Federation of Bana: Difference between revisions
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Nearly half of New Rania's population is in the Ranisport metropolitan area, with the outer areas (called "the out-country") much more sparsely populated. The areas of New Rania to the east, south of the Loko River and Lake Unar, are known as "Translokonia" and is largely a protected wilderness area. New Rania has significantly less transit infrastructure than the other states in the Union, with fewer highways and only one rail line.
==Economy==
With a nominal GDP of nearly one trillion SHD and a per capita GDP of $41,654, the Federation of Bana is among the more powerful economies in the region of northwest Gondwana. Both historically and in the modern day, the largest sectors of the Banian economy have been agriculture and mining/refining.
Since the end of the Banian Civil War, successive governments have tended to place great emphasis on economic growth and production, with the Federation’s first Premier, Abidemi Akinde, stating that “Our country lies in ruins because of the Civil War, but the truth is, now we have an incredible opportunity to build an entirely new economy from the ground up, with the freedom to focus on what will bring us growth without being hindered by the economy of the past.” Early in the Federation era, left-leaning governments advocated for government direction of the economy in ways that resembled socialist state economic planning, but a string of neoliberal administrations since the 1980s have focused more on deregulation and industry subsidization to grow the economy.
===Agriculture===
[[File:Banana Farm Chinawal 02.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Bananas growing on trees on a plantation in Okunbana.]]
Agriculturally, the country’s most famous export—often the subject of tongue-in-cheek jokes regarding its name—is bananas, of which Bana exports more than any other country on Urth. A common misconception is that the name of the fruit is somehow related to the name of the country, or vice versa, but neither is the case. While the etymology of the Staynish-Codexian word “banana” is uncertain, the fruit has always been called “ọgẹdẹ” in the [[wikipedia:Yoruba language|Banian language]], while the word “Bana” comes from a grammatical root meaning “children.”
The State of Okunbana produces the vast majority of Bana’s agricultural products, though since New Rania joined the federation, the agricultural economy of that state has grown exponentially. In addition to bananas, Bana exports cassava, cashew nuts, cocoa, maize (corn), millet, palm kernels and oil, rice, rubber, sorghum, soybeans, and yams. Beef, pork, and chicken are all raised and processed domestically and for export in Bana. The amount of tropical rainforest cleared for livestock ranching, as well as for banana and palm plantations, are frequently subject to criticism from environmental groups, with the Banian Wildlife and Ecology Foundation estimating in 2020 that as much as 60% of Okunbana’s biodiversity had been lost due to increasing deforestation. Very few virgin rainforests remain in Okunbana, and though younger forests do remain, they have been in a steady decline since the 1980s.
Bana has a relatively small fishing sector compared to other neighboring countries with ocean access and is a net importer of seafood. This has traditionally been ascribed to the fact that Bana’s EEZ along the Strait of Vaklori is relatively narrow due to the presence of nearby Tavaris. The [[Royal Tavari Armed Forces|Tavari military]] keeps its maritime border with Bana highly patrolled both at sea and in the air, maintaining what some Banian governments have decried as a “de facto blockade” that reduces the safety of Banians attempting to make lawful use of Bana’s own EEZ. Tavaris maintains that its military presence is within its own territory and therefore lawful, and since 2020 has kept a somewhat lower military presence in the Strait as it turned its military focus to Ni-Rao and to Novaris. The largest source of seafood for Bana is [[Vaklori]], however a domestic fishing industry does exist, though not for export.
===Mining and Refining===
[[File:Graphite-Grossular-Strontiumapatite-d06-195a.jpg|thumb|left|Mikunite, a gemstone found almost exclusively in Mikubana.]]
The mineral extraction industry in Bana is almost wholly limited to Mikubana, with very few commercially-viable deposits existing in Okunbana or New Rania. Mikubana’s mineral wealth was the historical reason that Okunbana sought to maintain economic and political ties with Mikubana, and even to the present day, despite having fewer people and fewer large cities than Okunbana, Mikubana is much wealthier per capita. Historically, copper and tin were Mikubana’s most important exports—as well as the societally crucial alloy of these metals, bronze. For approximately seven hundred years, [[the Danvreas]] bought and imported vast amounts of bronze from Mikubana, enough for Emperor Palchen I to call Mikubana “the forge of our Empire” in 1106. Mikubana remains one of the leading exporters of tin in the world. Copper is also still exported, though with deposits expected to be depleted within the next 50 years.
Contemporary Mikubana mines, refines, and exports several other minerals as well. Aluminum, graphite, iron, nickel, titanium, tellurium, and uranium are all major exports. Bana is a world leader in exports of tellurium, which is a major component in the manufacture of solar panels, and both its graphite and uranium deposits are important in the nuclear power industry. Precious metals and precious gems are also significant exports of Mikubana, including gold, silver, diamonds, garnets, rubies, sapphires, and turquoise among others. Mikubana is one of the only places on Urth that produces the gemstone [[wikipedia:tsavorite|mikunite]], also called mikulite, which is named after the state. Bana-based mining corporations are also active elsewhere in Gondwana and around the world, in places such as [[Serramal]], another major producer of precious gemstones.
While mining in Bana is limited almost entirely to Mikubana, refineries are increasingly located elsewhere in the country, in New Rania in particular. Since the end of the civil war, highway and rail ties between the states have increased significantly, and New Rania’s labor laws are much more favorable to business than they are to the workers. New Rania has a minimum wage of FBD $1.00, a rate that has not changed since 1981. This shift has resulted in the Port of Ranisport becoming the country’s second-largest by volume of trade, eclipsing Lanu and Newport, as the products refined primarily in New Rania are shipped out from Ranisport.
===Other Industries===
In New Rania, the historical export was textiles, an industry that still exists in the modern day but is losing ground compared to refining and other kinds of manufacturing. Manufacturing takes place in every state in the Federation, and products produced include aircraft, automobiles, electronics, fabricated metal products, and various consumer goods. In the earlier portions of the 20th century the Tavari manufacturing sector was stronger than Bana’s, but since the 1980s Bana has exceeded Tavaris in both amount of goods manufactured and amount of manufactured goods exported.
One sector of the manufacturing economy in Bana that is in decline is paper products—as the amount of economically viable forested area in the country has decreased, lumber, pulp, and paper have all become harder to produce, with more than 75% of the country’s paper mills having closed between 1970 and 2020. Only in New Rania do there remain any functioning paper mills. New Rania is also known for its artisan carpentry industry, though the scale at which New Ranite artisans construct their products, they are expensive and available for sale almost entirely in Bana only, with next to none exported.
Bana—Mikubana in particular—is a net exporter of electric power. Since 1995, all of Mikubana’s electricity has come from either nuclear or hydroelectric sources, and Mikubana’s power generation capacity far exceeds its internal demands. Mikubana Energy Corporation, known as MBEC, is one of the country’s wealthiest companies, and it exports power not only to the other states in the Federation but also to other countries, primarily [[Ni-Rao]].
[[Category:Nations]][[Category:Urth]][[Category:Gondwana]][[Category:The Acronisphere]]
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