Wintergen

Wintergen (Burg: Ouintergene), is an over-seas province of Burgundie located in the eastern Kilikas Sea. It shares a maritime border with Faneria to the southwest and Vithinja to the northeast. It is part of Burgundie's Burgoignesc Overseas Territory Assembly's Polar Burgundies geographic designation. It is home to 319,990 to Ouintergens. It's capital and largest city is Hivernille which also serves as the province's largest port facility. Most of the island's residents live in one of three large settlements, Hivernille, Volcamor, or Santmai. The reminder of the island is kept uninhabited by the logging companies who own the vast majority of the land.

Wintergen is known for its jagged, rocky Kilikas Sea coastlines; the extinct volcano in the western third of the island; the heavily forested interior; picturesque waterways; and its wild lowbush blueberries and seafood cuisine, especially lobster and clams. Santmai has emerged as a hub for Burgoignesc, Vithinjan, and Fanerian yuppies. As a result, Santmai is experiencing a high degree of gentrification while Hivernille and Volcamor are considered grubby working-class towns.

Economy
Wintergen's primary sectors are as a customs and logistical hub between the Kiravian trade markets and Burgoignesc markets, fishing, logging, and apple cultivation. There are some minor oil reserves within the EEZ of Wintergen which are being tapped but the offshore drilling sector is comparatively small. Wintergen is a strategic military hub and the bases are a major economic engine driving $438 million/year of ancillary, non-military financial activity.

Logging
Logging is the largest sector by land mass and employment on the island. 2/3rds of the island are covered in logging plantations that are operated by three companies: Irvine Timber Products, Roumeline Ltd., and Ouintergene Products. The primary species grown are softwoods, namely balsam fir and black spruce. The hardwood found in the region is mainly white birch.

Fishing
Commercial fishing, particularly ing and trawling. While lobster is the main seafood focus for Wintergen, the harvest of both oysters, seaweed, shrimp are on the rise. The main fishing fleets are based in Santmai since the shipping traffic makes fishing out of Hivernille less favorable. Contaminant and noise pollution has made fishing near Hivernille impossible and trying to navigate around the constant flow of ships more of a hassle than it is worth.

The two largest fleets are owned by the Havremaitre family and the Reauchfavle family, both operating out of Santmai.

Agriculture
The apple varietals of Wintergen have been refined over the last 150 years to focus on apples that are desirable for cider and apple brandy, which, along with lumber, is Wintergen's primary export.

Trade and transshipment
Port Hivernille was built in initially built in 1884 as part of the Burgoignesc attempts to legitimize their claim to the island in the aftermath of the First Fratricide as a fishing and whaling port. Since the end of the Kiro-Burgoignesc Wars and the First Great War at the dawn of the 20th century, Burgundie and Kiravia normalized relations and began to trade. The port expanded a number of times throughout the 20th century, most notably during the Second Great War when the port doubled in size to accommodate naval ships. Parts of the new port facilities were destroyed by a series of Fanerian naval and bomber raids. After the war, the port languished for a time until the advent of Containerization in the 1960s and 70s. The port was rebuilt from 1968-1973 to accommodate a container terminal. With the collapse of Kirosocialism in 1984, the port became an important hub of the new trade between capitalist Kiravia and Burgundie.

Creative industries
In 2013, a young Vithenjan started a design studio in Santmai. The increased speed, power, and access to the internet meant that this type of white-collar work did not require a physical presence. He made a channel documenting his experiences on Thinkpages which became very popular on the Occidental internet. Other young digital entrepreneurs and hipsters flocked to Santmai in the 2014-2021 timeframe changing the town entirely. What was once a logging and fishing outpost was, by 2020 a cosmopolitan village with universal, free gigabit wifi, some of the finest coffee shops in northern Levantia, 3 craft beer breweries, 4 barber shops specializing in beards and moustaches, and a general vibe. The average income jumped from $37,489 to $84,329 but the locals did not share in the new wealth. Santmai is now a globally renowned incubator for "artisanal, bespoke experiences in the fields of and, , , , , and ."

