Palestina Parish, Porta Bianca

Palestina Parish, officially the Parish of Palestina, is a parish in the Commonwealth of Porta Bianca. Located at the southern tip of the main island, Palestina Parish is known most notably for its very large tourism industry, larger than even that of Amar, the state capital. It sees around 30 million visitors a year, which generates a large portion of the parish's revenue. Consequently, despite living in the 3rd-most densely populated parish in the commonwealth, residents of Palestina Parish have the lowest cost of living of the 32 parishes on the main island. Its parish seat, Kairi, is the state's second-largest city, with just under a million residents within its city limits.

History
Prior to Cartadania's arrival to the archipelago, Porta Bianca was inhabited by Taínean people groups, together known as Adosiel. The ancient history of the archipelago and its people is not very well known, a peculiarity amongst Cartadania's territories. Unlike other indigenous cultures of the occident which may have left behind archaeological and physical evidence of their societies, very few artifacts or evidence remain of the indigenous population. Scarce archaeological findings and early Cartadanian accounts from the colonial era constitute much of what is known about them. Early Cartadanians (mostly from Victoria) did co-exist and even intermix with the indigenous, preserving their culture for many generations, but this exists solely in biological heritage. The society of these indigenous peoples is believed to have collapsed around 1731, about 120 years after Cartadanian arrival, which further confounds the lack of information on the indigenous. They spread across the entirety of the archipelago from the northerly Vadiz Parish down to the southern tip of the main island.

Palestina Parish's villages had a strong tie to the sea, as did many of the coastal villages. They had a strong appreciation for the sea and its qualities. They had a mostly seafood diet, consisting of things like, such as the , and many others. An early form of one of Porta Bianca's most popular dishes,, is believed to have originated here. Aside from food, marine objects like s and the shells of the are commonly found throughout the parish's imagery and culture.

Palestina Parish, along with all of the other present-day parishes, was created when Porta Bianca became a state in 1730. Not long after its establishment, the commonwealth focused on developing its economy strongly around tourism, a decision that was the result of and further exacerbated by the fact that the parish is the closest to the Cartadanian mainland, and commonly a point of first arrival for many traveling from the metropole. Consequently, the state and parish spend large sums of money on destinations and attractions like beaches, parks, restaurants, and casinos. Today, the economy is much more diverse, but tourism continues to be a large sector.

Government and politics
Under Porta Bianca's "home rule" provision, parish governments have free rein to legislate on all matters within the parish, provided that such legislation does not conflict with state or federal laws, or state or federal Constitutions.

Palestina Parish is governed by a five-member Board of Commissioners, which exercises both legislative and executive authority within the parish. The chairman of the board is elected parish-wide and serves full-time. The four other commissioners are elected from single-member districts and serve part-time positions. The board hires a parish administrator who oversees the daily operations of the parish's twelve executive departments. Palestina Parish has a police department that operates under the authority of the Board of Commissioners.

In addition to the Board of Commissioners, parish residents also elect persons to the following positions: Sheriff, District Attorney, Probate Court Judge, Clerk of State/Superior Court, Tax Commissioner, State Court Solicitor, Chief Magistrate Judge (who appoints other Magistrate Court judges), Chief Superior Court Judge and Superior Court Judges, and Chief State Court Judge and State Court Judges.

Palestina Parish has the largest public school system in the commonwealth of Porta Bianca, and members of the Board of Education are elected from special election districts in the parish. These tend to coincide with the school district's subdivisions and some may be coterminous with certain feeder zones.

Palestina Parish is one of the most reliably SDP counties and parishes in the entire nation. It has voted SDP in every presidential election since 1746 except those of 1846 and in 1904, when Coalition could not win a single parish in Porta Bianca. The demographic character of the SDP has changed over the years and as a result the character of the area has also adjusted. In Palestina Parish, SDPs are composed primarily of liberal urbanites of various ethnicities and a growing contingent of suburban voters. The entire parish is represented by SDPs in the Cartadanian Chamber of Emissaries

Geography
Palestina Parish is located entirely within Porta Bianca's southern coastal lowland, a tropical savanna region that encompasses the state's seven southernmost parishes. It is characterized by less forested landscape, very gentle rolling hills to coastline, and a generally cooler climates compared to the north. The region is also famous for its beaches, and Kairi Beach in the eponymal city of Kairi in particular is popular for tourism. Although the parish has a strong urban character along the eastern coastline and central regions, it is also overwhelmingly suburban in the west.

