Northrop Province

The Northrop Province and Isles were a large chain of islands in the far southeast of the New Prosperity Empire. While they had been part of the Empire since late summer of 2013, a mining operation was only initiated after some rough exploratory excavating that winter. Afterward, the Northrop Mines proved to be some of the largest mines in all of the New Prosperity Empire, almost doubling the nation's iron stores within a matter of weeks. Once the mines were mostly depleted, the islands acted as a short rest-stop for travellers heading to Coda or any other destination in the vast network of shipping lanes of the New Prosperity Empire.

Discovery
During the major period of expansion in the summer of 2013, GeneralCuster14 came across the small island chain southeast of the New Prosperity Empire's mainland. Thinking nothing of it, he set torches up on the island to claim it, and left shortly after to head back home. Despite being claimed, the islands would be left alone for several months.

After a few months of empire-building and resource gathering, GeneralCuster14 discovered that the server's dynamic map featured an underground cave map. With the success of the Lockheed Mining Operation in mind, he used the map to analyze the other territories that the Empire held. This lead to the discovery of a massive cave system under the Northrop Isles, prompting further exploration.

While the Foundry and Stock building were established on the island and several trees were planted to provide wood, the islands featured no noticeable cave entrances. Frustrated, GeneralCuster14 started digging out a cave directly behind the foundry when he found a small underground cavern. The cavern didn't lead anywhere, but he was able to find a small seam of iron at the end of the cave. After digging up the ore, the last few blocks revealed another cave beyond, which in turn linked to the massive cave system that had been seen on the dynamic map. After more exploration, GeneralCuster14 and Tlo1995 both started mining the islands, bringing massive amounts of iron back to the Empire.

Later Days
Despite the initial success of the Northrop Mines, they rarely produced more than a stack of iron per mining trip at the end of the server's life. The caves had mostly been stripped of resources, though coal and redstone were still quite abundant in the deeper caverns. While not mined as much as they had been previously, the isles were still explored by occasional travellers and fortune-seekers, even, late into the server's life.

Trivia

 * Like other territories under the control of the New Prosperity Empire, the Northrop Isles were named after a real life aerospace company, that being Northrop-Grumman. Their namesake, Jack Northrop (founder of the company in question) has been viewed as a great inspiration to GeneralCuster14, an aviation enthusiast.
 * The Northrop Island Chain was the longest in the Empire, and was made up of some of the largest individual isles in the Empire, with exception to New Anarchia and Coda.
 * Coda was clearly visible from the northern-most isle in the island chain. It is possible to swim between the two locations in a relatively short time, though boats were still preferred.
 * While difficult to find, the mines under the islands turned out to be the most profitable in the entire Empire. After a few weeks of mining, the iron stores of the New Prosperity Empire almost doubled with the iron input of the Northrop Isles alone.