Maritime
The Wintergen-Ultmar Ferry Service operates out of Hivernille and had 4 daily ro-ro passenger/vehicle ferries that go to X, Y, Z, and Scapa. The Santmai Ferry Line is a fast ferry for people only from Santmai to Y, three times a week.

Roads and rail
Wintergen only has industrial, freight rail service. None of the 850km (528 mi) of rail is rated for passenger traffic. Because all of the rail is designed specifically around the logging industry the rail network all converges and estimates from Port Hivernille. The rail is all standard gauge but has a unique third rail and the distance of standard narrow gauge. This is because all timber train trucks are fitted with "guide wheels" or a small centrally located axle that works between the outermost rail to the center rail. These was added as a safety measure do you derailments during heavy rains that can wash out the ballast under some of the ties. The narrow gauge guide wheels have proven effective in reducing the number of derailments as a result of washed out ballast and rail shifting as a result.

Car ownership is common in Wintergen but family untits typically only have one car. Transit options exist for school, work so cars are used primarily for chores and housekeeping and visiting friends and family. Because of the cost of gasoline, personal vehicles are rarely people's first choice for transit. Wintergen has 1647 km (1023 mi) of roads, but only 848km are improved. The remainder are logging roads that are owned, operated, and maintained by the logging companies. The majority of the roads are in Hivernille, Volcamor, and Santmai with large arterial roads connecting them. There are three bus systems the: Intercity Bus Link- a public intercity transit system that circulates between the major settlements. Sincere Charter Transit- a charter bus company that is used primarily to ferry workers from the towns to the barracks houses deep in the forests. These buses are rugged and designed for offroading. Wintergen Schools Regional Transit Authority- the school bus authority for the island. After school, on weekends and during holidays it also does rentals and charters. It is not uncommon for families to charter a school bus during a vacation to a remote camping ground or to visit family in another town if you want to bring a lot of luggage.

Air
The Wintergen International Airport is a small, short haul airport facility that is shared by the civilian terminal and the Boreal Task Section of of the Royal Air Service of Burgundie and Navy of Burgundie Areomarine.

There are 4 gates in the passenger terminal:
 * Gate A: Operated by AiReal with a direct flight to Esquinia in the Burgoignesc Metropole once every three days
 * Gate B: Operated by DeBonAire Airlines with service to Faneria, Vithinja, Scapa, and Caergwynn
 * Gate C: Operated by DeBonAire Airlines with service to Suderavia, Hendalarsk, mainland Kiravian cities
 * Gate D: Operated by DeBonAire Airlines with service to Collinebourg Yonderre, Brídhavn Fiannria

There is a small cargo terminal operated by AiReal Cargo.

Politics and government
Wintergen is part of the Burgoignesc Overseas Territory Assembly's Polar Burgundies geographic designation. Burgoignesc Overseas Territory Assembly is a constituent country equivalent of Burgundie with its own assembly, prime minister, budget, and laws. Burgundie's national governmental influence is limited to subsidies, education, and security, however, its financial and cultural institutes cast a long shadow across Wintergen.

Wintergen is a province within Burgoignesc Overseas Territory Assembly with its own semi-elected -, representative legislative body, and court system.

Ouintergens are Burgoigniacs/Burgoignix with complete civil and economic rights, and citizenship (political rights) under the same federal service criteria as all residents of Burgundie. Burgoignesc is the official language but and Burgoignesc are both in use.

Provincial executive
The provincial executive is the -. Three candidates are elected by a election held every 5 years, the three candidates are presented to the Court of St. Alphador and the next - is chosen from these candidates. If the citizenry rejects the selection, a run-off election is held with the remaining two candidates.

