OVERNALE  B45467A-9

Mass=.131, Surface Gravity=.525
Year=1.328 standard years
Day=25.81 standard hours
1 local year=450 local days 
3 out of 4 years gain a day
1 leap year out of 40 total years loses a day
2 leap years out of 25 40 year cycles gain a day

     Overnale was first settled around the same time as Glisten, as  a 
support base of sorts for the asteroid miners there.  As is often  the 
case with a new settlement the first colony was built on an island  to 
limit  interaction with the local ecology. Thus Griffin Island is  the 
oldest country on the planet.  When the colony was established,  Glis-
ten was at tech level 10, and Overnale between tech 4 and tech 5.  The 
problem  that  has developed since then is that Glisten  has  advanced 
much  faster  than Overnale leading to the current  balance  of  trade 
difficulties.   The various rulers of Overnale recognize the  problem, 
and trade with Glisten is limited to importing sustainable base  tech-
nology  for transportation, communication and industrialization.   Any 
excess Imperial currency acquired by the sale of agricultural goods at 
Glisten  is  reinvested in trade with Aki and  Horosho,  which  supply 
goods in demand on Overnale but not at Glisten.  Overnale  governments 
are, for the most part, engaged in deliberate slow growth industriali-
zation  plans,  and are trying fairly successfully to  absorb  changes 
into society slowly.

     The  usual  pattern of settlement on Overnale  has  involved  the 
establishment  of an urban/market/manufacture/service center  followed 
by the establishment of large ranches and farms around this hub.   Hub 
to  hub communication has largely been by ship or rail until  recently 
when the new high speed monorail system was established through Parlek 
and the Sea League.  Ships have always been armed due to the potential 
threat posed by sea monsters (36 ton swimming and amphibious killers).

     Griffin Island was settled first, followed by the urban hubs  now 
part  of  the Sea League, followed by Melorn.   Parlek  established  a 
claim  over  an enormous tract of then unsettled territory in  963  by 
paying  off the local governments of Melorn and the Sea League.   Much 
of their territory is still too dry or too remote to be exploited, and 
they  have  broken the typical Overnale farm pattern  by  establishing 
plantations  run  by wage employees.  Most recent immigrants  live  in 
Parlek  territory.  There are international treaties  covering  growth 
and  immigration,  which Parlek is party to, and  they  are  generally 
viewed  as  interested and responsible participants  in  the  planet's 
future.

     The  remaining  countries are fairly  closely  related.   Griffin 
Island  turned down an offer of membership in the Sea League  when  it 
was  formed in 916 from the city states of the central isthmus.   Nor-
land was formed in 978 by ranchers and herders from the Sea League and 
Melorn who followed the reindeer herds through the northern forest and 
felt  they had more in common with each other than with their  central 
governments.