Poanha 2138

Found on the outer edge of the 'Goldilocks zone' where the temperature is just right for liquid water, Poanha was settled by Russia. Green Oxgae was seeded into the North Polar ocean and terraforming was successful in bringing an Earth like atmosphere to the planet. Unfortunately, the terraforming cooled the planet more than expected and the temperature reduced to a max of 30C in the tropics and well below freezing near the poles.

Poanha gained independence in 2149 under the Settlement Act 2109, while the planet was still relatively warm. On independence day the first snow fell and it has always snowed somewhere ever since. The North Polar ocean has frozen solid, killing all the Oxgae and the equatorial ocean height is lowering as some of the evaporated water falls as snow, becoming locked in the poles.

All settlements are along the equatorial coast where the land has been in part made lush and green. With the smallist population of a colonised planet, Poanha is self-sufficient but doesn't have any real exports.

Bears are the symbol of the nation and a few have been introduced, although some are still dependent on meat being provided for them as they were put into a place with a barely establishing ecosystem.

The central sea that wraps the equator has been successfully seeded with the food chain phytoplankton, zooplankton, small fish and large fish that ultimately feed bears. Whales, seals and penguins were also introduced although following tradition, bears are on the Northern continent and penguins on the Southern continent. The small ethnic British island settlement of Shackleton also has puffins. There is much discussion on introducing bacterioplankton as the high levels of nutrients in the water will eventually run out, necessitating the need to recycle corpses. Some divers enjoy swimming along the sea bottom seeing thousands of dead fish and seal corpses but others find it horrific and want to expand the food chain to include scavengers. A tasty variety of crab is being considered to be engineered to fill this role.

Poanha produces the best fish products not produced on Earth, along with a large variety of vodka. Shackleton gin is also prized across the human sphere.