São Ricardo

São Ricardo, officially the State of São Ricardo, is an insular state of Cartadania. It is the northernmost island group in the Urlazio Sea, occupying an archipelago in the confluence of the Odoneru Ocean and the Urlazio Sea, and is one of two states to be composed completely of islands, the other being Porta Bianca. São Ricardo is the 25th-largest at 61945.1 km2, and the 16th-most populous with 8.15 million residents, as well as the 8th-most densely populated of the thirty-one states, with 131.5 PD/km2. The state's coastline is about 2900 km long, one of the longest in Cartadania. Its capital and largest city is Lua on the island of São Ricardo.

The state encompasses nearly the entire volcanic Fortuna archipelago, a remnant of ancient times when the island chain was often referred to as "the Fortunate Isles", which comprises five large islands and numerous smaller ones spread over 65000 km2 of land and sea. At the northern end of the archipelago, the five main islands are—in order counterclockwise from northeast to southeast: Rey, Maceres, Gravarre, the island of São Ricardo, and Graciosa. The island of São Ricardo is the largest island in the group; it is often called the "Big Island" or "Fortuna Island" to avoid confusion with the state or archipelago. The archipelago is physiographically and ethnologically part of the Luson region of Sarpedon despite being halfway between it and the Charente region.

São Ricardo's diverse natural scenery, warm tropical climate, abundance of public beaches, oceanic surroundings, and active volcanoes make it a popular destination for tourists, surfers, biologists, and volcanologists from around the world. São Ricardo has over 8 million permanent residents, along with many visitors and military personnel from both halves of the country. As of 2024, São Ricardo had the highest median household income of any state, owing in large part to its location at the mouth and a highly diversified economy spanning manufacturing, services, higher education, healthcare, and biotechnology.

Early history
The area that today corresponds to the state territory was already inhabited by indigenous peoples and Adonerii from approximately the 12th century BC. The coast of the region was frequently visited by other sea-faring explorers and navigators resident to the Odoneru, and the islands gained the name Felix insulae. It became a common stopping point for sea vessels passing not only into and out of the Urlazian zone, but also as a stoppoing point from Levantia to lands as far as Vallos. After the establishment of the Banlieuregio of Alexandria during the Pontificate, the region began to a period of isolation, wanting to remain an independent and sovereign self-governing island, though it eventually was annexed and named Regio Fortuna. After Odridian independence in 1671, Fortuna began to become a major agricultural producer (mainly coffee and sugarcane) in the newly constituted Cartic Federation (that would become the Cartadanian Republic) along with being a major port of entry to Urlazian world, which ultimately created a rich community on the islands unseen anywhere else in the country (a feature the island retains today as the richest state by income), a quality that made it a target among the maritime community for many decades. There was also a small population of Ettian people in eastern Fortuna who had arrived from Alexandria and are the oldest continuously existing civilization in Sarpedon.

Annexation and political changes
While it did become a region of Caphiria early in its history and then Cartadania, with the dissolution of the Cartadanian Republic in 1698, Fortuna reverted to being an autonomous collectivity or possession of Alahuela, and is the only territory in the country's entire history to hold the status it did. Fortuna operated as a  territory and while it reported to Congress (which provided defense and diplomatic relations to foreign countries), Fortuna created its own laws, legal system, and other governmental aspects, and essentially functioned more like an associated state than a territory. It continued to use the Lira as its currency until its replacement with the Escudo in 1710, and depended on Cartadania for most of its economic policy, but wasn't legally a part of the country, which itself was undergoing major revisions. Fortuna existed in this state of autonomy for 73 years until it again became a territory of First Class in 1771. This allowed Alahuela to secure the Marée and Sanoria Channels and allow passing from the Urlazian states to the mainland.

Statehood era
By the time of Fortuna's application for statehood in 1802, the settler population of Fortuna had multiplied to over 100,000. By 1804, more than 300,000 settlers had come. In 1801, a state Constitutional Convention was first held in Larney. Among the first tasks of the convention was a decision on a location for the new state capital. The first full legislative sessions were held in Lehua (1802–1803). Subsequent locations included Union (1803–1804), and nearby Melilla (1804–1805); these locations eventually proved to be inadequate as well. The capital has been located in Lua since 1806 with only a short break in 1814 when legislative sessions were held in Touloa due to flooding in Lua and the Marée Channel area. Once the state's Constitutional Convention had finalized its state constitution, it applied to the National Congress for admission to statehood. The majority of the state voted for the Democratic Party of São Ricardo, which dominated territorial and state politics for more than fifty years prior. Eager to gain full representation in Congress and the Electorate, residents actively campaigned for statehood outside of just the application to Congress. In Alahuela, there was talk that São Ricardo would be a Conservative stronghold due to its history of social conservatism. These predictions turned out to be inaccurate; today, São Ricardo votes Social Democratic predominantly. On 9 July 1802, São Ricardo became a state and 9 July became a state holiday.

