Neiberin Province
Neiberin Province (Mirselec Neiberin denai), also known as Province 20, is a province of Risevne, situated in northwestern Masalne. It borders Lorudac Province to the south, Hyomeniga Province to the east and Tineye Province to the north. Its capital is Bermisaye.
Geography
History
The first historical mention of Neiberin Province dates to around 730 DN, when it is said to be part of a kingdom along the western coast of Masalne known as Nadogal; as a province then Neiberin included not just modern day Neiberin, but also part of the Barnisa Hormagos which now form the western third of Hyomeniga Province, bordering on the Hyomene Plateau. Though it was part of that kingdom, it was relatively desolate except for its coast and the fishing settlements thereon.
In the age of the Masal Kingdom, from 1027 onwards, Neiberin province was called Elsange, while its borders were redrawn such that it became a purely coastal province, much more like its present borders. With the founding of the kingdom and the increase in trade between the north and the south, Neiberin profited and grew as a conduit for goods from north and south, providing way-stations on the coastal roads. In 1091 the town of Bermisaye was officially founded, though Elsange's capital for the era remained in the town of Nosad.
Economy and Demography
The location of the province on the west coast of Masalne, facing the long continental shelf of the Risevan Home Islands, makes it an important area for the fishing industry, while its many small streams and rivers and the quality of the water therein has long been noted in the past. Because of this some of the most famous traditional products of Neiberin have been processed foods: pickles, salted fish, and the many kinds of noodles to which hard water imparts improved texture.
Even now there are many food firms in Neiberin, as well as many high-tech chemical or biological companies, similarly attracted to the natural quality of the area. These industries have replaced some of the older, more polluting extractive works; whereas stone such as granite was once quarried in the area, the industry has long since diminished. The quarries themselves have sometimes been taken over by interesting new tenants; the biomedical research branches of several large firms have recently relocated to the new Neiberin Biomedical Research Complex, completed in 2034, which is built inside one of the largest old quarries and is mostly below ground level.
