Despite this unofficial standard, regional variations of American English have not only persisted but have actually intensified, according to linguist William Labov.

Despite this regional organization, some bus and tram routes operated by STIB / MIVB go beyond the regional border, and some bus routes operated by TEC or De Lijn transport passengers from the Flemish or Walloon regions to the capital city.

Despite its rapid growth, the economy of Benin still remains underdeveloped and dependent on subsistence agriculture, cotton production, and regional trade.

Despite Connecticut's relatively small size, it features wide regional variations in its landscape ; for example, in the northwestern Litchfield Hills, it features rolling mountains and horse farms, whereas in the southeastern New London County, it features beaches and maritime activities.

Despite the Algiers Agreement, tense relations with Ethiopia have continued and led to regional instability.

Despite these efforts, the rank is still below regional peers and an unfavourable investment climate persists.

Despite political corruption and regional instability, Kyrgyzstan is ranked 44th on the Ease of doing Business Index.

Despite the wide regional variations in climate by latitude and other geographic factors, the long-term average global climate is quite stable during interglacial periods, and variations of a degree or two of average global temperature have historically had major effects on the ecological balance, and on the actual geography of the Earth.

Despite periodic efforts to integrate military units, the Commanders recruit largely from regional tribes.

Despite the massive amount of world and storyline development, none of the Living Greyhawk storylines or changes to the setting were considered official, since the regional adventure modules were produced by volunteers, and only received a cursory vetting by the campaign administrators of RPGA, and no review by WotC personnel.

Despite Toledo's repeated call for regional arms reductions, Chile continued purchasing arms, including 10 F-16 fighters from the U. S. and one hundred Leopard 2 tanks from Germany.

Despite this popular regional acclaim, by mid 1955 Sam Phillips's studio experienced financial difficulties, and he sold Presley's contract in November of that year ; RCA Records ' offer of $ 35, 000 beat out Atlantic Records ' offer of $ 25, 000.

Despite limited facilities, the island's athletics club ( North Uist Amateur Athletics Club ) has performed well at local, regional and national athletics competitions.

Despite scores of bands being signed to major or large regional labels, most were commercial failures.

Despite the impact of regional economic decline, Youngstown offers an array of cultural and recreational resources.

Despite these differences, Hazaragi is mutually intelligible with other regional Persian dialects.

Despite this, the MBR-200 remained divided over electoral participation, and spent a year debating the issue in local, regional and national assemblies.

Despite the high approval ratings from the Spanish mainstream, and in particular the personal popularity enjoyed by the current king and queen, the monarchy has been the focus of acute criticism from the extreme left and extreme right of the Spanish political spectrum, and by regional separatists.

Despite intense conflict amongst the FAR regional commanders, Ouane was pivotal in providing local military support against the North Vietnamese Army and the Pathet Lao in the northern regions of Laos.

Despite the lack of regional names on screen, the regional name is usually spoken by the announcer prior to local programmes.

Despite the number of excavations that have taken place, relatively little is known about the regional archaeologically, the data pertaining to the Postclassic period is especially limited.

Despite local phonetic differences, there is a regional movement towards the adoption of a common spelling, called the rfondou walon.

Despite an uncertain start in establishing a consistent comic tone, pic builds into an engaging, light character comedy, played somewhere between the Ealing tradition and contempo regional comedy.

Despite pronouncements at the highest levels of government on the importance of free competition, Armenia is next to last in the effectiveness of its anti-monopoly policy according to the 2010 results of the World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report.

Despite its interest in foreign investment to diversify the economy, the Bahamian Government responds to local concerns about foreign competition and tends to protect Bahamian business and labor interests.

Despite this competition, D & D remains a market leader in the role-playing game industry.

Despite the apparent risk, the statistical incidence of injury in supervised training and competition is extremely low.

Despite the competition, Harley-Davidson was already pulling ahead of Indian and would dominate motorcycle racing after 1914.

Despite approval from the FA, the Football League determined that the club should not enter the competition, since it had not qualified.

Despite finishing 6th in 1896, North Melbourne was not invited to the breakaway the competition, a fact not lost on their supporters today.

Despite the lack of competition, mobile market penetration equals more than 60 % is well above the African average.

Despite their inexperience as well as an increasing difficulty of the games, Ender devises new tactics and his squad soon excels and leads the competition.

Despite initially being considered a box office flop due to high production costs and stiff competition at the time of its release, the film has come to be regarded as a classic and is a staple of Christmas television around the world.

Despite this, internal political competition drained the Omsk's resources and served as a major obstacle for smooth government operations and city development.

Despite the demand for electrical consumer goods and large investments in heavy engineering and nuclear power, profits began to fall for the first time in the face of increasing competition and internal disorganisation.

” Despite the settlers ’ intentions, towns failed to develop for two reasons: the generally low level of economic activity in the area and the competition from plantation settlements already providing the kind of marketing and purchasing services typically offered by a town.

Despite upped competition from auto malls in Folsom, Roseville, and Elk Grove, Arden-Arcade has retained many high-end dealers that are unique to the Sacramento area.

Despite being a major power of the cotton industry in the first quarter of the 19th century, the Strutt's company began to lose out to competition from Lancashire mill towns.

Despite it being named after an outlaw named Cullen Baker, it is a huge family event and has a parade, craft / food booths, a pageant, a tug-of-war competition, bouncy houses, a street dance, and a rodeo.

Despite the increased efficiency, the financial stability of the railroad began to crumble, prompted by the high cost of the western expansion, electrical expenses, and competition with other railroads and ships using the newly-opened Panama Canal.

Despite creating 375 new jobs, the Wal-Mart has been a point of contention for many residents since it was announced, as fears arise that competition from a new Wal-Mart will force local business owners to shut down.

Despite the competition, and later competition from the railways, the canal company paid dividends to its shareholders until the turn of the 19th century, although profits fell steadily from the 1860s.

Despite his initial reluctance to take part in the competition, Ataru becomes extremely interested in the game when he meets Lum.

Despite being from one of the traditional three large Dutch cities, it has not been able to match AFC Ajax, Feyenoord or PSV in terms of success in the Eredivisie or in European competition.

Despite agreeing to enter the competition, the other members of the Gospel Cavaliers, who were " disheartened by their belief they were getting nowhere fast ," refused to enter.

Despite increasing competition from other Slovenian universities, it remains the largest and central institution of higher education in the country.

Despite growing to be one of the largest retail chains in the world through most of the 20th century, increased competition led to its decline beginning in the 1980s.