Viana Republic

Viana is a constituent republic of Verde Commonwealth.

Viana Republic
Island of Sao Vicente
Constituent Republic of Vekllei
Part of the Verde Commonwealth
Accession	1945, as part of the British Atlantic Territories
Area	226.7 km²
Capital	Mindelo
Languages	English, Verde Creole, Portuguese
Population	360,391

The Viana Republic is a constituent republic of Vekllei in the Atlantic, off the coast of the African Sahara. It comprises four desert islands, but only the largest, Viana, is inhabited. The island is roughly rectangular and flat, and rises to nearly 800 meters at its highest point, looking out over its smaller neighbours. These other islands are mountainous and almost entirely without vegetation, giving them an alien, moonlike look. The largest of them, Lucia, has no real use beyond a meteorological station run by the Bureau of Meteorology, though its slopes are protected as a national park for the endangered birds and animals that live there.

Portuguese settlers arrived on Viana in the late 18th Century. The port of Mindelo became a coaling station for British and Portuguese ships, and later an oiling station. When that trade dried up the town shrank with it, and by the time of Vekllei’s accession only about 12,000 people lived there. Mindelo has since grown enormously. Much of that growth came from being one of the first places foreign migrants settled after the Commonwealth was reestablished in 2017.

About 320,000 people live in Mindelo now, some 95% of the republic’s population. Its dense core of tower apartments resembles Singapore more than anywhere else in Commonwealth Verde. The architecture is modernist, in an odd but appealing fusion with the colour and noise of Verdean street life. Mindelo is the third most populous city in the Verde archipelago, after Java and Praia, and most of the republic’s civil service and commerce runs through it, though Viana itself has little industry beyond petroleum refining and food processing. Major corporations, government bureaus and collectives are headquartered there regardless.

Vianans are a cheerful people who do not need much excuse for a celebration. The republic’s carnival runs for a week between Shrove Monday and Mardi Gras, blending Portuguese and Brazilian Catholic traditions. Seafood is eaten constantly, and most fishing is done by spearfishing from wooden boats.

Outside the capital, Viana is greener than the rest of the archipelago but still dry, and its agriculture is mostly smallholdings, homesteads and aquaponics. Mindelo’s port has a Commonwealth Oil refinery. The republic has good schools and hospitals, the island is well connected by rail, and its airport is the largest in the region.

Climate

Hot and dry, resembling a desert climate. It is warm year-round and receives little rain.

Public Holidays

• New Year’s Day 1 Jan
• Heroes Day 20 Jan
• Carnival Late Feb
• Good Friday 30 Apr
• Commonwealth Day 1 May
• Ascension Day
• Whit Monday
• Assumption Day 15 Aug
• Republic Day 20 Aug
• All Saints Day 1 Nov
• Christmas Day 25 Dec