Goberna

Click here to listen to Goberna's anthem!


 * Not to confused with the City of Goberna or King Carlos Goberna.

The City of Goberna is the capital of Western Shops, and is the smallest capital city on Shops Island. It was founded as a financial and residential hub and capital of the Industrial Division. Goberna was named in honor of Castilla's king, King Carlos. The city lies low, and is only a few feet above sea level. It is home to many Castillan and Latin Antarctican immigrants, which gives Goberna a distinct Castillan culture.

Goberna has been known to receive an uncanny amount of attention from the Shopper government in contrast to other cities. Goberna is the only city (Other than Shops City) on Shops Island to have its own flag. This has raised suspicion especially considering how small Goberna is compared to other cities on Shops. Goberna's flag was originally just Shops' coat of arms on a lavender-colored background, to symbolize the industry and Shopper values the city was founded on. Soon after, though, the same crown worn by King Carlos was added to the flag to symbolize the Castillan essence of Goberna. The city has been trying to rebuild itself ever since a devastating attack by the Nexonans led the Shoppers to annihilate Goberna in an attempt to exterminate the enemy.

History
Goberna's history isn't very detailed, as the city is very young. Goberna was founded in May 2013 as part of the Shops Industrial Development Policy, and it replaced the run-down Brookelas Town as the capital of Western Shops. It's a port city, with many marinas and many ports which mainly handle imports, as private ports throughout the Industrial Division handle exports independently. Goberna was founded as a stable platform for government and economy in Western Shops, and so the government wouldn't be centralized to please only the residents of the city.

In July 2013, at the dawn of the Great Space Race of 2013, Goberna became a place for penguins working in the newly-found SIA Space Command Fleet to reside. The outskirts of the city became a popular factory destination, and the city generated lots of revenue as well.

Goberna was a target for Nexonan fire during the Fall of Nexon. After trying to put up a fight, the Shoppers ended up destroying their own city in desperation. Goberna is currently rebuilding from the damages caused by the war.

Economy
Goberna's internal economy relies on many sources, and is one of the most diverse individual economies on Shops Island. These include the factory workers that reside here, who work out of town at the factories spewed across the coast of Western Shops. The workers make lots of revenue, which has sprouted a retail business within the city that makes a fair amount of money. The city also has a port, so tariffs arriving from the port generate a considerable profit. An influx of migrant workers looking for cheap labor has increased lately. Goberna also currently makes money off of spaceports and mines run by the SIA Space Command Fleet, respectively.

Culture
The culture of Goberna is quite distinctly Castillan. Castillan food and restaurants have become popular, and most migrant workers (most of which are Castillan) coming to Shops usually settle in Goberna, which adds more depth to their internal culture. Spanish is a common language around the city, and even the clothing has become distinct and stands out from the rest of Shops. With this distinct culture, the daily life of a Gobernian, in contrast to the normal Shopper, is also different. Many residents enjoy the game of Soccer, as both hockey and baseball have been undermined there. Due to this different culture, Gobernans are known to be harsh to regular Shoppers due to the common culture difference. Boating is also a popular pastime in Goberna, due to the large marina. Many of Shops' boat enthusiasts live either here or in Port Chill. Goberna's de facto language is English, though Spanish is also a widely used language.

Places
Goberna has an array of places to go, most of which were developed to show off Shops and their allies' power and success. This sometimes gives foreigners the impression that Goberna is a propaganda city, like those widely seen in North Joseon. The Shopper government has denied these claims. There are a few places which tourists are recommended to go to, such as these featured below.

Carlos Marina - Carlos Marina is a artificially-built system of there dead-end canals lined with small docks to accompany leisure craft. It's a beautiful sight, and is the sight of many Gobernian events, such as fireworks displays and boat races. The marina is often captured in tourist manuals outlining the city.

El Reino Monumento - El Reino Monumento, which translates to The King's/Kingdom Memorial, was erected near the Goberna City Square to honor the heavy Castillan population of Goberna. It's a giant statue of King Carlos, holding a gear in one flipper to symbolize Shops, and a replica of his crown in the other, to represent Castilla. This monument also doubles as a tribute to Shopper-Castillan unity and cooperation.

