motion pictures and other forms of entertainment, but did not place emphasis on the park's rides.


title: Cedar Point

text: Several additional hotels and restaurants were constructed in the remaining years of Boeckling's tenure, including Hotel Cedars, White House Hotel, Crystal Rock Castle and Crystal Gardens Ballroom. Cedar Point continued to update its ride attractions, replacing the Racer, the Circle Swing, and other rides to make way for a Shoot-the-Chutes water ride, a Tilt-A-Whirl, and fun houses such as Noah's Ark and Bluebeard's Palace. The Cyclone, a rickety and rough coaster, opened in 1929. Boeckling's health began to deteriorate in the late 1920s, and by 1931, he became confined to a wheelchair. He continued to oversee park operations, but as his condition worsened, he eventually had to remain indoors. Boeckling died from uremia on July 24, 1931. His portrait in the lobby of Breakers Hotel was draped in black. Flags in the resort and on the "G.A. Boeckling" steamboat were lowered to half mast.


title: Cedar Point

text: Edward Smith took over Cedar Point's management after Boeckling's death. As a result of the Great Depression, little expansion happened through the 1930s. One of the few rides built in during this time was the Tumble Bug. The decaying Leap the Dips coaster was demolished in the mid-1930s. In the late 1930s, the resort was on the brink of being sold to the state of Ohio for . After the 1938 season, the directors had the second floor of the Coliseum modernized in the art deco style with a new stage. In the middle, the giant dance floor remained. Some of the top bands of the time played in the ballroom. As a result, it kept Cedar Point operating through the rest of the Depression. Momma Berardi's Home Made French Fries came to Cedar Point, Momma Berardi's family played an important role in the food industry at Cedar Point. Momma Berardi's fries were sold there from 1942 until 1978, winning four Reader's Choice Awards.


title: Cedar Point

text: By the end of World War II, Cedar Point was in need of financial help. The wood of the Cyclone roller coaster was rotting, the boardwalk was cracked in many places, and the fishing dock was in need of repair. In 1946, Cedar Point's oldest still-existing ride, the Midway Carousel, was installed. By 1951, the Cyclone coaster was razed because of its poor condition, leaving the resort without a roller coaster. As the Cyclone was being removed, the Laff-in-the-Dark, Rocket Ships, and Loop-A-Plane attractions were installed. Cedar Point Causeway was built in 1957 and is still in use. The president of Cedar Point, Bernie Zeiher, was replaced by George Roose around 1958, and Emile Legros was elected chairman that same year.


title: Cedar Point

text: In the 1950s, the Pagoda Gift Shop was a post-office and the Crystal Rock Castle was turned into a maintenance shop in the late-1950s. In 1959, the hotels were repainted, new admission gates were installed, and over was spent to refresh Cedar Point. The park's first roller coaster since the Cyclone, the Wild Mouse, was built. The resort also got a new kind of ride, a monorail, that was the most popular ride in 1959. Breakers Hotel was restored and the neglected cottages were demolished. The Coliseum and Grand Pavilion were both painted and remodeled. The Crystal Rock Castle Maintenance Shop, bathhouses, and the old powerhouse were demolished, and a new $50,000 bathhouse, boiler house, and maintenance shop were built in their place.


title: Cedar Point

text: In the 1960s, the idea of "pay one price" season passes became common. On March 28, 1960, Cedar Point announced plans to transform the park into a "Disneyland" amusement center. Those plans fell through, however. "Cedar Point & Lake Erie Railroad" opened in 1963, transporting passengers from the middle of the park to the back. In 1964, Cedar Point built its oldest surviving roller coaster, the Blue Streak. It was named after the local high school's sports teams, the Sandusky Blue Streaks. Jungle Larry's Safari Island was a well-known attraction that operated from 1965 until 1994 despite the death of Jungle Larry in 1984. The Cedar Creek Mine Ride opened in 1969; it is currently the second oldest roller coaster at Cedar Point.


