Syfmion
Syfmion
Sudalto (Luziycan) | |
|---|---|
 Syfmion's Yerevanweg | |
| Motto(s): Cupiditas Ius Desire the Right | |
| Anthem: Island Home | |
| The location of Syfmion (red) within Vyvland The location of Syfmion (red) within Vyvland | |
| Country | File:Flag vyv.png Vyvland |
| Province | File:Islandsflag.png Islands |
| Administering Power |  Luziyca |
| County | ? |
| Established | Aug. 15, 1948 |
| Parliament constituency | Greetmion-Persi |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Maria Krovseen (National) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 27,570 |
| Demonym | Sudaltans |
| Time zone | UTC-6 |
| Postcode | D8800-D8820 (Vyvlander) C3K 0X0 (Luziycan) |
| Phone code | 796 (SYM) |
| Elevation | 6m |
| Website | http://www.syfmion.iy.vy |
Syfmion (pronounced /ˈzʏð.mi.on/), known in Luziycan as Sudalto, is a small island in southern Vyvland, and the site of a Luziycan military base. It is approximately 5 kilometres in length and 19km2 in area, and its southern tip is the most southerly point in Vyvland; it is the only part of the island which is accessible to the general public. Issues surround the base, including the displacement of the local population of about 1500 Namorese-speaking Vyvlanders in the 1950s when the base was built, and the continued use of the base in officially neutral Vyvland. This is also the only part of Vyvland where traffic drives on the right, except the tunnel and Syfsdop.
History
The island has been inhabited for hundreds of years, with some small tools from approximately 600 BC found by the island's west coast, making Syfmion one of the first-inhabited areas of Vyvland. However, due to the island's windswept conditions, settlers quickly moved onto neighbouring islands or the Vyvlander mainland via the island of Greetmion, which lies immediately to Syfmion's north. Evidence of settlement remains patchy as much of the island is covered by the Luziycan base, which has conducted very few excavations. It is thought that the construction of the base may have destroyed some ancient artefacts.
After Namorese immigration to the southeastern islands, especially after the Third Period of Anarchy, a small Kannei Namorese fishing population settled on the island, and remained relatively independent from mainland Vyvland. The community prospered until the beginning of Amiral Jueves's regime in the 1930s; his attitude towards ethnic minorities was unfriendly, and many of the island's inhabitants perished due to a lack of support from the government. However, the devastating blow came in 1948, when the islanders were given 2 months to move off the island or face execution before the construction of the Luziycan base.
After reunification, hundreds of ex-Nationalist officials, many fearing prosecution, fled to Syfmion from across the former South Vyvland. A few of these people returned to mainland Vyvland and many emigrated, but some stayed in the town. On the night of the 26th October 1986, the VSK raided the town and captured at least 20 known Nationalist officers, escorting them back to the mainland. Although it increased diplomatic tensions, the operation helped to boost the incumbent government of Abram Zymeker in the elections that week. The Luziycan government insists that no "war criminals" live in the base.
During the Third Namo-Luziycan War, the Namorese conducted air strikes on Syfmion, mainly because it feared that the base could be used by the Luziycans to strike at northern Namor. In a series of air strikes on Luziycan sorties known as "Operation Uproot the Haddock Sea," Namorese planes bombed Syfmion daily until the end of the war. Although the Namorese government promised to avoid civilian casualties, they still emerged, and four Vyvlander citizens were killed as a result. The Namorese bombing of Syfmion was denounced by the Vyvlander government at the time, while Namor professed that the attacks were a necessary act of self-defense.
Geography
The island is an outcrop of a mostly-submerged granite ridge which runs across the western side of the southeastern islands of Vyvland. It is relatively flat, with the highest point having been at 33 metres above sea level before earthworks during expansion of the base reduced this to 18 metres.
The island is connected via a 3-km two-lane controlled-access bridge to Greetmion, the largest island in the archipelago. It contains a small, densely-populated Luziycan town of approximately 20,000 people, almost all of whom are employed in the base. In the south is the 1.3km2 vrilaan ('free zone'), which is open to members of the public, yet is accessible only by boat for a few months of the year. A few Namorese evictees and their descendants have established homes here, while a cafe and viewpoint stands at the most southerly point of Vyvland, known as the Syfsdop. A tunnel runs under the base from the bridge, after 60m (a Y junction has the right approach the town which has a tolled crossing, the left to the tunnel) which gives controlled access to the Syfsdop and base.
