POTW 10: Habagat

Some time ago I started a "Planet of the Week" tradition that only lasted a couple of months. At that point I had nothing but free time and grew bored with doing them, but now that I have a job keeping me busy during the week I find that I want to use the free time I have to make art (especially since it's an artsy job). I have decided that to help keep me occupied and sate this art lust that I will reinstate my planets of the week, starting where I left off. I believe that I have vastly improved since I last made a POTW, and hopefully will continue to improve with each new one. And now, as is traditional with these works, I will get to the literature that accompanies the image.

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This planet is named Habagat, which is the word used in the Philippines to describe the monsoon season lasting from May to October. The name is appropriate, as it is technically a "water world." Much of its surface is covered in water, with only a single island continent slightly smaller than Australia in terms of land area, though many small islands and archipelagos dot the vast oceans as well. Due to the high concentration of surface water, the atmosphere contains significantly more water vapor as well, which increases the global temperature of the planet's atmosphere. Combined with the oceanic currents carrying much of the heat from the equator to the poles, the planet retains an overall tropical climate, although there are small temperate zones as well (though hardly any land can be found in them). With no moon to stabilize its rotation, Habagat "wobbles" on its axis, causing the seasons to be erratic and weather to be quite unpredictable. Even so, every year the inhabitants of Habagat much deal with what they call the Deluge, a massive typhoon that rages for many months. Without large landmasses to impede its growth it increases in size and strength until it eventually passes over the island continent, New Luzon. The Deluge will circle the planet, losing power with each pass it makes over New Luzon until eventually it breaks apart into smaller storms. The people of Habagat have learned to live with the Deluge, and have embraced it as something to be celebrated; an affirmation of their success as a colony, the people of which have proven their mettle against the annual onslaught of nature's wrath. By now you have surely guessed, but the initial colonies established on Habagat were founded mainly by citizens of the Philippines. Many other Pacific nations staked claims on the planet, namely the Japanese, Australians, and Vietnamese (who currently comprise the majority of the population, though racial divisions long ago vanished here as the Habagatese developed their own unique cultural identity). Waves of immigrants would come every few decades--Indians, Koreans, Mexicans, and Germans in particular--and each added their own contributions to Habagatese civilization. The planet's capital and largest city, New Saigon, could best be described as a cyberpunk Venice, with a population of 19 million living in a glass-and-steel jungle of skyscrapers amongst canals and waterways on the eastern coast of New Luzon. They speak a variety of languages, the most common (and official) ones being Tagalog and Vietnamese. There is little land suitable for agriculture, and due to the wet nature of the planet most of it is used to produce rice. As such most food is cultivated or harvested from the native flora and fauna of the sea, and the planet has become a haven for culinary tourism and education due to it's magnificent seafood and award-winning sake. It is also famous for it's universities, particularly their engineering programs. They have learned to cope with powerful storms and moist conditions, which many prospective colonists find to be enormous hurtles in construction on other worlds. Millions come from all over the known galaxy, human and alien alike, to learn the secrets of Habagatese urban planning and architecture. It should also be noted that Habagat is home to the largest population of dolphins and whales in the known galaxy, who have for a long time been considered equal persons to humans (the Cetacean Union was even accepted into the United Nations before the establishment of the United Earth Federation, and are founding members of the UEF) but have struggled with low population growth and disease brought on by the damage caused by centuries of human pollution of the Earth's oceans. Unlike their brethren on Earth, who have adapted to a more "civilized" way of life, the cetaceans of Habagat live a more traditional way of life; however, there are a few populations that have frequent interaction with the humans by exporting the products of their aquaculture. Habagat has historically been a peaceful place to live, and in its 187 years of history it has only suffered a single war; the Habagat Civil War, which lasted only two months and resulted in less than 500 casualties. It is a proud, wealthy world with close ties to both the United Earth Federation and Coalition of Independent Worlds. Though the UEF and CIW are often at each others' throats, both have respect for Habagat and are usual willing to work towards peaceful solutions to disputes if the Habagatese government is willing to mediate, which has earned Habagat a reputation as the only truly neutral human world (and the nickname "the Interstellar Geneva" to the people of Earth).