The Province of Algar

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Domini Badlands

Sources: All 2005 figures are based on official 2005 census data from municipalities. Where no 2005 data is available, (*) indicates the most recent official data from either the municipality or the 2001 Statistics Domi federal census. All data for 2001 and 1996 is from the respective federal census. Metro Area data is from the most recent Statistics Domi estimate.

(**) indicates 2005 Metro Area estimates according to Statistics Domi

Industry

Algar is the largest producer of conventional crude oil, synthetic crude, natural gas and gas products in Domonia. Two of the largest producers of petrochemicals in the IDU are located in central and east central Algar. In both Pontes and Algaria, world class polyethylene and vinyl manufacturers produce products shipped all over the world through the gigantic port city of Trent, and Algar's oil refineries provide the raw materials for a large petrochemical industry to the east of Algar.

The Alasian Oil Sands have estimated oil reserves estimated to be 1.6 trillion barrels (254 km³). With the advancement of extraction methods, bitumen and economical synthetic crude are produced at costs nearing that of conventional crude. This technology is Domonia grown and developed. Many companies employ both conventional strip mining and non-conventional methods to extract the bitumen from the Alasian deposit. With current technology, only 315 billion barrels (50 km³) are recoverable. Trent, one of Domnonia's youngest and liveliest cities, has grown up entirely because of the large multinational corporations which have taken on the task of oil production and distribution.

Another factor determining the viability of oil extraction from the Oil Sands is the price of oil. In 2005, record oil prices have made it more than profitable to extract this oil, which in the past would give little profit or even a loss.

While Algaria is considered the pipeline junction, manufacturing, chemical processing, research and refining centre of the nation, Powys, the capital of the province of Powysia, is known for its senior and junior oil company head offices (unlike Algaria, Powys is not close to any large sources of oil). The City of Powys is sometimes mislabelled the "Oil Capital of The IDU" for this reason.

With concerted effort and support from the provincial government, several high-tech industries have found their birth in Algar. With a growing economy, Algar has several financial institutions dealing with several civil and private funds, including the head office of the Bank Of Domnonia in Algaria.

Agriculture

Agriculture has a significant position in the province's economy. Over 5 million cattle are residents of the province at one time or another, and Algar beef has a healthy worldwide market. More than two thirds of all Domnonian beef is produced in Algar. Algar is one of the prime producers of plains buffalo (bison) for the consumer market. Sheep for wool and mutton are also raised.

Wheat and canola are primary farm crops, with Algar leading the provinces in canola production, with other grains also prominent. Much of the farming is dryland farming, often with fallow seasons interspersed with cultivation. Continuous cropping (in which there is no fallow season) is gradually becoming a more common mode of production because of increased profits and a reduction of soil erosion. Across the province, the once common grain elevator is slowly being lost as rail lines are decreased and farmers now truck the grain to central points.

Algar is the leading beekeeping province of Domnonia, with some beekeepers wintering hives indoors in specially designed barns in southern Algar, then migrating west during the summer into the River Isca valley where the season is short but the working days are long for honeybees to produce honey from clover and fireweed. Hybrid canola also requires bee pollination, and some beekeepers service this need.

The vast north western forest reserves of softwood allow Algar to produce large quantities of lumber and plywood, and several northern Algar plants supply the IDU and the Pacific regions with bleached wood pulp and newsprint.

Government

Algaria is the seat of government of Algar. It is a parliamentary democracy. Its unicameral legislature -- the Legislative Assembly -- consists of 100 members. The government is headed by the Premier, Michael Jauqis. The city of Algaria is Algar's government capital.

The province's revenue comes mainly from the taxation of oil, natural gas, beef, softwood lumber, and wheat, but also includes grants from the federal government primarily for infrastructure projects. Algarian's are the lowest-taxed people in Domnonina, and Algar is the only province in Domnonia without a provincial sales tax (though residents are still subject to the federal sales tax, the CST). Algar's municipalities have their own governments which (usually) work in co-operation with the provincial government.

Algar's politics are much more conservative than those of other Domini provinces. Algar has traditionally had three political parties, the Domnini Peoples Party("Conservatives" or "Tories"), the centrist Soical Progressive Fiscal Conservative Party, and the far right Theosophical Society of Algar Party. A fourth party, the strongly left wing Green Party, was a power in Alberta for many decades, but fell from the political map after the Peoples Party came to power in the early 1960s. Since that time, no other political party has governed Algar.

In the 2005 federal election, Algar elected a very large majority of DPP candidates to the House of Commons [1], while also electing a DPP candidate to represent them in the House of Federation.[2]

Education

As with any Domini province, the Algar government is the highest authority in education, creating and regulating the school boards, public colleges, universities, and other educational institutions.

K-12

The vast majority of Algar's schools are run by publicly funded school boards (each with its own district of authority). The largest are English language Public school boards. Algar also has English Separate Catholic boards throughout the province, which serve a substantial minority of students. There is one protestant school board in Isca. Where numbers warrant, there are francophone school boards (Public and Separate Catholic). All five of these types of boards are primarily publicly funded (basic school fees range from $200-$750 depending on the school board) by local property taxes and provincial grants given on an equal per student basis by the province (with some adjustments). The different types of school boards are a necessity under the Domini Confederation Constitution and Universal Rights and Responsibilities Act, which guarantees the francophones and Catholic communities both the right to their own schools, and the right to administer them.