President Bro International Airport - Bro Jean International Airport is Goberna's airport. It's currently the most technologically advanced, yet smallest airport on Shops. Due to the fact that it's the newest airport on Shops, and that it's also the smallest government-recognized one, respectively. The airport doesn't handle many more air liners other than SkyJet Airways and Penguin Air. The airport only has three runways, as shown on the map.

Industrial Monument of Success and Prosperity - The Industrial Monument of Success and Prosperity is the key monument of the entirety of Goberna. It symbolizes the power of Shops Island, and sings praise to the vast industry of the Industrial Division. The monument is a giant gear, with a pickaxe and a hammer crossed in front of it. The monument has gathered controversy from government activists due to it looking "extremely communist", and that it apparently sings Shops' praises too heavily. Shops denies all these claims, and says that the monument was erected to honor the hard work put in by the citizens which has resulted in Shops' numerical strength.

Goberna City Square - Goberna City Square consists of the city hall, and a giant park. It is surrounded by a circular patch of road running all the way around it, from which every other road stems from. It's recognized as the heart of the city, especially by tourists.

Antarctic Friendship Gardens - The Antarctic Friendship gardens serve as a monument to Antarctic alliance and the quest for peace between one another. It's basically a giant park, with many statues, and memorials to honor the fallen. There are also soccer pitches and one baseball diamond there, along with one track and one giant soccer pitch in an arena-like fashion.

Goberna also consists of other places, such as a business complex, three major subdivisions, and one military base not far from the airport that's used by the SIA Air Force and formerly the SIA Space Command Fleet. Telenacle cathedrals are also becoming commonplace in the city, much to the discontent of the secular government. Many of the Governance's head offices for Shops Island are located in Goberna for this reason.

Sister Cities
Goberna has quite a few sister cities that it holds special ties with; the most of any Shopper city so far.


 * Flag of Castilla.png  Toledo, Castilla
 * Flag of Regiao Lisboaguesa.png  Los Puffles, Região Lisboaguesa
 * Frankterre Flag.png  Awesome, Frankterre
 * Flag of the Seal Islands.svg  De Groot, Seal Islands
 * Flag of Castilla.png  Metido, Castilla
 * PolarisFlag.png  Millsburg, Federal Republic of Polaris
 * Flag of Calada.png  Torona, Calada
 * Bandera de Beru.png  Loma, Beru
 * Principalityofmylouflag.png  Mylou-Ville, Mylou
 * Ruscoe Federation Flag.png  Vostok, Ruscoe Federation
 * FlagROSn.png Winsburg, Snowiny
 * CityOfGobernaFlag.png City of Goberna, Shops Island
 * Culldromeislesflag.png Clarkson, Culldrome Isles (As of January 2014)

Government
Goberna's government is closely monitored by Shops' main government, and the Shops Island Council. This stems back to the fact that Goberna was built and deemed the capital on the basis of decentralizing local governments, and making them more in line with the bulk of Shops. The current mayor of Goberna is Börk Snöwten, a Sleetish immigrant who became a noticeable member of the local area's government. When Goberna was founded, he was elected by the locals as the mayor.

Goberna currently leads all of Shops in low levels of corruption, but with the least sitting government members who represent the city. Goberna's central government has often been subject of controversy, and is often criticized for being a puppet of Shops' main political structure.

Goberna itself has little jurisdiction over the separate and culturally different City of Goberna, although the Gobernians try to assert as much dominance as they can. The City of Goberna is also placed in a very inefficient place, smack in the center of the heart of all of Goberna, making the political situation in the area quite difficult.

Geography
Goberna lies low on a very plateau-like piece of land. The city is below sea level, but with a great water supply and fertile land, which is why it was chosen there to be built. To prevent almost imminent flooding by constant waves and storms, a complex systems of drains and sewers were installed to redirect as much water back into the ocean as possible. Around the city on the water is also a seawall to hold back any waves that may flood the Carlos Marina and other parts of the city close to shore.