Saxalin Islands

The Colony of Saxalin is a Kiravian colony located on an archipelago of three large islands in the Absurian Ocean. The main islands are, from largest to smallest in land area, Éorlin, Kallak, and Perryn.

Geography
The Saxalin Islands have a diverse landscape harbouring numerous niche microclimates and unique ecosystems. Due to the isolation of the archipelago, much of its flora and fauna are. The climate of the archipelago is temperate oceanic to subpolar oceanic throughout, with very stormy weather and heavy precipitation year-round.

Flora and Fauna
The Saxalins are part of the Australic biogeographic realm and floristic kingdom. Millions of years ago, the climate in Australis was warmer than in human memory, and the continent was able to support vascular flora well into the. This included forests of and. Global climatic shifts caused Australis to become much colder. Australic flora (with the exception of lichens, mosses, liverworts, and the like) subsequently died out in polar Australis, but is still an important component of the flora of the Saxalins, Peratra, and Argaea. Endemism on the Saxalins is further intensified by its isolation from other hospitable landmasses.

History
The Saxalin Islands have no native population, remaining unpeopled for millennia due to their remoteness and the harsh conditions of the surrounding ocean. All modern inhabitants are thus descended from Kiravian settlers and.

The islands were officially discovered by the Kiravian navigator Magloir Korentin of Ilánova, one day before the vernal equinox of 1772 AD. Korentin authorised a landing party to make landfall on what would turn out to be the largest of the three main islands and claim it for the Marble Emperor.

They were first settled in 1801 AD by Coscivians from Kiravia and Sydona. These early Coscivian colonists were mostly landless agricultural workers recruited by the General Emigration Board to establish a permanent Kiravian presence on the islands and substantiate the Kiravian claim thereto. They made their living primarily by fishing, farming, and keeping sheep and goats. Growth of these early free settlements was limited by the irregular schedule of resupply vessels from Sydona, harsh weather conditions, and a few dropouts. Kiravian occupation of the islands would truly take off with the introduction of penal colonists and parolee settlers beginning in the 1820s. The forced migration of convicts and prisoners to the Saxalins enabled the establishment of several new settlements across the arhipelago. These penal- and penal-adjacent settlements were usually located in strategic areas, and the labor of the exiles was utilized for building basic infrastructure, which Kiravian officials hoped would help open up new areas of the islands to free settlers by lowering barriers to entry. Penal transportation was especially important in opening up the southern two islands, Kallak and Perryn, to Kiravian settlement.

Later, once a better network of ports and roads had been established by these trailblazing jailbirds, serious mineral prospecting and the promise of mineral wealth attracted more emigrants to the remote archipelago. Indeed, the development of the Saxalins' previously agrarian, low-output economy became intertwined with resource utilization that led to rapid growth. Kiravian settlers were drawn by the promise of steady, relatively high-paying work in the mines of the interior, as well as by similar promises of good and valuable employment in the timberlands and fisheries. The extraction of natural resources played a major role in shaping the locations of settlements and driving the development of further infrastructure, especially in the interior of the islands, which were otherwise quite sparsely populated and thitherto used only for stock grazing, where at all.

Sunderance Era
For the duration of Kirosocialist rule on the Kiravian mainland, the Saxalins would remain under the control of the Æonara-based Federalist government. The Kiravian Union had designs on capturing the archipelago by means of a naval assault from Sydona, but these plans never came to fruition, as the government had other priorities, but the threat of invasion was credible enough to force the Federalists to divert a substantial share of resources to provide for the islands' defence. Occasional interdiction of seaborne trade to and from the islands occurred until the stabilisation of relations between the Federalist and Kirosocialist governments in 211YY.

The Sunderance was a difficult time for the Sakhalin colonists. Although the Federalist government subsidised the colony and its population as heavily as it could reasonably afford to, its resources were limited. Many Saxalites emigrated during this time: Some sought better fortunes in the economic hubs of Sarolasta and Æonara, while others, especially those with backgrounds in the local mining and timbering trades, crossed to the other side of the world for new opportunities in Porfíria and Thýstara. The discovery of offshore oil and gas reserve in 1962, however, helped stem the tide of emigration by opening an additional income stream for the Saxalite economy and prevented it from falling into depression.

