Basic Resources

**Almost there :)**

*No, Basic Resources are not things like  Food or  Power - those are Commodities.*

**Basic Resources** is the name given to all the land you get from using Expand Borders, Colonists, etc.

## Different Types of Basic Resources

There are 10 different types of Basic Resources: Urban Areas, Forest, Jungle, Mountains, Desert, Cleared Land, Lakes, Rivers, Grassland, Tundra.

###  Urban Areas

Urban Areas are a little bit different from other Basic Resources in that they are created immediately and cannot be used for anything. They are created when your population grows at a rate of 1km2 per 4000 population (so a nation with 5,000,000 population will have 1,250km2 of Urban Areas. Urban Areas consume one Power per 5km2 (so a nation with a population of 5,000,000 will consume 250 Power per half hour). One downside of Urban Areas is that they cannot be destroyed so even if your population drops, you still cannot destroy the empty Urban Areas.

###  Cleared Land

Cleared Land is the one Basic Resource that can be found using Expand Borders on all continents. Cleared Land is the building block of your nation - they are used to build factories, and are also converted into Urban Areas. You cannot grow if you don't have cleared land, so make sure to constantly check your cleared land levels.

###  Forest

Forests are primarily found on Westberg and San Sebastian. They can be used for just one factory (Sawmill) and can be cheaply converted into cleared land.

**Sawmill (Forest):** 4 Money, 7 Power for 4 Building Materials (per half hour). Uses 10km2 of Forest.

**Lumberjack:** Converts 10km2 of Forest into 10km2 of Cleared Land.

###  Jungle

Jungles are primarily found on Amarino. The can be used for just one factory, the Sawmill (Rainforest), and can be cheaply converted into cleared land, using a Jungler

###  Mountains

Mountains are primarily found on Tind. They can also be found on Westberg. They can be used for one factory, the  Quarry, and can be converted into cleared land using a Pickaxe.

###  Lakes

Lakes are found anywhere. They are good for energy production as you can build  Hydro Dams on them. They CANNOT be converted into cleared land. (mainly due to being a very good basic resource)

###  Rivers

Rivers can be found anywhere as well. They are good for energy production, as you can build  Hydro Plants on them. Rivers also cannot be converted into cleared land.

###  Grassland

Grasslands are primarily found in Westberg, but can also be found in Tind. They cannot be used for any factories but can be turned into cleared land using a Lawn Mower.

###  Tundra

Tundra are found mainly in Tind. They cannot be used for any factories but can be turned into cleared land using a Fertilizer.

###  Desert

Deserts are mainly found in Zaheria. They can be used for one factory, the Sandstone Quarry, and can be converted into cleared land using an Irrigator.

## How to Obtain Basic Resources

Basic Resources can be gained in many different ways: Expanding Borders, Missions, Wars.

### Expand Borders

**Expand Borders** is probably the easiest way to gain Basic Resources. All you need to do is go to the Item Shop, find the thing on the right, buy them and use them. The Basic Resources gained will vary depending on which continent (Westberg, Tind, etc) you are on.

**Land Expropriation** is basically a cheaper Expand Borders, but your people will become unhappy when you use it.

**Colonists** work on the same premise as Expand Borders except they're a hell of a lot more expensive. (generally, you should only buy them when they're on sale) However, unlike Expand Borders, you can use them on continents which your nation is not primarily situated on (e.g. a nation on San Sebastian might use a Colonist and form a colony on Amarino to get tropical resources).

### Missions

Some missions will grant you Basic Resources as a reward for completing them (e.g. Homeland Offense grants you Forests upon completion).

Only one mission grants you land when you complete it:

* Homeland Offense (Forest) (see right)

### Wars

When you have reached at least 2 battles in any war, you have the option of offering the annexation of the enemy nation(s). If they accept, this takes land from their nation and gives it to you (along with some other flora and fauna). If you win 5 battles in a war, then you can demand the annexation of your opponent. This forces them to cede 5% (or 10, not entirely sure) of their Basic Resources. These Basic Resources are given to you.

### Cards

Some cards will also give basic resources when exhausted, such as: Annexing Foreign Lands, Total Blackout, or Artificial Lakes, Real Power.

## Basic Resources Box

The Basic Resources Box can be found in the centre column on your home page. This tells you how many of each Basic Resource you have (for everything but Rivers in km2, for Rivers in km). The black script tells you how many of that resource you have available and the grey script tells you how much of that resource you have overall.

## What to do with Basic Resources

With the exception of Urban Areas, Grassland and Tundra, the other three can be used to build Factories, and the majority of factories are built on cleared land, and the rest can produce building materials (though isn't the most efficient), but the rivers and lakes can give you cheap, cheap energy.

Urban areas are for your people, and cannot be made nor destroyed. They are passively made from cleared land, and once you run out of cleared land, you cannot grow. (this is all also stated above).

Basic Resources can also be used as a flex. Because you can only gain Basic Resources through expanding your borders once a day, Basic Resources can be used as a bit of a flex (eg look how long I've been playing).