At the time of São Ricardo's admission into the Union, travel between São Ricardo and the rest of Cartadania had been a time-consuming, expensive, and dangerous feat, mostly due to the volcanic nature of the islands and the insular characteristic overall. Much of the state was extremely well suited to fruit cultivation and agriculture in general, owing to the fertility of volcanic soil. Vast expanses of, other cereal crops, vegetable crops, , and nut and fruit trees were grown (including citrus like s), and the foundation was laid for the state's prodigious agricultural production in the main island's Central Valley and elsewhere. After attaining statehood, São Ricardo quickly modernized through construction and a rapidly growing tourism economy. Its connectivity to the states closest to it have also caused its economy to explode.

Modern history
In the twentieth century, due to its position at the mouth of the Urlazio Sea and Cartadania's control of the channels, the state forbade ships of the Imperial navy from passing through its waters into the Odoneru. Though not an active weapons manufacturer for much of its history, the state did manufacture and store a large amount of artillery during the Second Great War. Although its government advocated for neutrality during the conflict, Cartadania's position adjacent to Caphiria and so close to southern Levantia made it difficult for it to remain out of the war. Because the larger portion of both the Marée and Sanoria Channels belong to São Ricardo, the state was able to largely enforce travel restrictions via Congress and keep record of who and what passed through its borders. After the Great War, São Ricardo's economy greatly expanded due to strong aerospace and defense industries, whose size decreased following the end of the Cold War.

It was around this time that the state also adopted a unified school model for public education, which had previously been devolved to the counties, as well as its Plan for Higher Education, which established the state's college and university systems. São Ricardo's economy increased rapidly after the 1950s, pushing the state to first among median household incomes. This, however, also caused the average cost of a single-family home to increase as well. Housing prices in urban areas continued to increase; a modest home which in the 1960s cost €25,000 would cost half a million escudo or more in urban areas by 2005. More people commuted longer hours to afford a home in more rural and suburban areas while earning larger salaries in the urban areas.

This built on the agricultural and industrial sectors of the economy, dubbed the first and second margins, by aiding the growth of the third margin, which is advanced technology industries. The results of this initiative were considered widely successful, attracting over 600 new high-tech companies to the state and 100,000 new jobs, with an average of salary of €75,000, while having a $7.62 billion economic impact with an investment return ratio of 9:1.

Geography and environment
The archipelago is 170 km northeast of mainland Cartadania and roughly equidistant between it and the Urlazian region. São Ricardo is the northernmost Cartadanian state when taking into account all of its islands and s as a single unit (although Cascália extends further north the main island). São Ricardo, being an archipelago like Porta Bianca, does not border any other Cartadanian state by land. The island of São Ricardo is the largest and most populous island of the archipelago, accounting for nearly sixty-five percent of the state's population.

In addition to the five main islands, the state has many smaller islands and islets. These land features allowed the construction of the bridge and causeway systems between Cartadania's mainland (via Alexandria) and the Urlazian region (via Maresia), two marvels of engineering that would other be impossible (whether physically or financially) without their presence. The Northern Fortuna Islands is a group of nine small, older islands to the northwest of Maceres that extend from Penremo to Mareserta Cay; these are remnants of once much larger volcanic mountains. Across the archipelago are around 130 small rocks and islets, such as Toniche, which are either volcanic, marine sedimentary or erosional in origin.

Magnetic anomalies identified in the vicinity of the archipelago indicate that the structures forming the islands date back 125–150 million years: the islands themselves date from 8 million (in the north and northwest) to 20 million years (in the east and southeast). The oldest exposed rocks occurred on Graciosa and southern peninsula of São Ricardo and are 128–131 million year old pillow lavas. The first stage of volcanism in the islands began in the early, and reached its peak at the end of this period, when the islands reached their maximum sizes. Historical volcanism (within human settlement) has been restricted to the island of Gravarre and minor islets into the southern Odoneru.

Climate
According to the, the climate of São Ricardo is mostly or Aw, with a hot and wet season and a warm and dry season. The low latitude, warm tropical Odridian current, and relatively low elevation give São Ricardo a warm and winterless climate (except for its highest peaks).

As with most tropical climates, seasonal rainfall follows the sun, and summer is the wettest season. There is only a 7 C difference between the warmest month and coolest month in most of the Fortuna islands. Every few decades low temperatures can fall below 10 C for a few hours when a severe cold outbreak comes down from the northern Odoneru, however there has never been a frost or freeze recorded in the Fortuna Islands. São Ricardo is often sunny and dry for long periods of time, and average more than 3,000 hours or 340 days of sunlight annually in much of the state. Snow, not usually associated with the tropics, falls at 4500 m on Monte Oha and Fortuna Mons on Ricardo Island in some winter months.

Tropical storms occasionally impact São Ricardo, but hurricanes have become increasingly uncommon, mostly due to proximity to the equator.