The World of The Donoverse Part 2: Columbia (Part 1)

In the last article I talked about the world at large in the Donoverse; America and the rest of planet Earth. In This Article, I want to tackle the main setting of the Donoverse; The State of Columbia.

Before I get into it I wanna say that I did breifly touched up on Columbia in my Encyclopedia Page. With all of this said, I plan to go back and add more to that page when all of this is done

To Recap; Columbia is a US state on an island in the Northern Pacific. It is located about 2.5 hours north of Hawaii by plane, and 5 hours west of Northern California by Plane. The Island itself is roughly the same size as Taiwan, and has a similar population size.

History

Columbia was first Discovered by stranded US Navy pilots in 1942. According to early anthropologists, The Island was never inhabited by any prior human civilization. The Island was quickly claimed by the US Navy in 1943, but never saw any major battles. After the war, the Island was turned over to a US Civilian government in 1947.

As soon as the first civilian settlers began to arrive on the island, Columbia began to rapidly developed in a manner akin to its East Asian counterparts (e.g. Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, etc.). Hamlets became big cities, paved airports were being built, and even industrial centers were popping up; due largely to the free market economy on the island unhampered by the Keynesian economics on the mainland. Columbia was made into an Organized US Territory in 1954, with firstborn residents receiving full US Citizenship. With that said, Columbia retained a free market economy (immune from most federal over-regulation) for most of it's territorial history. The 1950s and 1960s would see Columbia turn into an economic powerhouse, while geography & territorial status would leave it largely unaffected by the Vietnam war & social upheaval of the sixties.

Columbia, However, would be affected by the 1973 oil crisis. This led to two major paradigm shifts in the state. The first was a turning away from fifties-era suburban developments into high density condominium housing (heavily influenced by the "Danchi" apartments of Japan); marking the beginning of Columbia's transition from a land of urban sprawls to skyscraper magacities. This was complimented by the two Nuclear Power Plants (Bowling Point in 1973 and Tomahawk Canyon in 1977) entering into service. In Addition, following the Vietnam War, Columbia's territorial government pioneered a jobs program for returning Veterans; who would be put to work on construction jobs for Columbia's infrastructure projects

In 1977, Calls for statehood began when policies of the Carter administration began to negatively affect Columbia. These calls fell on deaf ears until 1981, when President Ronald Reagan began advocating for Columbia's Statehood. On Columbus Day 1984, Columbia became America's 51st State. The following month Columbia's new Electorate would vote overwhelmingly for Reagan in the presidential election.

The years between 1981 to 1999 are seen as the Golden Age of Columbia. Factors behind this Economic boom included the ongoing Reagan-era Economic boom at home, new investments from Japan, and the opening up of eastern european markets later in the 90s. It was during this time that the First American Center, the tallest building in Columbia was built. Breaking ground in 1982 and completed in 1986, First American Center ended up beating out the Sears Tower as the tallest building in the world; keeping the title until being beaten out by Australia's Gold Coast Tower in 2009. Also completed in this time period was Columbia International Airport in 1983; which was renamed to Ronald Reagan International Airport in 2005 in honor of the president after his passing

In the Early 21st Century, Columbia began implementing a Urban Renewal Program to combat its long standing urban sprawls. This meant gradually buying up suburban properties and replacing them with either parks or high density residential zones. By the mid 2020s, the project was completed ahead of scheduele. Most of the reamining suburban homes have since been either converted (e.g. tea houses or restaurants) or remain owned by elderly proprietors

Geography & Ecosystem

Columbia has a Temperate Climate similar to that of the Pacific Northwest, albeit not as rainy or cold. Daylight Savings Time is not observed in Columbia so summertime daylight hours are mild (i.e. full darkness by 8:30pm in June). However, In winter, Daylight hours are much sooner (i.e. full darkness by 5:50pm in December).

Most of Columbia's ecosystems are Temperate forests; brodleaf, coniferous, and temperate rainforests. The only major exceptions are the Inland plains, which are made up of temperate grasslands and arid chaparral. Columbia's Highest elevation is the summit of Mount Rainford, standing 14,800 ft above sea level.

Columbia's Fauna is similar to that of North America's. These include woodland mammals like raccoons, Squirrels, Otters, skunks, possums, and hedgehogs; Birds like Eagles, Hawks, Sparrows, and Owls; Fish like salmon and Talapia, and reptiles like turtles & Frogs. Columbia, however, lacks predatory animals like wolves or Mountain Lions. That Said, Columbia does have native species of Coyotes and Bobcats, though both are more docile than their Mainland counterparts. Columbia also has a native species of Brown Bear, which are also significantly less aggressive than on the Mainland and mainly feed on Plants and fish. Columbia also has a native species of small monkeys, and is the only place in the northern hemisphere with native species of wallabies and Tuataras.

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Stay Tuned for part 2