Palm Coast metropolitan area

The Palm Coast metropolitan area, colloquially known as the PCA, is the most populous urban region in Cartadania, encompassing five counties in northeastern Verona. The agglomeration of the urbanized Palm Coast metro area surrounds the urban core of Sierra County, which contains the city of Sierra, the largest city in Cartadania with over 8 million residents. The Palm Coast also serves as a major anchor and economic hub, with its Palm Coast International Terminals on the Urlazian Sea being the third largest in the country (after the São Ricardo International Gateway and Port of Santarém), and the Sierra International Airport, which serves as the busiest international gateway in Cartadania.

The Palm Coast has historically been among the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in Cartadania; it was the fastest-growing in absolute terms during the 2019–2020 census year, adding 427,083 people. Despite population beginning to slow down, the Palm Coast Consortium of Metropolitan County Government (PCCMCG) projects the metropolitan area will add between 3.7 and 8.6 million new residents between 2010 and 2050.

As a center of many industries, including finance, international trade, new and traditional media, real estate, education, fashion, entertainment, tourism, biotechnology, law, and manufacturing, the Palm Coast metropolitan region is one of the most important economic regions in the world; in 2030, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product (GMP) of nearly $2.98 trillion, ranking first nationally by a wide margin, and giving it an economy larger than some states and countries.

Utilities and infrastructure
There are six electric utility power companies in the Palm Coast metropolitan area. Meridian Energy serves a large majority of the Palm Coast metropolitan area. There are two natural gas providers in the metropolitan area.

The Palm Coast metropolitan area was formerly served by multiple utility companies, but in an effort to unify Verona's powergrid, the state inadvertently created a mononopoly on power for Meridian Energy. Water continues to be provided by the counties, most of which is pumped from one of Rosslyn's fifteen reservoirs, and treated in Rosslyn or the city Mirada in Sierra County. In fact, Rosslyn (and consequently Santa Rosa County) has the highest pumping capacity of any city in the state, providing water to over 30 million people.

Natural gas in the region is provided by Marín-Helius and Verona Natural Gas. While Verona Natural Gas is the provider for the extreme northwestern portions of the metro, about 350,000 people, the vast majority of the metro area is served by Marín-Helius. It distributes natural gas via pipeline to nearly 30 million residential, commercial, and industrial natural gas users in the area.

cable service is provided in region by Amplus and Azura Communications, while Axiom provides television and internet services via. All three companies provide home-phone service in the region as well. In addition to these three companies, there are several other smaller companies that provide local service via satellite and other medium.

Certain municipalities, such as Buenaventura, Jupiter, Lynnhaven, La Joya, Sierra, the entirety of Santa Rosa County, collect refuse via their Department of Public Works, while others rely on private corporations and self-disposal for residents to dispose of garbage. Waste Management Sarpica is the largest private company to do so, and also provides services in the areas that have their own trash service. Due to sanitation guidelines in the region, there is only one landfill in the metro area (western Victoria County), and most trash is transferred via station to landfills and processing facilities in Lençois County.

Demographics
According to the 2020 Census, the Palm Coast Metropolitan Area had a population of 31,678,490, of which 16,124,351 (50.9% of the population) were female and 15,554,139 (49.1% of the population) were male. Much like Cartadania as a whole, the population of the metropolitan area is majority Pardo (mixed-race) people, followed by White people, Audonians, Indigenous peoples, and finally Alshari people. According to the survey, the Palm Coast Metropolitan Area was 46.3% Pardo, 15.6% White, 12.5% Audono-Cartadanian, 4.8% Indigenous, 0.5% Punthite, 20.3% from Some other race. The age composition of the area is fairly evenly distributed, with the median age being 42.2 years and the modal age range being 35 to 44 years of age.

Much like the rest of Verona, and Cartadania as a whole, the Palm Coast region has one of the highest life expectancies in the world, hovering around 84 years as of 2022. Cartadania's healthcare system places heavy emphasis on wellbeing and this is no different in the Palm Coast region. It's more laid back pace as compared to the metro areas of cities like Calaine and New Venceia often give it a negative light (sometimes seen as lazy), but despite this, the region is per capita, the second-most productive in the country.

Religion has waned in importance of daily life of many Cartadanians over the years after the country became independent. Nonetheless, many of the people who live in the Palm Coast area, native-born included, carry Catholic values and Catholicism continues to be the largest religion in not only the metro area, but the country as a whole. It is trailed by the world's other major religions.

Commercial airports


The primary airport serving the Palm Coast metro area is Sierra International Airport (SIX), the busiest airport in Cartadania and among the top five busiest in the world. SIX is in northeastern Sierra, 22 kilometres (14 mi) from Downtown Sierra. SIX is the only airport to serve as a hub for all three Cartadanian legacy airlines—Azul, Luson, and Premiere.

In addition to SIX, other airports, including Bordeaux-Columbia Airport, Gadsden-Samori-Andina International Airport, Los Sueños International Airport, Lynnhaven Serenity Field, and Roseland Airport, also serve the region.