Bonavista

Bonavista
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Motto: "May She Rise and Flourish"
Anthem: O, Isles of Bonavista
Capital and largest city	Victoria
Official languages	Ingerish
• Regional languages	Bonavista Creole
Ethnic Groups (2017)	82% Black 8% Multi-racial 7% White 3% other
Demonym	Bonavistan
Government	Constitutional monarchy
• Monarch	Geoffrey VII
• Governor-General	Sir Calvin Sydney
• Prime Minister	Rachael Bonnet
Legislature	Parliament of Bonavista
Area
• Total	1,677 km2 647 sq mi
Population
• Census (2019)	223,692
• Density	133/km2 346/sq mi
GDP (PPP)
• Total	$4.97 billion
• Per capita	$22,218
HDI (2019)	0.791 high
Timezone	WUT+2
Currency	Bonavista pound (BVP)
Drives on the	left
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Bonavista (BON-ə-VISS-tə) is a sovereign island country in the Sea of Uthyra between Sowal and TA163. It consists of two major islands, Bonavista and Saint Isabelle, and 53 smaller islands and cays. The permanent population is about 224,000 (2019 est.), with around two-thirds resident on Bonavista. The capital, largest port, and sole city is Victoria on Bonavista, with Port Magueriz being the largest town on Saint Isabelle.

The islands of Bonavista and Saint Isabelle were first settled by Hellanesians in 332, and were abandoned in the years following a series of volcanic eruptions from Mount Azufral between 411 and 414. No further attempts at settlement were made until the arrival of Castellanese settlers in 1625. The islands were captured by Ingrea in 1660, and remained under Ingerish control for nearly 300 years thereafter, save for a brief occupation by Castellan between 1719 and 1721. During this period, the colony operated on a plantation economy, relying on slave labour which worked on the islands' plantations until the abolition of slavery in 1831. Bonavista was granted self-governance in 1948 and full independence in 1957.

The economy of Bonavista is focused principally on tourism, oil extraction and processing, and crop exports. Bonavista is a member of the Assembly of Nations, Tarephia Cooperation Council, Ingerish Commonwealth and the World Organization of Tourism.

Etymology

Bonavista takes its name from the Castellanese "buena vista", or "good view", due to the islands' natural beauty. The name was Inglicised to Bonavista sometime during the latter half of the 17th century following the Ingerish conquest of the islands; a map of the region from 1676 named the islands as "Bonna Vista", while documents from the 1690s refer to "the Bonavista and Saint Isabelle Islands". Following independence in 1957, a debate began over the name of the nation, prompted by Saint Isabellans who felt that the nation's second major island was being reduced in importance compared to the main island of Bonavista. While no action to change the nation's name has ever been taken, it remains a topic of occasional debate particularly on Saint Isabelle.

History

Hellanesian period

The earliest known settlers of the Bonavista islands were Hellanesians who established the small port town of Itipolis near modern-day Port Magueriz on Saint Isabelle in 332 AD. Several settlements were built across the islands over the following 80 years, with an estimated population of around 8,000-10,000. A series of volcanic eruptions from Mount Azufral between 411 and 414 destroyed much of Saint Isabelle and buried Itipolis under volcanic ash and debris. Continued volcanic activity forced the Hellanesian settlers to flee, and numerous eruptions witnessed by passing Arionic ships likely dissuaded further settlement.

Little evidence of Hellanesian settlement survived until the discovery of the ruins of Itipolis by a slave working a plantation in 1866. Subsequent excavations unearthed much of the town, and the area today is a Commonwealth Heritage Site and a major tourist attraction.

Castellanese colony

Castellanese explorers charted the islands as part of their exploration of eastern Tarephia in 1489-90, and while it was recognised as a possible location for colonisation, Castellan's struggles with attempting to establish colonies at New Taredo and Bonisle and San Fernando in the early to mid-1500s meant the islands were ignored for more than a century.

By the 1620s, Castellan had successfully established colonies along the southern Sea of Uthyra, and the islands of Bonavista were identified as a strategic location to control the passage of ships through the region and to defend against attacks by other Uthyran powers. In 1625 a group of settlers arrived on Saint Isabelle and established a permanent settlement at Port Magueriz, with smaller outposts constructed around the islands' coasts in the following years. The islands proved ideal for the cultivation of sugar cane, and by the early 1640s a large sugar industry had been established, aided significantly with the expansion of the Castellanese slave trade to the islands.