title: Cedar Point

text: In 1970, the Centennial Theatre, named in honor of Cedar Point's 100th anniversary, was built. 1972 brought Giant Wheel and the now-defunct Jumbo Jet coaster, which was noted for being the fastest coaster at that time. In 1975, Robert L. Munger Jr. took over as president of Cedar Point after Roose retired. The record-breaking Corkscrew roller coaster was built in 1976; it was the first roller coaster to span a midway and have three inversions. Gemini opened in 1978 and was advertised as the tallest, fastest and steepest roller coaster in the world. A kiddie coaster, named Jr. Gemini (now known as Wilderness Run), opened the following year across from the Gemini. White Water Landing opened in 1982, replacing the original Shoot the Rapids log flume. In 1983, Demon Drop was built at the front of the park. Avalanche Run opened in 1985 close to the beach and would later be re-themed as Disaster Transport. That same year, the San Francisco Earthquake Ride was transformed into the Berenstain Bear Country.


title: Cedar Point

text: Robert L. Munger Jr, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Cedar Fair, stepped down in 1986 due to health issues and was replaced by Richard "Dick" Kinzel. Thunder Canyon, a river rafting ride manufactured by Intamin, also opened in 1986. In 1987, Iron Dragon, a suspended roller coaster, debuted on the Million Dollar Midway near the Cedar Point & Lake Erie Railroad station. In 1988, Soak City (now known as Cedar Point Shores), Cedar Point's outdoor water park, was constructed near Hotel Breakers. It featured speed slides, more than 10 body and tube slides, a family raft ride, a water playhouse, and two lazy rivers.


title: Cedar Point

text: Several new rides and roller coasters opened at Cedar Point from 1989 to 2011 that were record-breakers. Magnum XL-200 debuted in 1989, setting world records for height and speed. It was the first roller coaster to exceed a height of and speeds over , and it was the first hypercoaster in the world. Magnum is often credited as shifting the focus of Cedar Point, as noted by then-park Vice President, John Hildebrandt: "We all were smart enough to know we had something. Big steel made a big difference and with Magnum we started branding ourselves as a big time roller coaster park". For the 1990 season, Avalanche Run was transformed into Disaster Transport; the ride was fully enclosed and special effects were added. In subsequent years, the special effects and theming were removed, leaving the ride almost completely dark. Mean Streak opened in 1991 as the northernmost attraction in the park. It broke records for the fastest and tallest wooden roller coaster in the world, reaching speeds of and a height of . Challenge Park was built between Hotel Breakers and Soak City in 1992. Challenge Park included RipCord, Skyscraper, and two eighteen-hole mini-golf courses.


title: Cedar Point

text: Snake River Falls was constructed in 1993 as a result of Soak City's popularity. The structure sent riders plunging down a 50-degree angle at . At the bottom of the hill, the ride ended with a splash landing that created a large wave, which splashed spectators on an overlooking bridge. It opened as the tallest and fastest water ride in the world. In 1994, Cedar Point installed Raptor. The Mill Race log flume was removed from the park, and the circular Calypso was relocated to make room for Raptor, the first inverted roller coaster to feature a cobra roll. In December 1994, the park held its only Christmas in the Park. The Midway Carousel was open, a horse-drawn carriage gave behind-the-scenes tours of the park and the midway held many Christmas festivals, including a Christmas tree. In 1996, Cedar Point opened Mantis, then the tallest, steepest, and fastest stand-up roller coaster in the world. Originally, the ride was to be called "Banshee", but it was later changed after negative public reaction. The discarded name would later be reused for Banshee at Kings Island in 2014. In 1997, the park introduced HalloWeekends, a Halloween-themed event with haunted houses and mazes, which typically operates from September through late October. Camp Snoopy debuted in 1999 featuring eight Snoopy-themed attractions, with the exception of a Tilt-A-Whirl. The area also features a junior roller coaster built by Vekoma, Woodstock Express.