Whartonia

Whartonia is Jarraban’s most populous province, home to over half its population. Most inhabitants reside within a small, relatively crowded region known as “The Basin” surrounding the largest city of Derby. Initially called New Cornwall, “Whartons Land” and then “Whartonia” entered popularity following a visit from English politician Charles Kemeys Kemeys Tynte in 1832, who named the province after his mother Jane Wharton. This name was officially adopted when Jarraban became a self-governing colony in 1887.

Originally inhabited by the Goarra people, the first Europeans to settle the area (and Jarraban) arrived aboard a fleet headed by Captains Lovell and Lancaster in 1794, establishing settlements to the west of Derby. For some time during the early 19th century, a penal colony also existed at Cooks Cape on the north-western coast. Its rural areas were largely the battlegrounds for the Midlands Massacres in 1923-24, where more than 600 Indigenous people were killed due to inter-clan land disputes. Today, it is a thriving, cosmopolitan province widely termed the country’s economic “breadbasket”.

Geographically and ecologically diverse, the province has a pleasant climate marked by lower average rainfall than other coastal areas of Jarraban. The Northern Alps, including the country’s highest peak of Mount Victoria (3,140m), dominate the north, whilst a mixture of grassland, pastures and bush typifies both coastal and inland regions. Rich, volcanic soils have produced highly fertile land that is used extensively for agriculture, chiefly grain, cattle and dairy farming.