Data from area.xlsx (Spreadsheets/Full list)

Buenaventura's Wars

Constitution of the United Provinces of Buenaventura

Frontiers Theory

Heads of Buenaventura

Mineral rushes

Name - United Provinces of Buenaventura (English) / Provincias Unidas de Buenaventura (Spanish)

Continent - Americas

Capital - Ciudad Broderick [Tucson] Pimeria

Head of state - Executive Directory (collective)

Head of government - Executive Director of General Affairs Josefina Conway

Legislature - General Junta

President of the General Junta - Francisco Armando Müller

Conserving body - General Audiencia

President of the General Audiencia - Lawrence Newman

Judiciary - Supreme Tribunal of Justice

President of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice - William Wagner

Form of government - Federal republic under a democratic directorial triramic constitution

Form of law - Brougham Code (commercial), Cambacérès Code (civil, criminal, procedure)

Demonym - Buenaventuran; Buenaventurano

Area - 5,535,855 km^2

Largest cities

-San Francisco, North California - 5,220,000 (city), 9,082,000 (metro)

-Monterrey, New Leon - 3,270,000 (city), 7,524,000 (metro)

-Matamoros, New Santander - 2,769,000 (city), 5,435,000 (metro)

Time zone - TMP-07:00, -08:00

Currency - Buenaventuran peso

Language - English, Spanish

Population - 72,162,000

Density - 13.04 /km^2

National festival - Independence Day (May 5) - commemorating the Declaration of Independence (1867)

Anthem - Al Grito de Sacramento

Motto - Aurum in pace, ferrum in bello

Buenaventura's flag originates from a number of sources. The purple comes from the Comunero Revolt (1520-1521), a municipal rebellion in Castille against the imposition of Flemish administrators, which took on radical anti-feudal dimensions. For their flag, the Comuneros flew a yellow castle on a strikingly purple background, and the color purple became associated with the Comuneros in Spanish memory. And though for the next several centuries the Comuneros were remembered as enemies of Spanish monarchy, and authorities regularly referred to rebels across the Spanish Empire as Comuneros to disparage them. This only began to change over the course of the nineteenth century; with the emergence of radical, constitutionalist, and republican secret societies across the Spanish Empire, many of them called themselves Comuneros and clothed themselves in banners and cloaks of purple (now easily-produced with the rise of artificial dye).

The saltire comes from the Cross of Burgundy. A red saltire with a distinct jagged pattern to resemble pruned branches, it emerged as a symbol of Burgundy. When the Habsburgs inherited control of the Burgundian territories in 1477, they inherited the Cross of Burgundy, and when they inherited Spain in 1506, the Cross of Burgundy became a symbol of the Spanish Empire. As the Spanish spread across the world and conquered and despoiled millions in the name of wealth, they took it with them. With the ascent of the Bourbons to the Spanish throne in 1700, they inherited the right to fly the Cross along with other Spanish symbols. To bring profits up, the Bourbons engaged in a series of centralizing reforms across the colonies to increase profits. Though these reforms succeeded, long-term it ultimately alienated old colonial elites. With the establishment of a new Spanish flag in 1785, the Cross of Burgundy became a symbol of an older era of Spanish imperialism, of decentral rule which treated colonies like coeval kingdoms more than as colonies, and as such it was frequently flown by colonial revolts aimed not at deposing Spanish imperialism but at making it more amenable to colonial interests.

Additionally, the sun comes from the use of the Sun of Inti, an Inca religious symbol, as a symbol of Spanish American independentist movements. As a tall civilization undeniably distinct from the Spanish, it was obvious to harken back to its symbols. The Sun of Inti was on the flags flown by the First, Second, and Third Platinean Wars of Independence, and from there it spread across the Spanish Empire through various secret societies as a symbol of independence. Though in practice the symbol got flattened to a simple sun, it quickly became part of the radical and constitutionalist repertoire.

The territory of modern-day Buenaventura became settled, first from settlements emerging from Mexico, and then from nineteenth-century settlement around the Rio Grande by Cubans as well as by various European Catholic immigrants imported to serve as a shield against American settlement, and then the California Gold Rush (1854), creating a large diverse population speaking alternatively Spanish and English. This growth resulted in trade routes that spanned from San Francisco to San Diego to Culiacan to El Paso to Monterrey to Tampico - trade routes that became silken threads, weaving together the nation of Buenaventura. The lackadaisical Sacramento Rebellion demonstrated that some solely-Anglophone revolt would be bound to fail, and so Anglo conspirators needed to cross the language line and join with Hispanic schemers to formulate a joint revolt. From the Hispanics in general came Comunero purple and the Cross of Burgundy, and from Chilean miners came the Sun of Inti. That using such symbols, within the safety of oath-bound secret societies, had the added benefit of differentiating the Buenaventuran movement from American annexationists that could alienate Hispanics.

With the Cry of Telegraph Hill on the fateful day of the fifth of May, 1864, and the subsequent outbreak of the Buenaventuran War of Independence, the Comunero armies that emerged across the country flew a great many standards. When the great Broderick made the Cry, he flew a simple purple flag defaced, in the style of common marine flags, with a thin saltire and a lozenge with a C in the center. That this flag (albeit with differentiating blue) is today the flag of the Province of North California demonstrates its impact. This flag would be not only flown by the San Francisco Militia he led, but by Comunero rebels across the Californias, although a frequently-used alternative flag featured a sun rather than a C. Further west, in Texas, New Leon, and New Santander, rebels flew simple purple banners, or Crosses of Burgundy, or else some garish combination thereof. Less commonly, they flew banners that resembled the Pan-Spanish colors of Venezuela. Use of Crosses of Burgundy represented the rebellion's initial attempt to establish not an independent state, but rather far-reaching autonomy within the Spanish Empire, but continued even as such hopes became obviously dashed. Famously, the great Garibaldi flew a saltire much like the modern Buenaventuran flag, albeit with the national colors of his Italy and a Phrygian Cap; he continued to fly this banner when he crossed borders to fight in the Liberty and Union War (1868-76), and when he was finally buried in Caprera, this regimental flag came along with the flags of Italy, Greece, Buenaventura, and the United States into his tomb.

