Sainðaul

**Sainðaul** (安作崎・首都特別自治区 *Sainðaul shuto tukubyes jitsiku*; traditional name in Ingerish **Sinezaool**, Gaerman **Zeinzwaül**) is the largest city and the national capital of Izaland, located one third from north of the country across the Tendan Strait. Sainðaul is one of the most crucial international hubs for culture, finance, production and tourism with about 12 million inhabitants in the metropolitan area (the National Capital District, that corresponds to the city area).

## Geography

The oldest and historical core of the is located on mount Kokendake, a less than 200 m hill located 6 km from the central station, that represents the new center of the city. As the city expanded towards the sea, expanding on the Ariston river delta and the nearby islands, since the beginning of the 20th century a wider expansion on the Kubori island side has seen major development. Until 1946, the urbanization on Kubori island was actually a different entity, as it was made up of many villages and town, being **Bajikoe** (桐塚, *Bajikoe*) the main center. Even today, going to the western side of the city is referred as "traveling to Bajikoe", although being the western part larger than the original center, the definition is quite wide, so usually one specifies in which area is heading to. Bajikoe is also the name of one of the three rivers crossing the city and eventually reaching the Sound of Pa in the western area, the other two being Jaiken river and Kunkobe river.

The city is almost located on a flat location, however many of the islands in the bay are mountainous, as Mount Romokagego (567) and Mount Kingaus (456 m), creating a beautiful views when crossing the strait.

## History

The first settlements in the current area of Sainðaul date back to 7500 BC, as the necropolis of Chikurai and Oebatsun suggest.
At that time the Ariston river delta was more inland than it is nowadays, and the civilization dwelling in this area was probably devoted to fishing.

Talking about the first record of a community in the area, the most ancient settlement was probably the nowadays Pakkishoi, then called Arawis.

## Administrative divisions

Sainðaul does not exist as a **city** (市, *shi*) per se, like the other cities of Izaland. Instead, its top level administrative definition is the **Capital Special Administration District**. The subdivisions of Sainðaul are 14 **wards** (区, *ku*):

* **Juwon-gu** (中央区)
* **Jufurai-ku** (朱布来区)
* **Kokendake-ku** (古剣館区)
* **Tomanae-ku** (庥内区)
* **Tobeskauri-ku** (鴨沼区)
* **Shiki-ku** (北区)
* **Hayatogaru-ku** (久松区)
* **Asaji-ku** (安佐寺区)
* **Niji-ku** (西区)
* **Hukusei-ku** (北西区)
* **Kōtō-ku** (港東区)
* **Bajikoe-ku** (桐塚区)
* **Shutazai-ku** (守多彩区)
* **Wikkaman-ku** (偉珂万区)

## Transportation

Sainðaul is the main hub of the whole country transportation, and all the north-south transit passes through the city. For this reason Sainðaul boasts a very specialized network of road and rail corridors, beside being the main aviation terminal of the country.

### Railways

The railway network expands north and south-west from the central station of Sainðaul Yeku, one of the busiest stations in the world, with about 2,5 users daily. From here conventional and high speed railway cross the Tandan Strait linking the city center with Bajikoe area and other destinations on Kubori Island. At the same way, from the central station other lines diramate to connect with the capital the other main cities of the Ulethain side of Izaland.

In particular, the main rail link between the two sides of the capital runs in a 3 km 6 tracks undersea tunnel, called Millennium tunnel connecting the stations of Shin-Ikashuni and Kasakuri.
Another railway link is the Line X of the subway, providing a direct connection for the northern suburbs of Sainðaul to the center of Bajikoe. Lastly, another undersea link is the Kawashaku Line, linking Bajikoe with Kawayatsu, a city north from Sainðaul on the Ulethain side.

#### High Speed Railway

The high speed trains run on a mostly dedicated alignment. The most busy link is the **Kubori Main High Speed Line** (久保李本高鐵線, *Kubori Hon-kōchessen*) linking Sainðaul Station with Warohan. Within the Capital Special Administration District the trains originating Sainðaul call at Kasakuri, the main station for the High Speed trains in Bajikoe, to head then to Sainðaul Asunahama International Airport, boasting a dedicated High Speed Railway station underneath.

Other lines stretching from Sainðaul to the continental area are the **West Sea High Speed Line** (西海高鐵線, *Seikai kōchessen*) joining with Shirukami, and the **Mountain Express High Speed Line** (山岳急行高鐵線, *Sannwaku Kyūngān kōchessen*), reaching Gaintei the access city to the highest peaks of Izaland, in the North-West of the country.

#### Projects

To decongest the millennium tunnel, a new project to build an alternative rail link between Sainðaul and Showanul is in progress, but due to the highly demanding technical challenges and the consequent costs, the building of this infrastructure is not going to happen anytime soon. This project is tentatively called **Third East-West Rail Link vision** (第三東西連絡鉄道線構想, *Deisan dōnðai lyenlakusen kusān*).