Isana

Isana is the capital and largest city of Risevne, and one of its three Designated Cities - cities which are treated as equivalent to Provinces. It is located in southwestern Masalne, and borders the city of Bresnga to the north, and Feladmena Province to the east. The total urban population, living within the city limits, is 13,386,740.

Isana forms the centre of the huge conurbation in the south of Risevne, known as Ibretal after the three main cities of Isana, Bresnga and Taluste, which stretches across the Feladmena Plain; together the conurbation contains around 38 million people. Accounting for around 1/6 of the Risevani population by itself, the city is both a major global city and the undisputed economic, political and social centre of Risevne.

Name

The word Isana simply means "Capital" in Classical Mirselec, the variant of the language spoken during the late first millenium DN; this reflects the fact that, for longer than most other cities, Isana has been a political centre of the Risevani. Besides this, there are many other titles, like Shakonoyenori, literally meaning "Nine-Citadel City", and Yoneiganori, literally "Blue-Gated City", after the five old city gates, three of which are still visible, which were painted blue.

Geography and Climate

The city of Isana occupies a total area of 1678 square kilometres, in a rough rectangle that occupies most of the Gardaus Peninsula and surrounding areas. To its north is the municipality of Bresnga, while to its east is Feladmena Province.

Geographically the city is clearly divided into two, by the Rushalya river and Gardaus Bay; the east was, and remains, by far the older city, while the west was only made part of the city around the 1830s, just before the beginning of the period known as the Ibakizaro, and has undergone many great changes and upheavals. The only significant elevations are the hills south of the Waranye, including Nortekone or the Swallows' Hill on which the famed Garnoye stands.

Formerly there were at least 8 known rivers which flowed into Gardaus Bay, the largest being the Rushalya; presently most of these rivers are underground, however, the only exception being the Waranye river which still flows into Gardaus Bay from the east at Ekusinada-dego.

Definition of Isana

Modern day Isana, administratively known as Isana City, is one of the first-level subdivisions of Risevne. Within this large area of the Gardaus Peninsula the original city, now known as the Old Capital {Kode Sanasir}, occupies the area between the Waranye river and the Rushalya, southwards to the Bay. The present municipality took its shape following redefinitions of borders in 2033, when two new districts in the northeast were carved out from Feladmena Province.

Unlike many other large cities in the world Isana is rarely defined in terms of a "Greater Isana"; in Risevan parlance the more often used term is Ibretal, though it includes a far larger area that stretches all the way to the other side of the Feladmena Plain in Taluste. Feladmena Province has many towns and urban areas which are often called "Hotel Towns", a reference to the extensive numbers of people commuting to work in the city and return only for the night.

Subdivisions

Main article: Areas and Districts of Isana

While Isana is considered as a single division under the City Government, it is in fact divided into ten Areas, or Remis; each one is then farther subdivided into Districts, or Dego. The areas each possess their own municipal agencies, and most affairs belonging exclusively within their districts are delegated to them, including local infrastructure. Sometimes people go so far as to suggest that Isana is in fact ten cities, rather than one, an impression bolstered by the nomenclature (since the area governments are called Municipal Offices); though the devolution of power is indeed considerable, however, the city is administratively a single unit.

City Planning

See Izanosan Plans

History

The lower valley of the Rushalya river, and the surrounding plains, have been sites of human inhabitation since time immemorial; in the neighbourhood of Narusgerya is the type site of a neolithic civilisation known as the Narusgerya culture, but this is just one of several discoveries of ancient cultures within the city; the most recent find was in 2007 in the east of the city.

Economy

Isana is one of the major financial centres of the world, as well as a centre of commerce and commodity trading.

Education

In keeping with the traditional Risevan attitude of great respect for education, Isana has a highly developed educational system, with many institutions of higher learning including the world famous University of Isana. Students from all over the country, as well as all over the world, come to Isana to study; this trend has only increased in recent decades with increasing links to developing countries, and has become such that several areas of the city are often known as "Student Towns". The famous Iruzeni musician Dinges Arildun once said of Isana that ""

Famous Areas and Buildings

This is a necessarily incomplete list of some well-known buildings and districts within the city.

Squares and Memorials

• King Sarus Square, an area in commemoration of King Sarus I under whom Masalne was united.

• Square of the Guard, a square in commemoration of the dead of the Third Global War

• Risevan Shrine to the Unknown Soldier

• Risevan War Memorial, built 1949 to commemorate the dead of the Fourth Global War

• Restoration Square, the largest and most famous square of the city

• Nisor's Arch, an arch commemorating the Restoration as well

• Gunasarne Memorial, commemorating the Nine Years' War

Commercial

• West Bay - a huge shopping district that forms the coastal half of Awenkara remis, formed by the amalgamation of many districts over time, including:
  • Victory Road, a world-famous road in the north of West Bay City.
  • Taiberseimi, literally "Above the Bridge", the generic term for the area north of the Soruta Bridge
  • Taibergute, literally "Below the Bridge", the term for the area south of the bridge.

• Belegras Dockyards, a large developmental area opened in the 2020s, and formerly part of the port

Others

• Garnoye, the famed White Fort that is a city symbol

• Isana Royal Palace, one of the three official residences of the Risevan royal family