Kingston

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Kingston
Nation: Lunatic Retard Robots
Function: Capital
Population: ~100,000,000
Leader: Mayor Simonon VII
Category=Cities


City Geography

Kingston, the capital of the Robotstani Commonwealth, is located on the islands of Grand Kingston and Lesser Kingston in the far south of the Robotstani archipelago, where pack ice is seldom seen and the weather never gets unbearably cold.

Greater Kingston contains the bulk of Kingston's hundred-some million inhabitants, living in the innumerable flats and housing projects built on the island's rocky and hilly landscape. The vast majority of Greater Kingston is covered in city, barring a wildlife preservation and several public parks, and the waterfront is dominated by a sprawling harbor complex where a great many of Greater Kingston's inhabitants work.

Greater Kingston can be divided into the following neighborhoods, or districts: Harbour, Battery, New Programme, Battery-South, Plant, Old (Or First) Programme, and Parliament. Harbour straddles Greater Kingston's Natural Harbor, stretching for nearly the entirety of southern Greater Kingston, and is by far the largest district in terms of both area and population. It is also the poorest, and contains most of the shipyard workforce.

Battery is situated on and around the former anti-shipping battery emplacement, overlooking Greater Kingston Harbor and offering a good view of much of the city. Most of Greater Kingston's institutions of higher learning are located in Battery, which is more or less Kingston's academic quarter. Battery-South, referring to the metro line servicing the area, is located on the far west end of Harbor and takes up much of Kingston's western half. Battery-South is home to most of Kingston's factories and manufacturing centers.

New Programme is located in the far north of Grand Kingston, and is the newest of Kingston's Districts, having been carved out of undersettled farming communities in the 1910s. The landscape of New Programme is dominated by row upon row of neat red brick houses, occasionally interrupted by a raised trackway, and houses much of Kingston's population not already squeezed into Harbor, with its somewhat more reliable services. Old Programme is located to the immediate south of New Programme, having been built several decades earlier from another portion of what was farmland. It is much more varied in architectural styles than New Programme, but one would be hard-pressed to find any house in terribly good condition. Old Programme and New Programme are separated by Kingston's old battlements, nowadays nothing more than a few isolated pillars of stone intersected by tram lines and roads.

Plant is located in the east of Grand Kingston, and wraps around what was a large steam power station, now abandoned in favor of somewhat newer facilities elsewhere. Kingston Municipal Airport is located inside the former power station complex, as is the metro yard.

Parliament is situated in nearly the exact middle of Grand Kingston and plays host to a number of gloomy government buildings, prominent among them the gothic revival Parliament House. Wrapped around Parliament House are the various ministries, the admiralty, and more flats.

Lying directly south of Greater Kingston and seen easily from the Harbour district even in poor weather, is Lesser Kingston. Connected to Greater Kingston by ferries, a long train bridge, and regular air service, Lesser Kingston is much less heavily populated than Greater Kingston and is home to the former Royal Palace and Estate, which although heavily damaged by Parliamentary shelling in the 1938 revolt is still a popular destination for Kingstoners looking to escape the cramped urban environs. The modern-day shore batteries are maintianed on Lesser Kingston, as is a wing of night fighters. Lesser Kingston is home to Kingston International Airport and is the main route through which people come to Kingston.


City History

Founding And Early History

Kingston was founded by the first permanent settlers of the inhospitable and unwelcoming Robotic Archipelago in 1329, named by and for the first King of Robotstan, Alfonse Andreas (Alfonse I.) Kingston first served as a trading post, with the nucleus of what quickly became a valuable and important destination for merchants located in present-day Harbour. The first ship ever built in Robotstan was built in Harbour in 1392, shortly after the population breached the five thousand mark.

1600-1800

Kingston continued to grow at a steady pace throughout the 14th, 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries despite constant warfare with pirate groups and the Iansislean monarch across the Pacific. Numerous major battles were fought in and around Kingston's two islands, which led to their being quite heavily fortified. But by 1750 these wars had subsided and the monarch of that time (King Sydney VI) saw it fit to build his palace on Lesser Kingston. It was an expensive affair, and the inaccessability of Lesser Kingston didn't help at all. By 1790, the costs incurred in the construction of the 'Royal Compound' on Lesser Kingston coupled with the enlightenment started to provoke radical sentiments among the largely impoverished Kingstoners.

1800-present

Kingston played a crucial role in the First Parliamentary Revolt (1792-1797), where the Parliamentarians won decisively and forced the monarchy into a very much precarious position, and became the seat of the new Robotic Constitutional Monarchy. Parliament commissioned the construction of Parliament House, not finished until 1850 due to numerous cost overruns and budget revisions, and numerous public schools, hospitals, and industrial buildings were commissioned and built, the great majority of them still around today.

The 1900s saw the introduction of the New Programme, which aimed to provide housing for Kingston's exploding population, drawn in from everywhere concieveable to work in Kingston's factories. The underused and sparsely-settled farmland north of the city proper was purchased and construction of what is now known as New Programme District commenced, to be completed in 1919.

During the 1938 Revolt, Kingston played host to the final battle of that war, the Battle of Kingston, where the battleship Monarch was torpedoed, bombed, and shelled until capsize, killing the last King of Robotstan.


(Region of) Kingston

Kingston
Forum: [URL Forum Name]
Population: 60 million
Delegate: Dr. Chavago
Founder: Paul Kuczera
Info: NSEconomy RC XML

The Region of Kingston is a proud group of nationals living on the northeast shore of the Great Sea, Ontario.