South Island
The Province of South Island is a province of the Community of Sober Thought. It occupies the southern part of Bristle Island while the Province of North Island occupies the northern part. Although sharing the same island and geography, South Island was much more ready to join Sober Thought and engage in the national adventure.
Geography
Physical and economic geography
Although parts of South Island are rocky and bleak, the bays, sounds and fjords are joined by valleys, treed plains and protected harbours further south. Coal is found on the southwest coast and under the continental shelf.
Originally, the province’s economy was based on the primary industries of fishing on the coast, logging in the interior and fruit farming in the valleys. These continue, but are much less important than other sectors of the economy.
South Island also developed its secondary industry, and the smaller cities of Picton grew up near the coalfields and Sheldon near the iron mines. Combined with limestone found in other parts of the province, these provided the ingredients for a domestic steel industry.
When South Island developed its tertiary industries, its provincial capital of Drewburgh with its suburbs expanded for its humbler beginnings to become the regional port, centre of culture and metropolis. Drewburgh is busier than all other ports in the region combined and containing almost as may people as the entirety of North Island.
A sense of history, a highly educated population and good transportation connections have all helped to boost the tourism industry.
Popluation geography
South Island is home 3.0% of total population of Sober Thought. Although small, it is growing through natural increase, foreign immigration and regional in-migration from North Island, Potato Island and Braunekuste (especially English-speakers).
South Island supports a greater range and size of municipalities than its regional neighbours. Between the capital city and its smaller mining cities, towns developed every sixty kilometres or so along the coast and along the interior railway. Unchartered municipalities in the province include coastal fishing villages, interior lumber villages and farming valley villages.
The ethno-linguistic composition of South Island is more diverse than its regional neighbours, including pockets of French- and German-speaking fisheries workers on the coast, Gaelic-speaking forresters and subsistence farmers in the interior speakers, and Slavic-speaking ore miners near Sheldon. None of these languages has official status, but primary and intermediate schools in these areas are offered for free for the purpose of teaching heritage languages.
Government
Federal representatives
South Island has seven electoral districts for the federal House of the Federation. In addition to these MHFs elected by simple plurality, two MHFs represents the province as a whole and are assigned to represent votes not properly reflected in the district results.
The province is represented by two members in the federal House of the Provinces, both chosen by the provincial legislature (effectively, the provincial premier).
Provincial government
The provincial House of Assembly is unicameral. It elects fifty members from single-member districts of approximately equal population. The provincial premier is responsible to the legislature.
Property taxes and fees collected by temporary residents like students and tourists provide enough money for government services at the national average.
Municipal government
The three cities of Drewsburgh, Picton and Sheldon are chartered under the federal constitution and each elect a mayor every four years. Drewsburg also elects twenty four councillors and the other two cites twelve each. Similarly, the dozen chartered towns in the province elect a mayor and eight councillors every three years.
The government of unchartered territory is delegates by the province to ten counties. Although not required to do so, the province treats its counties like chartered municipalities. County commissioners are elected every three years and are supported by 8-12 councillors (depending on the size of the county).
Education
There are about forty secondary, a hundred intermediate and several hundred primary schools in the province. Secondary education graduation rates are high, and tertiary education gratuation rates are the highest in the country and the province boasts many public and private institutions of higher learning:
- Université des Iles (general, French, public)
- University of South Island (general, English, public)
- Sober Thought Oceanographic Research Institute (specialist, English, public)
- Islands Theological Institute (specialist, English, private Protestant)
- Mining Institute of South Island (specialist, English, private)
- Professional Institute of South Island (specialist, bilingual, private)
- St. Andrews University (general, English, private Presbyterian)
- St. Barbara Catholic University (general, bilingual, private Catholic)
- South Island Commercial College, three campuses (specialist, English, public secular)
South Island runs a similar scholarship program to the federal one, aimed at people who want to stay in the province.
Transportation
Roads ring the coast and occassionally venture inland. Federal highways and railways link the cities and towns with one another and neighbouring Paidrig, North Island.
Drewburgh International Airport and harbour are partially funded by the federal government, which also uses portions of them as an airbase and naval base for its armed forces.
Exclusive jurisdictions
Provincial justice
The South Island Police and the provincial civil law are unremarkable from their other provincial counterparts.
Health
Each of the three cities, some of the counties and most of the chartered towns have public hospitals. Four religious-based hospitals also exist through the province.
Certain highly specialized medical specialties are shared with neighbouring North Island, so cases from there are accepted for treatment.
Natural resources
Parts of the undersea oil deposits located off North Island’s portion of Bristle Island near Picton’s coal seams may also extend into South Island’s jurisdiction.