Some other Domini provinces have reformed their school systems on non-religious lines, by seeking a constitutional amendment, but Algar has not. Often the decision to go to one system or another is not based on religion, but a parent's belief of which system provides a better education.

Starting in 1994, the province has allowed some chartered schools to operate, independently of any district school board, reporting directly to the province. Homeschooling is officially recognized and partially funded from within the Algar school system.

Originally in Algar, school boards had the power to levy property taxes within their respective districts. However, this meant districts with a low tax base were underfunded, so the province moved to a system that pools the education property tax, and distributes it based on student population and need.

Post-secondary

Algar's oldest and largest university is Isca's University of Nieuwe Keesland. The University of Algaria, once affiliated with the University of Nieuwe Keesland, gained its autonomy in 1986, and is now the second largest university in Algar. There is also Badlands University, which focuses on distance learning, and the University of Aelle. There are 15 colleges that receive direct public funding, along with two technical institutes. Students may also receive government loans and grants while attending selected private institutions.

Culture

Algar is well known for its warm and outgoing friendliness and old fashioned spirit.

Summer brings many festivals to the province. Isca's Fringe Festival is the world's second largest. Algar also hosts some of Domnonia's largest folk festivals, multicultural festivals, and heritage days (to name a few). Algaria is also home to Thefest, the largest Theosophical festival in the IDU. These events highlight the province's cultural diversity and love of entertainment. Most of the major cities have several performing theatre companies who entertain in venues as diverse as Dunum's Arts Barns and the Trent Ocean Ball Centre.

Algar also has a large ethnic population. Both the American Federalist and Riconiaan communities are significant. According to Statistics Domi, Algar is home to the second highest proportion (22 percent) of Francophones in Domnonia (after Inlad). Many of Algar's French-speaking residents live in the central and northwestern regions of the province. As reported after the AF Crisis, the American Federalist's represent nearly twelve percent of Algar's population, a jump from 6 percent previously. Both Algaria and Isca have "Amfeetowns" and Isca's is Domnonia's largest. Aboriginal Domini make up approximately three percent of the population.

The major contributors to Algar's ethnic diversity have been the Keeslands. Sisty-four percent of Algarians are of Eastern Keesland descent, and there are also large numbers of Shnauzers, Goudans, and Kosterians.

Both major cities, Isca and Algaria, heavily support the first-class Domnonian Football League and the Keesland Hockey League. Soccer, rugby union and lacrosse are also played professionally in Algar.

Tourism is also important to Algarians. A million visitors come to Algar each year just for Isca's world-famous Fringe Festival and for Algaria's Thefest.

Algar is an important destination for tourists who love to ski and hike; Algar's south west boasts several world-class ski resorts. Hunters and fishermen from around the world are able to take home impressive trophies and tall tales from their experiences in Algar's northern wilderness and coasts.

Flauna and Flora

Fauna

The four climatic regions (alpine, forest, maritime, and prairie) of Algar are home to many different species of animals. The south and central prairie was the land of the bison, its grasses providing a great pasture and breeding ground for millions of Hielian Buffalo. The buffalo population was decimated during early settlement, but since then buffalo have made a strong comeback, and thrive on farms and in parks all over Algar.

Algar is home to many large carnivores. Among them are the grizzly and black bears, which are found in the mountains and wooded regions. Smaller carnivores of the dog and cat families include coyotes, wolves, fox, lynx, bobcat and mountain lion (cougar).

Herbivorous, or plant-eating animals, are found throughout the province. Moose and deer (both mule and white-tail varieties) are found in the wooded regions, and pronghorn antelope can be found in the prairies of southern Algar. Bighorn sheep and mountain goats live in the Hiel Mountain Ranges. Antrian Hare, porcupines, skunks, squirrels, and many species of rodents and reptiles live in every corner of the province. Algar is fortunate in that it is home to only one variety of venomous snake, the prairie rattlesnake.

Central and northern Algar and the coastal regions are the nesting-ground of the migratory birds. Vast numbers of ducks, geese, swans, and pelicans arrive in Algar every spring and nest on or near one of the hundreds of small inlets that dot the coast. Eagles, hawks, owls, and crows are plentiful, and a huge variety of smaller seed and insect-eating birds can be found. Algar, like other temperate regions, is home to mosquitoes, flies, wasps, and bees. Rivers are well stocked with pike, walleye, white fish, rainbow, speckled, and brown trout, and even sturgeon. Turtles are found in some water bodies in the southern part of the province. Frogs and salamanders are a few of the amphibians that make their homes in Algar.

Flora

In central and northern Algar the arrival of spring brings the prairie anemone, the avens, crocuses, and other early flowers. The advancing summer introduces many flowers of the sunflower family, until in August the plains are one blaze of yellow and purple. The southern part of Algar is covered by a short grass, very nutritive, but dries up as summer lengthens, to be replaced by hardy perennials such as the buffalo bean, fleabane, and sage. Both yellow and purple clover fill the roadways and the ditches with their beauty and aromatic scents. The trees in the parkland region of the province grow in clumps and belts on the hillsides. These are largely deciduous, typically birch, poplar, and Thoris Pine. Many species of willow and other shrubs grow in virtually any terrain. On the east side of the Isca River evergreen forests prevail for thousands of kilometres.