Post-Restoration
Like much of the former Kiravian Remnant, the Saxalins experienced and economic downturn after Kiravian Reunification, though the extractive foundations of the economy meant that the islands' economic fortunes tracked global commodity prices more closely than the market for domestic manufactures and services, which accounted for most of the downturn in other Remnant regions with more developed tertiary and quaternary sectors. After the 1990s, however, the colony has posted fairly consistent growth, due to the expansion of tourism and growing demand for, , and other minerals that the islands produce.

Society & Culture
Denizens of the Saxalin Islands are known as Saxalites in Ænglish.

The ethnic makeup of the Sakhalins is 91% Coscivian, 6% Celtic, and 3% other (including Pelians, Skithanawites, Érhuans, Thrakoslavs, and Daxians).

The largest individual Coscivian subgroups in the Sakhalins are Austral Coscivians from Sydona, Australic Coscivians from Koré'hetanùa, Kandan Coscivians, Eshavian Coscivians, Arnórian and Norborian Coscivians, West Coast Marine Coscivians, Kaltan and Phrydhian Coscivians, and Æonaran Coscivians. Vibrant communities of Sēoran Coscivians (Kāloatem, Vespâniem, Koralem, Ibuskem), Tenebric Coscivians (Iruktem, Kibirskem, Krôysanyem), and Caspoärian Coscivians (Stelanovians, Cervonians), Pineratem, and Túkluskans have settled in previously undeveloped rural areas in the interior of the islands, and in the mining communities.

Economy
The economy of the Saxalin Islands is built atop a strong. The two most important components of the primary sector are offshore oil and gas extraction and mining on [island]. Several other minor mineral deposits are also currently being mined.

A major impediment to the colony's economic further development is its remoteness. Distance from foreign markets acts as a damper on industrial development and export-oriented growth, and high transport costs are passed on to Saxalinite consumers, resulting in a high cost of living. Since the Restoration and the Kiravian economic recovery, prospects have improved thanks to advances in transportation and telecommunications, the reöpening of the mainland Kiravian market to Saxalin commodities, a larger federal aid budget, and the growth of the service sector.

The pristine natural environment of the Saxalin Islands, including rugged wilderness, national parks, and stunning coastlines, has made it a popular destination for tourists. Tourism is a key driver of the economy, with visitors attracted to outdoor activities, cultural experiences, and the world-famous Saxalinic wilderness. Sakhalin is a major stopping-off point for.

Agriculture & Forestry
The most profitable agricultural venture in the Sakhalins is the raising of sheep for wool. Hogs, goats, and a small number of Highland Ginger cows are also reared to produce premium quality meat and dairy products. Crop farming on the islands is limited mostly to staple foods such as potato, cale, barley, and rye, as well as feed crops for livestock, however, these is a significant fruit sector producing cherries, various berries, and apples. The Saxalins are a leader in, with a strong focus on farming. The colony's clean and cold waters provide an ideal environment for high-quality seafood production, and salmon is a valuable export product.

Historically, forestry was a major industry in the Saxalins, mainly oriented toward the local construction industry and exports to Sydona. While it has faced challenges due to environmental concerns, sustainable forest management practices have helped maintain this industry, which produces timber, pulp, and paper products.

Oil and gas
The oil and gas industry plays a central role in the economy of the Saxalin Islands. 98% of production comes from offshore fields: the seabed of waters off the Saxalins are home to some of the largest oil and gas reserves in the Kiravian Collectivity, and the largest outside of Sydona. Active oil and gas exploration and extraction have been underway since the 1960s, and contemporary production is concentrated in three main offshore fields. The services industry in the Saxalins has become a leader in developing technology for hydrocarbon extraction offshore.

Renewable energy
The stormy circumpolar waters surrounding the Saxalins have been identified as a potentially lucrative source of renewable energy. The first attempt at harnassing the violent sea winds was made in 2004, when the Contiguous Zone Authority issued a licence to Xéulev-based ElectricSlide SAK to erect an on the semi-submerged Reseda Shoals. The project was abandoned in October 2006 after a storm destroyed most of the construction infrastructure and killed eleven workers, leaving the company bankrupted by sunk costs. Salvage operations, for which ElectricSlide was was liable under the aforementioned development licence, were covered by the project's insurer, Berengar Marine of Kérvoak, and carried out by a Burgundine contractor, Remarque & Emmenoit Marine Salvage Services.