De Groot



De Groot, officially The Metropolitan of De Groot, the Capital of Seal Islands (Dutch: Metropolitan van De Groot, de hoofdstad van Zeehondeilanden) is the capital of the Seal Islands and Verbazend Island and. It was founded as the capital shortly after the nation was discovered. De Groot's name literally means The Great in Dutch.

History
De Groot was founded first during the Batavian colonization. Previously there had existed villages and small towns in the area. It was built upon a medieval town by the name of "Rítt" - meaning "Great" in Sealien. This area became the old part of the city which has been preserved and attracts tourists each year. However, the city was expanded with the building of other regions for the population to live in. Then, in the early 90s the building of an urban city centre was proposed. It went through, and to this day the city centre is a major urban area which includes most of the countries important structures, such as the General Parliament.

Economy
De Groot has been praised for it's eco-friendly nature, that means, no factories exist in the city. There's absolutely none. De Romijn, another city on Verbazend Island, serves as the industrial centre of the country though. Since there's really not much rural land between the two cities, it could be considered a part of De Groot, in which case, De Groot does have factories. The economy of De Groot is heavily based up on the automotive industry, tourism and info technology. Farms exist on the eastern border, and go beyond the city's borders as well, up to De Schiereiland, the farming centre of the nation.

Culture
There isn't much culture in the city, except for traditional Sealien festivals, e.g. the Festival of May, widely celebrated.

Sister Cities
De Groot has a few sister cities.


 * ShopsIslandFlag2013.png Goberna, Shops Island
 * FlagROSn.png Terracity, Snowiny

Trivia

 * Batavians think the city's name sound silly because it is Dutch for "The Great".