Independence City
Independence City (Roșiori under the Carpathian Empire and Williamston during the Battlionese occupation) is the capital and largest city of the Monroe Republic. Following the unification of the Kingdom of Moldova into the Carpathian Empire, it was named the capital of the province of Rovine, a status which it maintained until the communist revolution of 1921.
During the Second World War, it became an important staging point for Carpathian troops and supplies moving south and it was bombed several times by both Iron Accords and Capitalist Alliance forces. Following the conclusion of the war and the annexation of the Rovine province by Battlion, it was renamed into Williamston, until the Declaration of Independence in 2010, when its name changed again into its present one and it became the capital of the Monroe Republic.
Independence is the Monroe Republic's cultural, economic and political center, as well as being the most well defended city in the country, due to the presence of the Republic's only airbase which houses the 1st Air Wing of the Monroe Militia.
Contents
History
Geography
Climate
Parks
Culture
Architecture
Arts and Music
Food and Drink
Museums
Media
Independence is the main media center for the Monroe Republic, with 24 radio stations, 15 television channels and more than 40 printed publications. It houses the studios of the state-owned Întreprinderea Televiziunii și Radioului Monrovian (Monrovian Television and Radio Enterprise), the country's biggest television and radio broadcaster by ratings and budget, as well as the local offices of the Carpathian Broadcasting Network, CBN South.
Printed publications include the traditional Curierul Republicii, Vocea Miliției, Ziarul Cultural, as well as several newer publications, such as the local edition of the Carpathian Scânteia and the English-language Northwest Tribune.
Sports
Independence has a growing tradition in sports, with two first league football teams and houses the national stadium of the Republic. CS Miliția and FC Muncitorul Independența are two of the Republic's most popular football teams, each holding several titles as champions of the Liga Națională and several Monroe Cups.
Football is the most popular sport and is being played year-round, followed closely by ice hockey and rugby, each with strong followings. Football violence is frequent, with fans often rioting after matches and is an increasing problem for the authorities to handle. The stadiums in Independence are overcrowded and in disrepair due to lack of funds and although there are plans to build a new stadium, a lack of sufficient money for construction is preventing them from coming to fruition
Economy
Independence is the Monroe Republic's financial center, with the biggest cooperatives and companies headquartered here. The city's economy focuses on heavy industry and boasts one of Ardem's largest transportation sector, with Monroe National, the country's state-owned railway company and numerous privately owned transport cooperatives being headquartered here.
Recent years have also seen the growth of a thriving IT sector, driven by Carpathian investments, as well as a burgeoning auto industry with the opening of a local factory by the Carpathian Thracia Automotive cooperative.
Politics
The governing body of Independence is the Municipal Council, elections to which are held on the first of September, every four years, most recently in 2018. The council has 50 members elected by collective vote in each of the city's five districts.
| 2018 Council election results | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Governing parties | Opposition parties | ||
| Separatists | 21 | Moderates | 9 |
| Pacifists | 10 | Democrats | 6 |
| Progressives | 2 | ||
| Capitalists | 2 | ||
The council is headed by a mayor, which is elected in the same election as the council and serves up to two four-year terms. The city's first post-secession mayor was Vlad Mircea and the current mayor is Radu Gheorghe.
Demographics
Education
Transportation
Air
Independence is home to the Republic's only international airport, Aurel Vlaicu International Airport, which is also the hub of the national carrier, Tahira Airlines. The airport is located North-East of the city and it is connected to Independence's public transport network by one tram line and two bus lines, all of them express routes. There are regular flights to and from various Ashenvalian capitals, as well as daily local flights to the Monroe Republic's other cities. Currently, there are plans for a connection to the city's subway system, as well as a railway connection.
Intercity Rail
Rail transport is the biggest sector in the Monroe Republic, amounting to almost 27% of the annual national GDP and given Independence's status as a railway hub, the system is well-maintained, although numerous sections are in need of modernization. Independence is serviced by three train stations, the main one being Gara de Sud (South Station), which processes an average of 40 thousand passengers per day. Several second-hand high speed InterRail IR-285 trains, purchased from Carpathia and Moldova in 2017, provide international railway services, mostly to various cities in Carpathia. In addition, there are several suburban lines, connecting some of the outlying towns in the metropolitan area, to the capital and these run hourly commuter trains. A large cargo terminal serves as the capital's main freight hub, as there are no highway connections available for heavy traffic and most cargo is delivered by train.
Urban Mass Transit
Independence boasts the most extensive public transit system in the Monroe Republic, with very good coverage throughout the city. There are currently 21 tramway lines, 50 bus lines and 13 trolleybus lines, all managed by the Întreprinderea Transportului Public Independența, or ITPI. The tram network underwent a massive modernization and expansion in 2014-2017 and as such, most of the track in very good condition. In order to service the numerous new lines, ITPI purchased a large number of second-hand VTS, V2S and Tarra T4 trams, in order to supplement the already existing NP4 and D-Wag trams. In 2019, ITPI received a second batch of VTS trams as donations from various cities in Carpathia, which have currently replaced the NP4 and D-Wag tramcars, which were in a very poor condition.
Several efforts to refurbish and modernize the VTS fleet, including an ongoing project to merge two VTS tramcars into a single articulated tram, resulting in the domestically-produced V3S-M, currently operating on line 12. Several VTS-2 bidirectional trams, with doors on both sides, exist, all of them currently servicing line 20. In addition, there are also two suburban tram lines, 1 and 12, connecting the airport and several outlying towns to the capital.
Most of the bus fleet consists of second-hand RoCar 10 articulated busses and Thracia TM3 regular busses, imported from Carpathia, although there is also a small number of modern Thracia City-N low-floor busses, currently on loan from Bucharest City. The trolleybus system is the part of the network which is in the poorest condition, serviced by very old RoCar 8E vehicles and although there are plans to replace them until 2032, nothing has come to fruition, so far.
A recently-built subway system is also present, currently undergoing final testing and station decoration and is expected to open for public use by 2032. There are currently 3 lines, all serviced by domestically designed and produced DDZ REM subway cars, as well as a small number of second-hand DSL IVA-3 subway cars, imported from Carpathia. An additional fourth line, which would connect the city center, South Station and the airport, is also planned, but currently there aren't enough funds for construction, as the existing 3 lines were built with money from Carpathian financial aid.
