Springwind Islands
| Springwind Islands Kepulauan Springwind |
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| Collectivity of Springwind Islands Jajahan Kepulauan Springwind |
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| Country |  Phinbella |
| Territory |  Straits Settlements |
| Proclamation of British sovereignty (Annexation) |
6 June -16BP |
| Incorporated | 1 January -6BP |
| Springwind Islands Act | 20 February RP 2600 |
| Government | |
| • President | Ikmal Hakimi |
| • Governor-General | Kim Nam-joon |
| • Administrator | Natasha Griggs |
| • Shire President | Kewin Illakyou Flyeune |
| Population (RP 2616) | |
| • Total | 99,500 |
| • Density | 10.39/km2 (26.9/sq mi) |
| Demonym | Springwind Islander |
| Demographics | |
| • Ethnic groups |
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| Time zone | PPT (UTC+5:20) |
| Postcode | 39xxx |
Springwind Islands (Phineaner: Kepulauan Springwind), officially the Collectivity of Springwind Islands (Phineaner: Jajahan Kepulauan Springwind), is a island-city and the administrative center of the Phinbellan Straits Settlements. It is made up of the eponymous Springwind Island and six smaller islands, and is located in Íeu'ryïan Straits, 200 kilometres south-east of the city of Rimba Raya, 85 kilometres south-west of Boninki Islands and 228 kilometres north-west of the closest point of Tri-State Area of Mutiara Makmur. Springwind Islands' main settlement and city centre is Tamar and is best known as an offshore financial centre offering international financial and business services via Springwind Islands IBFC since 1990 as well as being an offshore support hub for deepwater oil and gas activities in the region. It is also a tourist destination for people travelling through Straits Settlements, nearby Phinbellans and scuba divers. The island was later named after the first native born person, William Springwind Flynn and settled in the late -12BPs. Springwind Islands is often referred to as the pearl of Íeu'ryïan Straits.
Springwind Islands had a population of 99,500 residents as of RP 2616, the majority of whom live in settlements around the islands. Historically, Euronesian Phinbellans of Zaipinichi Peranakan, Greenlandic Martian, and Yapreayan descent have collectively formed the majority of the population. Today, around two-thirds of the island's population is estimated to have mixed-race of Yapreayan, Greenlandic Martian and Zaipinichi Peranakan origin (though just 21.2% of the population declared a Yapreayan ancestry in 2016), with significant numbers of Pahanese and Sanpō and smaller numbers of Hoennese and Gogobugians. Several languages are in use, including Pyeongrang Malay, Pitkern, and various Yapreayan dialects. Christianity, Shintoism and Umraism are major religions on the island. The religion question in the Phinbellan census is optional and 28% of the population do not declare their religious belief, if any.
The city is administered by the Phinbellan federal government's Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities, and together with Boninki Islands (which is about 85 kilometres to the north-east) forms the Straits Settlements administrative unit. However, the islanders do have a degree of self-government through the local shire council. Many public services – including health, education, and policing – are provided by these department, and Straits Settlements law applies except where the federal government has determined otherwise.
Native to the island, the evergreen Norfolk Island pine is a symbol of the island and also Phinbellans. The pine is a key export for Springwind Islands, being a popular ornamental tree on mainland Phinbella (where two related species grow), and also worldwide.
History
During the 1872–1876 Challenger expedition to Íeu'ryïan Coast, naturalist Jeong Mun-hwae carried out extensive surveys.
In -18BP, Captain John Mek Koi of Flying Fish Cruise, having discovered an anchorage in a bay that he named "Flying Fish Cove", landed a party and made a small collection of the flora and fauna. In the next year, Pelham Aldrich, visited the islands for ten days, accompanied by Cheon Joo-hyeon, who gathered a larger biological and mineralogical collection.
Among the rocks then obtained and submitted to Mun-hwae for examination were many of nearly pure phosphate of lime. This discovery led to annexation of the islands by the British Crown on 6 June -16BP.
The island became a Crown Colony in -16BP with James Soong appointed as the first governor and commander-in-chief, with William Napier as his lieutenant-governor. In -15BP, the Eastern Archipelago Company became the first of several British companies to try to exploit Springwind Islands coal deposits. Not proving itself a great commercial or strategic asset, administration of Springwind Islands was handed to the British North Borneo Company in -14BP. In -10BP, a submarine communications cable was built by the British to link the island's communications with North Borneo, Singapore and Hong Kong for the first time. By 30 October -8BP, the Phinbellan Government proposed to extend the boundaries of the Straits Settlements to include Springwind Islands. The proposal took effect from 1 January -6BP.
The Japanese names of each island were solved and 38 settlers from Hachijojima were sent the following year. In -6BP the islands were put under the direct control of the Home Ministry and the islanders of Yapreayan and Gogobugian ancestry were granted Phinbellan nationality in RP 2600.
In -7BP, 60–70 island people claimed ancestry among the 21th-century English-speaking settlers; however, no Springwind Islands people would acknowledge descent from these early colonists. The current residents include some who claim to be related to Nathaniel Savory. In the winter of -24BP–-23BP, Gogobugian Futurist painter David Burliuk lived in the Springwind Islands and painted several landscapes of the islands.
The Springwind Islanders were relegated to an insignificant status up through the early Shōwa period. During Galaxy War, most inhabitants were forcibly evacuated to the mainland. There was a separatist military base on Pamekasan Island run by a Major Sueo Matova (的場 末男, Matoba Sueo), who was known for engaging in cannibalism and other acts on prisoners of war. He was hanged for his crimes after the war. The Battle of Iwan Jima in -4BP, one of the fiercest battles of Galaxy War, was fought on a garrison island in this region of the Íeu'ryïan Straits. Most of the Springwind Islands area including the main town of Tamar was under the control of Allied forces within four days of the landing on 10 June.
Following Galaxy War, the islands were controlled by the military aadministration, which expelled all residents except those descended from the original settlers and/or related to them by marriage, while allowing the return of pre-war inhabitants of Zaipinichi Peranakan or Greenlandic Martian, Yapreayan or Gogobugian ancestry. The islands were returned to Phinbellan control in -4BP, after which other Phinbellan citizens were allowed to return.