The flag of Buenaventura would only be decided definitively with the end of the War of Independence in 1867; the ensuing Constitutional Convention discussed the flag along with the constitution. Purple having become a national color, was a no-brainer to feature on the flag. Whether Garibaldi's regimental flag influenced the flag, or whether it was achieved independently to make a distinct-looking flag to evoke the Cross of Burgundy, remains a topic of some dispute; while Garibaldi was a Convention delegate, he spoke little and when he did, he sought to protect general republican values. It is known that the Sun of Inti came from a desire to have a distinctive symbol that could distinguish the nation from the United States and the Spanish, however. The number of rays were, like the United States' flag stars, to represent how many provinces the nation had. At the time, this was a mere 8; today, with provincial divisions and admissions of territories, this has grown to 13.

Today, the flag of Buenaventura is a beloved symbol. Distinctive yet simple, it is commonplace across Buenaventura. Every Fifth of May, Buenaventurans gather with flags in hand to watch the world-famous fireworks show of San Francisco, or the less famous but still magnificent shows of San Diego, Ciudad Broderick, Monterrey, and Matamoros. And of course, it is flown by American college students, only too happy to celebrate the independence of their western neighbor by drinking themselves into a stupor with authentic bacanora, to cries of "Drinko de Mayo!".

-note: reduce quality, make black and white

...Ciudad Broderick [Tucson] Pimeria - 530,000

(a) Stretches south to (and not including) San Mateo, and includes Oakland Berkeley, and the East Bay south to (and not including) Hayward

(b) Austin

(c) Fort Worth

(d) Houston

-Buenaventura is a country spanning Texas, the Mexican Cession, and Northern Mexico, which won its independence from Spain in 1864-7, and by today it's a bilingual English-Spanish country

-As Buenaventura's largest city (esp. following independence), SF got built up by the government as a large city and, following the 1906 earthquake, it got the Haussmann treatment of getting a lot of densified mid-rises (and expanded into its suburbs), creating a city that rivals St. Louis and Montreal to be North America's second city north of Mexico (first being New York) and is also by far Buenaventura's densest city

-Buenaventura has an economy deeply centred around oil; here, more tumultuous Arab wars of independence cut off the oil trade from them in the 50s, spiking the cost of oil but their exports make their return and the cost of oil comes way down in the 60s, with first beneficial and then very detrimental effects, and after prices return to "normal", the country desperately fights Dutch disease and diversifies by protectionist economic policies. It later benefits from sun belt growth, including some degree of migration (complicating ethnic politics)

-Monterrey is Mexico's second city in OTL, but here it gets to absorb the role of some of Texas's cities, and its economy centred from an early date around industry (thanks to nearby coal and iron deposits) means it's not as affected by oil glut as other cities, making sure it grows against other large cities to become Buenaventura's second city (with a large metropolitan area)

-The Rio Grande saw larger-scale use as it is entirely within one country here and northern Mexico's considerable oil reserves see investment in tandem with Texas's, benefiting Matamoros and giving it railroad investment and, following the 1900 hurricane, it outpaces Galveztown as Buenaventura's main Gulf port (rather than Houston doing this), resulting in a southward "Texas Triangle"

-With the Owens Valley being in a different province from LA, the LA Aqueduct never gets constructed, resulting in the city being considerably smaller

-With a smaller LA, San Diego benefits and it has a film industry (smaller than Hollywood but there's also a Spanish one for this bilingual country) because California is simply a great place to set up one and SF is too populated to set it up there

-But note that Tijuana's OTL rapid growth has to do with it being a border city - it not being one here means it's way smaller

-El Paso here is roughly the same size as OTL's El Paso-Ciudad Juarez area, but here its economy is a fair bit different and owes more to the large Rio Grande trade as well as industrial development (coming considerably earlier without Mexican wars to its south)

-In contrast, the OTL Texas Triangle is generally a bit worse off due to all the buildup of industry and oil trading elsewhere

-San Antonio was extremely important under Spanish rule and here it keeps its importance, thus its population is the same as OTL despite a less large Texas triangle

-The importance of trade routes to New Mexico and from there to California in this country gives Austin (here founded by Irish settlers, hence the name) more importance, and it turns into a metroplex along with San Antonio

-The Spanish did not build up Dallas-Fort Worth terribly, considering it too close to the border, but following the oil boom a small town quickly turned into a large city; nothing like Dallas-Fort Worth sprang up, however

-Houston (as the name signifies, named by Irish settlers after Daniel O'Connell) is far smaller than OTL, but it still benefited from rail links and the downfall of Galveztown, making it a sizeable city

-Tampico rises initially due to the oil, but later it also obtains wealth as a port as well as a border city, resulting in a diverse economy by the modern day

-Santa Fe's central location made it the country's capital and this resulted in it being built up as a city - it also gets people from a smaller cross-border Sun Belt migration, making language politics testier

-talk emerges of building a railroad from Texas to California to ease trade, especially after proven that the Buenaventura River does not exist

-railroad plan nicknamed the "Buenaventura Railroad", after it

-but Spain is generally wary of such railroad investment, builds a few for port trade though