Apasiri

Apasiri (Saramosiri: あぱしりこた む Apasiri-kotan), also known as Hokkyō (北京) or Kitazono (北園), is the largest city and of Saramosir, Chisei. It also serves as the provincial capital of Apasiri Province. Apasiri lies in the south of Asaji island, on the eastern bank of the Rusipet River.

In 2019 Apasiri had a population of 4.72 million, making it the fourth largest city in Chisei. It is the heart of the Saramosiri Central Belt, a stretching from Apeota in the north to Mauka and Apapet on the south coast, with a total population of 8,003,988. The city is divided into 15 districts, and is governed by the Mayor of Apasiri and the Apasiri City Assembly, which is the largest municipal legislature in Chisei with 490 members.

Apasiri arose as a small inland trade port in the 11th century; it was traditionally the furthest point that oceangoing vessels were able to penetrate up the length of the Rusipet, and so it was a strategic link between the coastal city states of Saramosir and the rich agricultural lands further inland. In 1426 it was occupied and fortified by Maukur of Furanui, a northern warlord. The town quickly developed into a major trade center, and by 1521 it was the third largest city on Asaji, with a population of 100,000. It was seized by Kamushain the Great in 1630, and in 1641 he made it his permanent capital. The Golden Age of Apasiri from 1645 to 1690 saw the city expand massively beyond its old medieval boundaries.

After the creation of Shirakawa-Saramosir, Apasiri would serve as the second capital of unified Chisei, and it maintained its status as a prominent administrative center until the 1771 Shokyō reforms, when power was centralised in Eito. The city's commercial and political decline served as contributing factors to its central role in the Taihei revolution of 1802, and the subsequent Chiseian Civil War. After the revolution, Apasiri and the Central Belt became some of Chisei's largest manufacturing centers, and many inventions crucial to the early industrial development of Chisei had their start in Apasiri, such as the Shinohara steam engine.

The resulting high level of, and residual discontent from the civil war, fostered a culture of political radicalism. The Socialist Party of Chisei was founded in the city in 1848, and a number of prominent early national labour activists such as Pekekur and Ozawa Akihiro had their start in Apasiri. The 1851-53 Apasiri Strike was the largest organized labour action in Chiseian history until the 1922 General Strike. Saramosiri nationalism was also a major political current throughout the late 19th and early 20th century. From 1940 to 1943, Apasiri was heavily bombed by the Yamataian Imperial Air Force. The largest raid, on March 4 1940 during the Invasion of Saramosir, resulted in a firestorm which killed 2,450 people and destroyed 22% of the city. The damage done to the city's infrastructure, along with a deliberate policy of demolition and new building by planners, led to extensive in the postwar period.

Apasiri's economy is today dominated by the. The city is a major international commercial center and an important transport, retail, events and conference hub. The Apasiri Light Festival and Apa Musical Convention are major cultural attractions, drawing more than 5 million visitors to the city annually. The city has five universities, the third largest concentration of higher education institutions after Eito and Wanshu, and the Apasiri Royal School of Medicine is particularly renowned. The highly competitive Apasiri Kyūgakkō holds annual civil service examinations and trains pupils for roles in government and business.

Toponymy
The common etymology for the name Apa-siri is 'fish-spear-head land'. An ap is the head of a fish spear. Siri from sir, meaning land or island. By another derivation the name may mean 'entrance-land', as in ape ('door'), possibly referring to the mouth of the Rusipet River, or the city's location at the southern entrance to the Rusimosir basin. The city is often known by the shortened name of Apa (あぱ); the name is used by a number of local landmarks and institutions, such as the Apa Riga, a regional football league, and Apa Rail, the municipal railway company.

The city was historically known as Cikanay ('dripping valley'). In Shirakawan, the city is sometimes known as Hokkyō (北京, 'Northern Capital') or Kitazono (北園, 'Northern Garden'), and as Abashir in.