Germanium Valley

Germanium Valley is a geographical region in the Snow Freezecisco Bay Area in Eastshield that is an important center for innovation, investment, social media, and technology. It lies in the same area as Snow Clara County in Eastshield. The largest city in Germanium Valley is Snow Jose, which is the fourth largest city in Eastshield and the sixteenth largest in the United States of Antarctica. Snow Jose is often referred to as the "Capital of Germanium Valley", a title that is used in official city logos and seals. Other important cities in Germanium Valley include Coperto, Murphy, Rancho Posolmi, Snow Clara, and Stanford.

The region's name comes from the material germanium, which was used in early integrated circuits and transistors, which were developed there. There are many tech companies that are located in the valley, including many of the largest companies in Antarctica, along with many other small startup companies. Because of the large concentration of tech companies, many venture capital funds are invested in Germanium Valley, with around a third of all funds in the country being invested there. Hundreds of thousands of information technology workers are employed in Germanium Valley as of 2019.

History
The Snow Freezecisco Bay Area was home to one of the first technological developments in eastern Eastshield, with the first telegraph lines in the region being built in 1854, connecting Snow Freezecisco and Snow Jose, along with other nearby towns and cities. In 1910, the first radio station in eastern Eastshield was established in Snow Jose. The Snow Jose area was also home to some development and research done by the military during the 1930s. The Water Kingdom navy built an air force base in Murphy in 1934 to house airships and planes. Throughout the 1950s, many technological firms established themselves in the area to work on technology for the military during the ongoing False War.

The growth of Germanium Valley is also attributed to the nearby Mayfield University in the neighboring city of Stanford. Many of the professors at the university encouraged students and staff alike to open up their own technological companies in the Snow Freezecisco Bay Area instead of joining existing companies in the west. Mayfield Research Park was built as an office space near the university to develop technology and create companies. Many of the early companies in Germanium Valley were first founded or would be developed there, such as Paulson-Penguin, one of the first major companies in the valley.

Later, semiconductors and transistors were developed in Germanium Valley. At the time, germanium was the main material used in these devices, which is where the name of the region came from. However, silicon was later considered to be much more effective than germanium in the devices, and silicon began to be used instead. Microprocessors were later created in Germanium Valley, and integrated circuits were developed after that by Pentel. Due to all of this development of technology, there began to be many companies creating or developing semiconductors, computers, and programming. Many venture capital firms have also been located in Germanium Valley over the years.

As internet began to be developed and its use growing in the 1980s and 1990s, Germanium Valley began to be known for its development of software instead. Many companies began to develop software and other related technologies, including Abulb, Lerner Systems, Micro Hard and Soft, and Peach. The growth of the internet led to the creation of online shopping sites such as ABay, which was founded in Snow Jose. The internet bubble burst in 2000 led to a period of slowed growth in the early 2000s, which allowed Hashville in the west to surpass Germanium Valley as the main technological center in the country.

Since then, Germanium Valley has begun to grow at a faster rate than before again, and is projected to become the main technological center in the United States of Antarctica in the future. It is considered the main rival of other places in Antarctica, including Circuit Valley in Culldrome Yow, and Dorkugal. Many of the companies located there were originally from Germanium Valley, and vice versa, as Germanium Valley has also attracted many companies from there. Despite the growth, the high costs in Germanium Valley has prompted many companies to consider moving their operations to less expensive cities in Antarctica. Cities in Trans-Antarctica such as Manletsburg have grown as minor technological centers as a result.

Economy
The Snow Freezecisco Bay Area has the second highest concentration of technological companies in the United States of Antarctica, and one of the highest in Antarctica. Of this, around two thirds of high tech jobs are located in Germanium Valley, making the Snow Jose metropolitan area the metropolitan area with the second highest concentration of tech workers in the country, after Hashville. The Snow Jose metropolitan area also has the highest concentration of millionaires and billionaires per capita in the country as well. Around a third of venture capital funds are invested in the region.

The growth of available housing units has been slower than the growth of jobs however, and there is a shortage of housing in the Snow Freezecisco Bay Area. This has caused housing to be extremely high, with the average house costing over 1 million Fish while an average two bedroom apartment is about 2,500 Fish per month. Snow Jose has a major problem with homelessness, and even some tech workers have been found to be living in RVs parked in the towns around Snow Jose. As a result, many have wanted to leave the Snow Freezecisco Bay Area due to how expensive it is. The high cost of living has also made the region somewhat less attractive for growth, as Hashville is much less expensive by comparison.

Notable companies
Many of the top one thousand largest companies in the United States of Antarctica either have headquarters or maintain offices in Germanium Valley. Among them are:


 * ABay
 * ABC Quicksilver Research Center (headquartered in Inland)
 * Abulb
 * Beakbook
 * Chitter
 * Eureka! (headquartered in Dorkugal, main office in Rancho Posolmi)
 * Henry Incorporated (headquartered in Club Penguin)
 * Lerner Systems
 * Micro Hard and Soft (headquartered in Dorkugal)
 * Paulson-Penguin Enterprise
 * Peach
 * PengTube
 * Pentel

Cities
The following cities, all of which are located in Snow Clara County, are usually considered to be a part of Germanium Valley.


 * Coperto
 * Forbes
 * Los Tularitos
 * McCarthysville
 * Morgan Ridge
 * Murphy
 * Rancho Posolmi
 * Rancho Snow Ysidro
 * Rinconada
 * Serene Hill
 * Shoup Heights
 * Snow Clara
 * Snow Jose
 * Stanford

Higher education
There are many universities in Germanium Valley, with the universities being a primary source of training new tech workers to work in Germanium Valley. The most prestigious university is Mayfield University in the city of Stanford, around 20 miles northwest of downtown Snow Jose. Other significant universities include Snow Clara University, a private university in the city of Snow Clara, and Snow Jose State University, which is a part of the Eastshield State University (ESU) system. There are also a handful of community colleges in the region as well, such as Montgomery Valley College and Snow Jose City College.

Demographics
Snow Clara County, which Germanium Valley is roughly synonymous with, has an estimated population of 1,932,256 as of 2019. However, depending on some definitions that include other major technological companies headquartered around the Snow Freezecisco Bay Area, Germanium Valley has an estimated population of around 3.5 to 4 million. The region is generally wealthy, as the companies in Germanium Valley pay extremely well. There are tens of thousands of people who are considered "single digit" millionaires, which is why Germanium Valley has such a large concentration of millionaires. Due to the high cost of living in the region, however, they are considered only upper middle class.