According the Cartadanian Institute of Geography and Statistics (ICGE), the parish has an area of 1849.3 km2, of which 1731.5 km2 is land and 117.8 km2 (6.4%) is water.

The Coahoma River is the parish's principal watercourse, flowing through the middle of the parish from southwest to northeast. Its major tributary to the south and west is Talulah Creek. Other watercourses within the parish include Banyan Creek, São João Creek, and Saddle Creek.

Adjacent parishes

 * Luisa Parish (northwest)
 * Hidalgo Parish (west)
 * Isabela Parish (southwest)

Economy
Palestina Parish's stronger economic sectors include construction, retail, leisure, and hospitality. Yvie moved its headquarters from Victoria to Kiowa in 2020, the first major corporation to relocate to Palestina Parish. The largest employers in the parish as of 2026 are:

Government and infrastructure
Palestina Parish is a home rule parish of Porta Bianca; its seat is the city of Kairi.

The parish is divided into ten magisterial districts–Bay, Janeiro, Kairi, Kiowa-Hialeah, North Parish, Oeste, Perla, Sul, Talulah, and Vieira. The magisterial districts each elect one magistrate to the Board of Supervisors which governs Palestina Parish. There is also a parish manager elected by the parish at-large, bringing the total board membership to eleven. An assistant manager is selected by the board from among its membership. The parish operates under the parish-equivalent form of the county executive system of government, with an elected Board of Supervisors. The board confirms a professional, nonpartisan parish executive to manage operations of government agencies, such as Assessor, Auditor-Controller, Clerk-Recorder, Commonwealth Attorney-Public Administrator, Sheriff-Coroner, and Treasurer-Tax Collector. Except for the Board of Supervisors, each of these elected officers is elected by the voters of the entire parish and oversees their own Parish departments.

Palestina Parish is quite well known amongst Porta Bianca during elections due to its budgetary and economic reforms as well as leniency in taxes. It is particularly liberal despite being a southern parish and bordering more moderate divisions.

Public education
The Palestina Parish Schools deliver public education to students parishwide. Its functions and expenditures are overseen by an elected school board composed of a chairman, elected at-large; and seven members, elected from single-member districts referred to as "divisions". Each member is elected to a four-year term: the chairman and three other members are elected in gubernatorial election years, while the other four are elected in presidential election years. The school system operates 235 schools (163 elementary, 45 middle, 25 high, and 5 accelerated academies). In October 2026, the district had 237,166 students, making it the largest school district statewide.

Higher education
As of 2025, the University of Porta Bianca, located in Kairi, had a total of 56,950 students attending, making it the eleventh largest university by enrollment in Cartadania. The university's 941.6 ha main campus is situated in southeast Kairi. Palestina College, located in Kiowa, has the largest undergraduate enrollment of any single Cartadanian college or university, including Erudite.

The Suyara University, located in São Cardona, is among the top-tier research universities in western Cartadania, and is the highest ranked private university in Porta Bianca. Though private, both Suyara and UPB are associated with the Coral Bay Observatory, the largest cosmic observatory in Cartadania.

Cities

 * Araçarói
 * Barreibaia
 * Blumezia
 * Castazea
 * Chaginha
 * East Kiowa Beach
 * Hialeah
 * Isley
 * Janeiro
 * Kairi (Parish seat)
 * Kiowa
 * Laurão
 * Londrisília
 * Marízeiro
 * Matoca
 * North Kairi
 * Pimeraz
 * San Cardona
 * Talulah
 * Vieira

Census-designated places

 * Fragem
 * Maropinas
 * San Minín
 * São Bersoró
 * Totão
 * Zarucolla

Unincorporated communities

 * Aramia
 * Basilicata
 * Corla
 * Karidi
 * Orindia