Ingerish colony

Similarly to Castellan, Ingrea had recognised the strategic importance of the islands after taking possession of the Cambria Colony in 1616. The multiple Castellanese colonies along the southern Uthyra posed a threat to the passage of Ingerish ships in the event of war, a threat which was realised following the outbreak of war between Ingrea and Castellan between in 1658. In 1659 Ingrea attacked the colony and briefly seized the island of Bonavista, however it was retaken by Castellan a few months later. Undeterred, Ingrea attacked again in 1660 and succeeded in capturing Port Magueriz, the defences of which had been severely weakened the previous year, thereby taking control of the colony. Castellanese attempts to reconquer the islands were repelled, and in 1664 control of the islands was formally ceded to Ingrea under the terms of the Treaty of Magueriz. Port Magueriz continued to serve as the principal town of the islands for some time after, however the confines of the terrain and the larger plantations on the island of Bonavista saw the development of the port town of Victoria, which was made the capital of the colony in 1728.

During the latter half of the 17th and early 18th centuries, Bonavista became a major base for pirates and privateers targeting Castellanese ships due to their proximity both to major shipping lanes around southern and eastern Tarephia, as well as Castellanese settlements along the southern Uthyran coast. Similarly to Ingrea's other Uthyran colonies, piracy against mainly Castellanese (but also Florescentan and Valonian) ships was conducted with tacit approval from Ingerish authorities, and by 1700 Port Magueriz was rivalled only by Brynderwyn in Cambria as a major centre of piracy in the Uthyra. The pirates (and later privateers) based around the islands proved an effective defence both for Bonavista as well as Ingrea's other Uthyran colonies; Castellan was forced to continually defend their ships and settlements from constant attacks and did not have the means with which to attack Ingrea's possessions.

The outbreak of the Ingerish Civil War in the mid-1710s and the subsequent reduction of the Royal Navy's presence gave Castellan a rare opportunity to retake the islands, and in 1719 Castellanese forces took control after a fierce naval battle and protracted siege against the small Ingerish garrison. The islands were used as a base with which to attack Ingrea's colonies around the Uthyran, however subsequent attempts to seize Bonilla and San Fernando or attack the major Cambrian and St Austellian ports of Avington, Brynderwyn, Holme, and Saviso proved unsuccessful. Regular harassment by pirates meant that the Castellanese struggled to defend their islands, and in 1721 Ingerish forces succeeded in reclaiming Port Magueriz. Occasional skirmishes between Ingrea and Castellan would take place during the remainder of the century, although Castellan made no further attempts to attack the islands. A treaty signed between Ingrea and Castellan following the latter's capture of Bonilla and San Fernando in 1808 recognised each other's ownership of their respective islands in perpetuity.

During the 19th century, Bonavista's economy began to diversify, with the colony becoming an important centre for the production of salt, which was harvested from the island's salt ponds and exported to other parts of the Uthyra and beyond. The colony also became a centre for shipbuilding, with skilled craftsmen producing a range of vessels, including schooners, brigs, and sloops. The islands were offered to join discussions to federate the colonies of Cambria and St Austell in 1848, but the offer was declined due to concerns of being dominated by the larger and wealthier mainland provinces. Cambria and St Austell would federate to form the Dominion of Vodeo in 1849, with Bonavista remaining a colony for the next century.

Independence

Economic struggles through the 1930s and 1940s and growing unrest led Ingrea to grant limited self-government to Bonavista on 1 May 1948, with the Bonavista Labour Party (BLP) winning the islands' first general election later that year. Self-government lead to increased calls for independence, and following a referendum on the islands' future in 1956, Ingrea granted Bonavista full independence on 20 July 1957.

The late 1950s and 1960s saw increased investment in infrastructure, healthcare, education, and tourism, with significant developments including the establishment of the Bonavista Agricultural Development Corporation in 1959 – which sought to promote the growth and diversification of the country's agricultural sector – and the Bonavista Tourism Board in 1960. The discovery of significant offshore oil reserves in 1965 led to the establishment of the Bonavista Oil and Petroleum Corporation and the construction of extraction and processing facilities by the early 1970s. However, the end of subsidies from Ingrea, falling export prices, and significant borrowing to pay for government programs prompted a balance of payments crisis, which led to the National Party defeating the BLP at the 1971 election. The National government responded by cutting expenditure and making attempts at liberalising the economy, however international economic conditions during the 1970s meant the impacts of these changes were limited. At the 1979 election, the BLP returned to office under Bill Haynes, who had been critical of the Nationals' focus on the economy over social welfare.

