Gondowan

Gondowan (ゴンドワナ大陸 Gondwana Continent) is a large continent in Weyard and is home to Lalivero, Magma Rock and Venus Lighthouse, among other points of interest.

Geography
Geographically, Gondowan has coastline on both the Western and Eastern Oceans and is roughly in the shape of an upside down triangle. It is also connected by land to Angara to the north and is bound by the Western Sea in the south and west, the Eastern Sea in the east, and a large river south of the land-locked Karagol Sea in the north. The land around the Karagol Sea north of that river is in fact part of Angara, and a large drawbridge monitored by Tolbi soldiers crosses the river, known as Gondowan Passage. Northern Gondowan is separated from the two other regions by a huge mountain range, and the Eastern and Western regions are separated by a huge river that is often swollen with seasonal rains, and hence impassable. It is by far the widest river in either game.

Due to events at the end of Golden Sun, the nearby Continent of Indra moved southward and wedged itself between Gondowan and Osenia, creating a pseudo-land bridge between the three continents; the impact caused the Gondowan Cliffs to rise up at the point where Indra slammed into Gondowan. The main geographical features of Gondowan are the Kibombo Mountains in Southeastern Gondowan, the Suhalla Range that divides Northern Gondowan from the other regions, the Suhalla Desert, known for it's violent sandstorms, and a peninsula of land jutting out into the sea from Northern Gondowan called Idejima.

People and Culture
Gondowan contains the second largest amount of settlements of any continent after Angara (though it is unknown if it's population is correspondingly large).

The people in Eastern Gondowan are generally primitive and resemble the pre-European tribes of sub-saharan Africa. The northern Kibombo tribe are ruled by a Witch Doctor who is chosen by their deity Gabomba, a spirit that resides in a giant clockwork statue. The Southern Naribwe tribe are more peaceful and are led by a Fortune Teller figure. Western Gondowan is deserted save for a single small settlement: Gondowan Settlement.

The residents of Northern Gondowan are somewhat more civilised in comparison. Suhalla and Lalivero both seem middle eastern in culture, but both are heavily influenced by the Angara giant that is Tolbi north of Gondowan Passage, and their society is more in the nature of towns and villages of Angara rather than the tribal societies south of the Suhalla Range.

Overworld Regions
Gondowan can be divided into three regions, South-eastern Gondowan and Western Gondowan, (in the south) and Northern Gondowan in the north (above the Suhalla Range). The boundaries of these regions are based on the enemies encountered there in the Golden Sun games.

Northern Gondowan
This area contains the village of Suhalla which is south of the Gondowan Passage, and is on the edge of the Suhalla Desert. On the other side of the desert is Suhalla Gate, a mountain pass in the Suhalla Range, and northeast of there is Venus Lighthouse, the town of Lalivero, and Babi Lighthouse.

South-eastern Gondowan
South-eastern Gondowan is connected to Indra via the Gondowan Cliffs, and contains the village of Naribwe. North of Naribwe are the peaks of the Kibombo Mountains, and still north is the village of Kibombo itself. Just north of Kibombo is the Gabomba Statue, and underneath are the Gabomba Catacombs, though one is not required to enter the overworld to traverse between the village, statue and catacombs. The very south of Western Gondowan is technically part of this area also due to its list of monsters.

Western Gondowan
West of the wide river is Western Gondowan, which has its shores on the Western Sea. The Gondowan Settlement is located here, and, further inland, the fiery Magma Rock. The very south of this area is technically considered part of Southeastern Gondowan due to its array of monsters. In addition, the area north of Kibombo is considered part of Western Gondowan due to its array of monsters.

Real World Inspiration
Both geographically and culturally, it strongly resembles Africa. Its name is a mistranslation of Gondwana, the name of the continent in the Japanese release. It is also worth noting that the name appears to come directly from Gondwana, originally called Gondwanaland, a supercontinent of the Pangaea Theory that is said to have contained the landmasses of Africa, South America, India, Australia, and Antarctica. In fact, the Japanese name of the landmass is Gondwana, establishing the name as a certain derivation.