Banastra

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Banastra
Flag-banastra.png
Flag of Banastra
Map of Banastra
Nation Bettia
Capital Grappenhall
Largest City Grappenhall-Drutton
Other Major Towns / Cities Drutton
Kirkwood
Treebrook
Upper & Lower Sweeney
Population 686 million
Language(s) Spoken English
Principal Industries Tourism, Fruit
Subdivisions 9 counties

Banastra is one of Bettia's six provinces and lies to the north-east of the country, sharing land borders with Morgrugyn and Hypocria. Banastra is the home to Bettia's world-famous rainforests. Banastra is an environmentally stunning region and attracts large numbers of tourists, backpackers, coach trippers and nature lovers every year. Due to its special nature, the entire Banastra rainforest has been placed onto the World Heritage Sites & Treasures List.

Banastra is the most rural of Bettia's provinces, with over 85% of its population living in towns or villages with a population of 2500 or less. The largest urban centre is the Grappenhall-Drutton conurbation, which lies near to the centre of the province.


Subdivisions

Banastra is divided into a number of counties, each with its own administrative capital (or County Town). These are listed in the table below in alphabetical order (refer to the map of Banastra for locations, boundaries etc):

Name of County Administrative Capital
Banastra Down Gorseborough
County Kirk Kirkwood
County Roath Roath
Grappenhall Grappenhall
Heart of Banastra Floraton
Higher Banastra Thymeford
South Balfashire Treebrook
Spiddafordshire Spiddaford
Sweeney Falls Upper Sweeney


Geography & Environment

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View of Banastra's rainforest
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Banastra's most noticable and famous feature is the thick rainforest which covers approximately 90% of the province. This forest, which comprises a large and varied number of trees and plant life, has been placed on the World Heritage Sites & Treasures List, and any development within its boundaries is the subject of strict laws passed by the Bettian government aimed at preserving it as much as possible. A rich widelife population can also be found here, including many rare species of arora (and possibly some undiscovered species too) and some beautiful tropical birds.

Due to the heavy restrictions on overland transport, industry and power generation together with the abundant trees and plantlife, the air quality in this province is second to none

Banastra is quite a high but relatively flat region, with a main plateau running along the centre of the province with the highest altitudes reaching approximately 700 metres near the the town of Thymeford on the Clodien broder. As opposed to Gwlad Teg, any slopes within Banastra tend to be long and fairly shallow, making human habitation and overland transport a lot easier. The lowest point is where the plateau drops down into the Lower Balfa Valley along the border with Gwlad Teg.

The climate throughout most of Banastra is what one would normally associate with a rainforest - warm and humid with plenty of rainfall. The western fringes of the province are occasionally hit by cold snaps coming over from Gwlad Teg, although the prevailing southerly winds usually prevent this.


Industries

Tourism

By far the major industry within Banastra is the tourist industry, with destinations such as Kirkwood, Grappenhall, Floraton and Sweeney Falls proving especially popular. With most of Banastra roads now run underground, the best and most popular way to do sightseeing is by zeppelin or by foot, although overland trips are available by means of specially constructed monorails.

People come to this region for a variety of reasons. Many have long believed that the clean air has a theraputic effect, although this has yet to established scientifically. Others come to see the forest's unique wildlife in its natural habitat, with the area around the city of Floraton particularly well-known for its colourful flora (hence the name of the city).

Fruit

Banastra's climate, fertility and terrain make it ideally suited to the growing of fruit, especially those of a tropical variety. The province's pineapples are especially popular throughout the nation, and are largely grown near to the northern border with Morgrugyn. The slopes along the weastern boarder where the province drops into the Balfa Valley are filled with apple, orange, lemon and lime trees, along with many vineyards.


Transport

Road

Due to a law passed by the Banastran provincial council, almost of the roads in the province are run underground following the massive tunnel-building project, which thankfully was completed many years ahead of schedule thanks to the use of giant ants. With this, and with existing roads connecting towns and cities decommissioned, many swathes of natural habitat have been allowed to return to their former relatively undisturbed states.