The Base
LAFB Sudalto
The East Luziycan government leased the majority of the island in 1948 from the sympathetic nationalist South Vyvlander government, and construction of the base began that year. Subsequent expansions brought its total area to cover almost all of the island.
Noise barriers surround the base, although the noise from the aircraft still reaches very high levels in the area immediately surrounding the base. Some noise is minimised by the east-west orientation of the runway, which ensures planes do not take off or land over land. The base contains a runway, barracks, a prison, a harbor (shared with the city of Sudalto), an obstacle course, and decommissioned missile silos.
City of Sudalto
Established in 1948 to house 3,000 soldiers, it was designed with modern amenities in mind. When completed in 1951, it had a K-12 school, the Stanley Azubah School, a strip mall, a town hall, an arena, a football field, a church, a hotel, a Base Office comprising of a library, a clinic, the town hall, and the police station, a fire station, and a deep-water port (mainly for military use).
As the base expanded, Sudalto grew with it, with a radio station coming on the air in 1961, a television station in 1964, a hospital in 1965, and several apartment blocks, and a cinema. In 1966, a school following the South Vyvlander curriculum, the Nicena School opened, followed by the 1971 arrival of McDonalds. In the 1980s, after the fall of South Vyvland, construction of tower blocks began to house the refugees, with a new high school, the Erman Sanker Secondary School opening in 1983, and in 1990, the town of Sudalto was designated a city by the military.
Today, Sudalto boasts a hospital, two Luziycan-style schools and a Vyvlander-style school, various restaurants, the Base Building, apartment blocks, a modern shopping center (opened 1994 as the Sudalto Mall), as well as three strip malls, a fire station and police station, and suburban-style houses from the 1950s, as well as a sewage and electrical system, with its own power plant (opened 1971 and uses imported coal). As of 2010, 25,381 people live in Sudalto.
Sudalto also boasts a taxi service (SAB: SAB standing for Sudalto Base, and a "Blahbus" (Blue Bus) service, of which SAB (founded 1974) charges a fare of 1 lira per 250m (a distance of 7 km would cost 28 lira), while the Blahbus (founded 1991 by the Sudalto City Council) charges a fare of 25 senti (50 cents) a ride (10 senti for children ages 5 to 13, disabled people and seniors, and free if under the age of 5).
It has an LRT station, LSYF-DT and only one newspaper, Sudalto Investigator (daily, in Vyvlander, Luziycan, and English). It has three radio stations, Talk 650 (650 AM LSYF-AM), which focuses on news in Namorese, Luziycan, Vyvlander and English, Eagle FM (98.3 FM, LSEA-FM) which focuses on Luziycan pop music and current lifestyle trends, and Belusde FM (105.8 FM, LSBL-FM) focusing on Vyvlander music, lifestyle trends and educational radio.
Politics
The City Council comprises of 8 representatives from the eight wards, of which three are at The Crescents, three in New Lorence, and two at the City Center, 3 representatives from the Luziycan Armed Forces, an honorary member appointed each year (after a year, the City Council appoints another honorary member to replace the departing person) and the Mayor, elected by the majority party of the City Council. It has always been aligned to the National Party of Vyvland since it was established in 1990 when it was designated a city, and no mayor has been not a member of the Nationals.
The island today
The island's status is hotly disputed in Vyvlander politics; the Socialist Party has pledged to bring an end to Luziycan settlement within 10 years of being elected. However, politicians are wary of disturbing trade and diplomatic links with an important and nearby country. Public approval of the base lies at around 15%. Besides the Liberals, Luziycans feel that LAFB Sudalto be maintained due to security concerns in Esquarium, although since relations were normalized with Namor in 2013, it is not as strategic as it used to be.
The Namorese government remains vehemently opposed to the existence of a Luziycan base in Syfmion---its leaders have questioned Vyvland's "genuineness" in its policy of neutrality towards Namo-Luziycan conflicts if they were willing to allow Luziycan military presence there.