Ibrinia

Ibrinia, officially the Commonwealth of Ibrinia, is an island nation of Northern Europa, surrounded entirely by the Alban Sea.

First settled by traders from hAlba in the tenth century, Ibrinia remained relatively isolated from the rest of Europa until recently, when advances in communication and transportation made connections between Ibrinia and the rest of the continent dramatically more easy and less expensive. Modern Ibrinia is a constitutional republic which boasts an above-average GDP and a very high quality of life as measured by several international indices. The nation is also noted as an emerging energy and technology power within the region and, thanks to its relatively "clean" sources of energy, enjoys an extremely low rate of pollution.

History
While historians dispute whether Ibrinia was inhabited in any form prior to the tenth century, details of its initial settlement can be ascertained with extreme precision. The twelfth-century Farthing Seaman's Scrolls, unearthed in the 1870's near Kwinning, reveals that Alban merchants had been visiting the southeastern Ibrinian coast since the early ninth century, primarily to gather volcanic obsidian for resale on the Europan continent. Having become familiar with the area and its relatively pleasant climate, a group of Albans led by Ailfrid Raibardsson established the first permanent settlement at Ardross Cove, four miles east of modern Ardross, in "the year when Gordrom and Haiwal both smiled on the people;" (AD 904).

Though the settlement at Ardross Cove lasted only several decades before being abandoned, it was successful enough to attract significant numbers of other North Coast Albans to southeastern Ibrinia during that time, and archaeologists estimate the insular population to have reached 3,000 by AD 1000. That number had reached perhaps 25,000 two centuries later, when changing tastes on the continent combined with a period of increasingly turbulent seas in Northern Europa to bring the obsidian trade to a virtual halt. A marked decline in immigration followed, and by 1230, it had ceased completely.

From the twelfth through the late nineteenth centuries, Ibrinia existed not as a unified nation-state but as a loose confederacy of independent cities, each of which controlled its surrounding countryside and coast. Fishing and logging constituted over 85% of the economies of these nonindustrialized states; not until the late 1850's, following the discovery of rich natural gas deposits in the Central Ridge, did industrialization begin. The subsequent importation of rail technology from the continent fueled development and connection of the cities, and by 1880, calls for a unified Ibrinian nation were beginning to find voice. Under the leadership of Gladstone Irving, 7th Duke of Ravoann, a national unification movement began to take shape; finally, in 1896, a unitary constitution was drafted and the Commonwealth of Ibrinia was proclaimed.

Over the next thirty years, under the leadership of Irving and subsequent head ministers, an aggressive program of industrialization and modernization--funded primarily by natural gas exports--was undertaken and national institutions for education and industry were introduced. Following the nationalization of the energy industry and the transition to hydrothermal grid power in the 1970's, modern Ibrinia has emerged as a respected participant in the Europan common market and an emerging, if still minor, twenty-first century power.

Geography
Ibrinia as an island is both relatively young with respect to the rest of Europa and primarily volcanic in origin, resulting in a comparatively rugged landscape. Almost 95% of the island's arable land is within 75 km of the coast, with much of that arable being concentrated on the southern half of the island. Located directly in insular center is Ibrinia's Central Ridge, a 33,000 square kilometer massif of volcanoes and resultant lava fields where foliage is scarce and wildlife is nearly nonexistent. Mountains at the apex of the Central Ridge may reach as high as 7,000 m, with steep decline thereafter. Coastal elevations are much closer to sea level, with peaks at several hundred meters for minor volcanoes and geysers.

Administration
Modern Ibrinia is a unitary republic, with all extramunicipal lawmaking power vested at the national level in the Ibrinarrgh. Administrative divisions called shires, corresponding roughly to the individual areas controlled by historical Ibrinian city-states, exist for purposes of local administration, public service, and tax collection, though identification with one's shire is gradually declining in visibility. Ibrinia is currently comprised of six shires and two nationally-administered territories:

Shires Ravoannshire (capital district) Tonshire Drossanshire Kwinningshire Presswickshire Salshire

Territories North Coast Territory Central Ridge Territory