The tunnels are ventilated using extremely long extract ventilation ductwork systems lined with long-cased twin fan sets. One fan is each pair is set to run continuously with its air flow rate adjusted by the central control system according to measured traffic rates. If any fan should break down, it is immediately picked up by the control system and the second standby fan is run. The two fans are changed over automatically on a weekly basis to ensure even wear. The traffic in the tunnels is continuously monitored by a series of CCTV cameras and movement sensors linked to central monitoring stations.

Apart from the environmental benefits, the main benefit of using tunnels has been that it is now possible to construct these roads in a straight line between any two towns, whereas before many of these roads were forced to take rather more tortuous routes according to terrain.

Roads within towns and cities are linked to these tunnels by means of multi-level junctions, similar to those used on above-ground roads but rather larger in scale depending on the depth of the tunnel.

Rail

As with the roads, the province's rail network is also run underground, only rising above ground level within towns and cities. All railway lines within Banastra are fully electrified, meaning that ventilation within the tunnels is purely for air changing purposes, rather than fume extraction.

As with all other provinces, many minor branch lines are run between smaller towns, although these aren't quite as abundant due to the logistics of building large numbers of underground lines. In special cases, such as where towns aren't situated in heavily forested areas, permission has been given to construct these lines overground.

Water

Of all the major rivers in Banastra, only the River Kirk has any real history of being used for industrial transport. In the past it has been used for transporting timber to Porthbalfa via the River Balfa - it is still used for this purpose, but rail is the preferred option nowadays. However, the River Kirk is often used for tourism as it offers a quiet, scenic route into the city of Kirkwood.

In contrast the province's largest river, the River Fernley, has never been used for industrial transport due to the obvious dangers (and stupidity) of attempting to transport goods over Sweeney Falls. Upstream form the falls, it is only truly navigable between Floraton and Bissoe-on-Fernley, where the waters become too rapid for safe use. Downstream from the falls, the river follows are more sedate meandering course, making it perfectly safe for tourism purposes. The River Gissey, which branches from the Fernley north of Trelawne has a history of industrial usage, primarily used for transporting lcoally-grown fruit and vegetables to the sourth port of Ryoga Bay.

The River Hosshoss, which branches from the Fernley just outside Grappenhall, is fully navigable along its full length as it runs southwards to the coast.

Air

Originally used as an air link between Bettia and the former state of Cockbill Street (now Morgrugyn), Grappenhall's Zeppodrome is now mainly used for tourist sightseeing trips over the wide expanse of the rainforest, offering visitors a unique view of the area.


Places of Interest

Grappenhall

The provincial capital, Grappenhall is home to Bettia's finest universities: -

  • Grappenhall University, specialising in all general subjects such as mathematics, sciences and languages, as well as the ever-popular sports studies which are taught in its brand-new state-of-the-art multi-million Groat facilities.
  • The Bettian School of Medicine, which is becoming a centre of excellence in the field of all medical studies.
  • Grappenhall School of Art, Music and Drama.

Ever since the Invasion of the Giant Ants, enrollment figures for Animal Communication Studies, previously regarded as one of Grappenhall University's more useless degree subjects, has exploded with the result that the Languages department is now housed in its own purpose-built building. The city itself is known for a unique neo-classical style of architecture quite different from that of the rest of Bettia. Although at first it seemed rather out of place, a fusion with natural elements such as turf roofs has seen the city take a distinct look of its own - some writers have commented that it appears as though the rainforest is invading the city.

Sweeney Falls

Providing a dramatic division between the towns of Upper and Lower Sweeney, Sweeney Falls are a true wonder of nature. At a height of almost 300 metres, the falls are the largest in Bettia, and as such are one of the country's leading tourist attractions.

Kirkwood

What started as a quaint little town has now become a quaint large town. Kirkwood stands out from other Bettian towns due to the local planning regulations which state that all low- and medium-rise buildings must be of a timber construction, or at least timber-clad. This has resulted in Kirkwood attaining an almost fairy-tale appearance, and has been consistantly voted the nicest town to live in all of Bettia.

The Anyuna Passage

To follow

Floraton

To follow