Silica

Flag of Silicia

Map of the Marineris Valley with Silicia highlighted

**Silica** is a state in the western Western Marineris Valley region. It is bordered by Wright to the East, Colombia to the North and South Tharsis Territory to the south. It's name comes from the Silicon Valley located in US state of California, one of the most important technology centers on Earth. The state has a narrow coast along the Silica Bay. East of the bay are Silica's capital, Shockley and Silica's biggest and most populous settlement, Newborough. Both cities are major centers of cultural and technological development; With addition of the city of Monroe, the three cities form an urban agglomeration called the Golden Arch, which is home to almost half of Silica's population. The arch is also the fastest developing technology center in the solar system and one of the most politically important places in the Marineris Valley area.

## Geographical Features

Silica is known for it's big amount lakes. The biggest body of water in Silica is the Monroe lake, which on top of lie two of the biggest cities in the state. Along the Monroe Basin one can find many ore deposits, including gold, which gave rise to the name of the urban area, the Golden Arch. These deposits play a crucial part in the industry of the state.

To the east of Silica is the Silica Bay. The bay is a necesseary part of survival to the inhabitants of Silica, due to most of the area's filtration plants being located along the bay's coast. More than **90%** of the water supply of Silica comes from the Silica Bay, the other **10%** comes from the McArthur Lakes (Named after William P. McArthur), located in the north of the state.

Silica's west border is determined by the Sinai Slope. The states oldest settlement, Hestia, is located around **20** **kilometers** (**12,4** **miles**) of the slope.

## History and Culture

History of the modern Silica state begins in the year **1981** with the estabilishment of two small mining outposts by settlers from the state of Columbia. The first settlement, which today goes by the name of Hestia, was estabilished on the **7th** of January; the second settlement, which quickly became to be known as New Sacramento, was estabilished not more than a month later, on January **29th**. The outposts quickly grew into small towns instead, with the discovery of rich gold reserves on the sites, workers and their families quickly began moving in around the mining outposts.

This phenomena continued over the decades, as hundreds of different mining towns began sprouting up on the Monroe Basin. Eventually, one settlement grew more than the others; that was the town of Hermes, named by a past mayor of the city in honour to the Hermes Space Program. The town reaching **30** thousand residents in the year **2017** was officially recognized by the US goverment, and in effect the area was granted US territory status, officially gaining the name Hermes Territory. With the coming years, the population quickly began to grow by the thousands each year. The city became the fastest growing city in the West Merinara Valley region, attracting many immigrants, and more importantly, investors, particularly from the Silicon Valley region, California. Hermes became very well known about in the region, and became a famous immigration spot for the residents of the valley. Due to this wave of emigration and many investors moving there, the city humorously began being called "The New Silicon Valley" which over time changed into "Silicium Valley" to differentiate it from the region on earth. The residents of the city began associating with the name and it quickly became a way to form a cultural identity for the region. A movemen began sprouting up for the territory to officially be called the Silicium Valley. After years of ignoring the petitions, in the year **1985** the US goverment restructred Silica into the Silicium Valley Territory.

After the town started becoming much more urbanized over the years, the political outlook in the town began growing much more liberal. With some concidering the name of the town disrespectful, if not downright insulting to the souls lost in the Battle of Achilles of the Hermes Program. The decision to name the city after the project began growing more and more controversial among its residents and those outside of the settlement. With the political tension on the subject rising, protests quickly began sprouting up, which became known as the Hermes Protests. The more conservative side of the city claimed in response that the name is part of the history of the city, and is meant to honour the lives of those lost in the battle. After more than a week of escalations, the city council gave into the protestor's demands to de-escelate the conflict and calm political tension. After concideration, the town was to be renamed to Shockley, after William Shockley, who had a huge part in creating the Silicon Valley on earth.

With the growth of Shockley's most popolous district, Newborough, reaching **300** thousand inhabitants, in the year 2034 the US goverment held an official referendum to join the union as a new state, Silicia. With the majority voting yes, with the dawn of the year of **2036**, Silica officially became the **97th** state to join the union.

## Demographics

Most of the population of Silica is white, although the large population of immigrants is very diverse in nationality and ethnicity. The second largest ethnicity in nation is hispanic and the third largest is chinese. The Immigrants come from all over the solar system, mainly due to Silica's Golden Arch economic opportunities.

Silica's biggest religion is protestantism, making up around **60%** of the total population. The second biggest is roman catholicism, the third largest being hinduism. Many other religions are practiced, although they are statistical minorities. The large protestant majority is a reflection of the place of origin of the of first and second generation settlers, which is the pacific coast on earth.

**51.75%** of the population of Silica is female, the remaining **49.25%** is male.