São Vicente

São Vicente (English: Saint Vincent), officially known as the City of São Vicente, is the capital city and largest settlement in the island nation of Encarnação. The city has a total population of 515,275, the largest in the country by a margin of several hundred thousand people, being followed by Monte Bajo's population of 128,818.

The city has been the capital of the islands since its foundation in 1581, and has served as the primary hub for trade, finance and commerce, with the vast majority of important businesses in the island being headquartered in the city. The National Bank, among other smaller private banks, is headquartered in the city. The port of São Vicente is the largest in the country, capable of serving some of the largest tankers and cruise ships in the world. It is home to the majority of the government apparatus of the island, being the political heart of the nation.

The majority of the country's population lives in the capital city, with almost 24% of the country's population currently receding in it. The large population differences between the capital and the rest of the cities of the country has sometimes led to some friction between the capital and the rest of the country, with the capital's culture and politics sometimes being too different from the rest of the country's. Recent proposals have been made to separate the capital of São Vicente as its own individual administrative division for these reasons.

History
Prior to its founding, the area where the city is now located was a popular native fishing site, with several temporary fishing villages being located nearby. The city was founded in 1581 by Jungastian settlers under the command of explorer Fabrício Mateus, who had been sent under orders of the Jungastian crown to settle the island. The first contacts between settlers and natives were peaceful, with the trade of tools and manufactured goods in exchange of food and other basic resources being common. Relations however soured as time went by and the colonial effort intensified.

The first buildings in the area were simple wooden cabins and later on larger rural "estancias". A fort was eventually constructed on the outskirts of the city near the coastline in an effort to protect the colony from pirates and the rare native raid. The issue of the defense of the city from piracy was the most important for local authorities, as piracy had slowly but steadily grown into a major issue and the colony's lackluster colonial defenses meant a raid by pirates could be devastating and put the continued survival of the colony at risk.

The issue of piracy and the fear of a raid eventually grew into a reality in 1654, when a group of privateers from Mero-Curgovina attempted to seize the island in the name of the Mero-Curgov crown. The attempt however was quickly repelled by a local militia force and the remaining colonial troops stationed on the rest of the island and control was restored to Jungastia before news reached the nation of the attack. This event left a large mark on the culture of the city and the general psyche of its people to this day. The city was many decades later also landed on and occupied by SiWallqanqan forces in 1915, which occupied the city and the rest of the island for many years until 1923 in what became known as the SiWallqanqan occupation of Encarnaçao.