Provincial legislature
Like the Citizens Court of the National Assembly (Burg. La Assemblee de Ciutadans de l'Assemblee Nacional, ACAN), The Ouintergen Citizen's Court of the Provincial Assembly is a unicameral legislator. It makes provincial law, has the power of the provincial purse, and has the power of impeachment, by which it can remove sitting members of the provincial government. The Assembly has three seats for each province, one for the Burgoignesc Overseas Territory Assembly's Wintergen liaison, 3 for the clergy, 3 seats reserved for municipal leaders, and 3 for a rota of private business leaders. On 6 occasions throughout the year 3 more seats are opened to the public to debate topics that are not on the annual legislative agenda.

Law enforcement
Wintergen is under the jurisdiction of the Wintergen Battalion of the Borealis Brigade of the Overseas Gendarmerie Division. The Wintergen Battalion has 4 companies and an HQ section.
 * A Company is assigned to the Joint Agency Taskforce Wintergen Rangers West, with an area of responsibility of the hills and forests on the western third of the island, with the Wildland Management Service. They are based in Volamor.
 * B Company is assigned to the Joint Agency Taskforce Wintergen Rangers East, with an area of responsibility of the hills and forests on the eastern 2/3rds of the island with the Wildland Management Service. They are based in Santmai.
 * C Company is assigned to Hivernille proper.
 * D Company is assigned to the Port of Hivernille.
 * The HQ section is also based in Hivernille.

Joint Base St. Christophe
Joint Base St. Christophe is a combined navy, Revenue Guard, and Air Service base complex with 5 berths for large ships and a small airstrip for naval and Revenue Guard reconnaissance and maritime patrol aircraft.


 * Boreal Joint Task Section-Fighter section


 * Kilikas Maritime Patrol Joint Group- maritime patrol group

History
Wintergen is not known to have had a permanent population prior to the year 1000 anno Domini, though the Finnic peoples of Koskenkorva were aware of its existence and visited it sporadically for fishing purposes. It became known to Coscivian civilisation when it was sighted by Keður Valēkas' flagship during the return voyage of his first expedition to Great Kirav. A subsequent Coscivian expedition established a small settlement on the islands.

By the 19th century AD (XXXth century CC), most of Wintergen's small population lived in a handful of timber camps harvesting wood, most of which was exported to Burgundie to supply its prolific shipyards. Supplementary economic activities included fishing and subsistence farming, though the island suffered from poor soils and weather and a scarcity of arable land. Though some Coscivian families had lived on Wintergen for generations and spoke a unique (and now extinct) Coscivian dialect, most of the population were transient workers from Koskenkorva and the Far Northeast who lived on the island as fishermen and woodcutters for three or four seasons at most.

The 1820s a devastating bark beetle blight that almost eliminated the remaining forests on Burgundie. Desperate for more wood as the demand from timber-producing areas outstripped the local's ability to harvest it, some enterprising Port Diteauxoise shipwrights convinced the Burgoignesc North Levantine Trading Company (BNLTC) in 1823 to occupied the timber camps of Wintergen.

In 1836 the Golden Council of Ten decreed the Act of Economic Union, claiming that Wintergen was forevermore an integral part of Burgundie.

Following the island's capture and formalization into Burgundie, the Kiravian government and population were expelled. However, the conflicts with Burgundie bore on and [for some reason that I will maybe add here if applicable] were ultimately resolved in 1896 without settling the island's legal status.

Natural Hazards

 * Kilikas Storm Belt

Controversy

 * The Flag Controversy and conflicting claims.
 * Despite being illegal in Kiravia, abortion tourism is quietly on the rise. Because it is prosecutable under both Kiravian passport law (in federal court) and extraterritorial jurisdiction for Kiravian nationals (federal or provincial court) great pains are taken to conceal the true reason for the visit, and it has led to a rise in human smuggling in the Coscivian and Kilikas Seas. The Government of Burgundie has come out strongly against this practice and the Revenue Guard has increased its presence and anti-smuggling patrols in Wintergen and Nauta Normand as a result.