Improving economic conditions in the 1980s led to a period of rapid growth, fuelled primarily by the oil and tourism industries. Tourism in particular, which had been relatively small and centred mainly around Victoria and Port Magueriz, grew as a result of cheap air travel from Uthyra, Antarephia, and Archanta, and large marketing campaigns. Growing oil revenues prompted the creation of the National Investment Fund in 1980, which used payments from oil companies to invest and help pay for further development across the islands. Bonavista was invited to partake in discussions surrounding a pan-Tarephian political and economic union in the early 1980s, but withdrew in 1983. Following a change of government at the 1991 election, Bonavista ultimately joined the Tarephia Cooperation Council in 1995.

Geography

Mount Azufral is Bonavista's largest and most active volcano

Bonavista is located in the Sea of Uthyra around 23 km northwest of TA163 and 67 km southwest of Sowal, and comprises 55 islands, ranging in size from the largest, Bonavista, being 50 km (31 mi) long and 38 km (24 mi) wide, to tiny uninhabited islets, altogether about 1,677 square kilometres (647 square miles) in extent. They are located in a long archipelago stretching from Arbutania to Notales, and are around 353 km from mainland Tarephia at their closest point. The islands lie between latitudes 4° and 6°N, and longitudes 40° and 42°E.

Of the 55 islands, seven are populated: Asuncion, Bonavista, Caleta, Guayacan, Jinty, Lion Island, and Saint Isabelle; the majority of the population lives on Bonavista.

The highest peak in Bonavista is Mount Azufral at 1,457 meters (4,780 feet). Mount Azufral is one of four active volcanoes on the islands, alongside Mount Donavon, Mount Misfortune, and Mount Tobacco. Volcanic activity is rare, with the last eruption taking place from Mount Misfortune in 2011.

Government and politics

Bonavista is a parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy, with Geoffrey VII as King of Bonavista, who is represented as head of state in the country by the Governor-General of Bonavista, currently Sir Calvin Sydney. The office of Governor-General has mostly ceremonial functions including the opening of Parliament and the appointment of various government officials. Control of the government rests with the elected Prime Minister and his or her cabinet. The current Prime Minister is Rachael Bonnet, elected in 2019 as head of the Labour Party.

The legislative branch of government is the unicameral Parliament of Bonavista, seating 20 elected members representing single-member constituencies. The parliamentary term of office is four years, although the Prime Minister may call elections at any time.

Administrative divisions

Bonavista is divided into 12 parishes:

Bonavista	Seat	km2	Saint Isabelle	Seat	km2	Guayacan and Caleta	Seat	km2
Saint Andrew	Virgin Bay	118	Saint John	Las Cuevas	212	Saint Bartholomew	Salt Harbour	97
Saint Elmo	Calliope Town	189	Saint Jude	Bentley	67
Saint George	El Monte	144	Saint Mary	St Mary's	75
Saint Luke	Barrows	159	Saint Peter	Corena	119
Saint Paul	Godley Bay	126	Saint Thomas	Port Magueriz	132
Saint Rachel	Victoria	247

Foreign relations

Bonavista has strong bilateral relationships with Ingrea and Vodeo, represented by High Commissioners in Winburgh and Saviso, as well as its island neighbours. Bonavista also associates closely with other nations of the Ingerish Commonwealth and the Tarephia Cooperation Council.

Military and law enforcement

The Royal Bonavista Defence Force is the military organisation responsible for the defence of Bonavista. It consists of the Bonavista Regiment, the Coast Guard, the Air Guard and the Cadet Corps, and numbers around 600 members. It was established in 1957 after Bonavista's independence from Ingrea. Bonavista's military and defence preparations are closely tied to defence treaties with the Ingerish Commonwealth as part of INGCOMFOR.

The Royal Bonavista Police Force is the sole law enforcement agency on the islands.

Economy

Tourism, oil extraction and processing, and agriculture are the three dominant sectors of Bonavista's economy. Agricultural produce includes fruit, vegetables, sugar cane, livestock and poultry; industries include rum distillation, construction, and boat building. Commercial fishing is also practised in the islands' waters.

Bonavista's currency is the Bonavista pound (BVP), which is pegged to the Vodean pound (VDP) at 1.00 BVP = 0.03 VDP