Midways Centre, Midway

Midways Centre (Traditional Chinese: 中遠; 2015 population: 5,046) is a company town in south-central parts of Midway Special Region in the Imaginary Lands of Nicholas. It is situated on the north shore of Midway River in the Midway River Valley.

Owing to its population size and its strategic geographic location, it has been considered as a candidate for the special region's administrative seat in the 1980s. It has later been decided that Woods Bay, a hamlet in eastern parts of the region, to become the administrative seat in order to balance the administrative powers in the east.

Etymology
Midways Centre had received its name due to its proximity to the geographic midpoint of the special region. In 1993, Midways Special Region has amended its name to "Midway", removing the "s". The city council has decided to retain its old spelling, thus today, the city's name is still "Midways Centre".

History
Historically, the area is named as "Yuen" (遠; lit. far) by the indigenous population, due to its far distance from the Long Region, where most of the population resides. The area has not been settled by many for centuries. After the World Wars, petroleum has been discovered in the cold and barren Midways Special Region.

In the 1950s, Ocean Quigley Incorporated has decided to invest in oil rigs and refinery plants in the area. Midways Centre thus began as a company town in the 1950s. Midways Centre quickly grew the largest town in Midway Special Region by the 1980s, with its population peaked at 26,270 in the 1990 Census. In 1984, Midways Centre has re-incorporated as a city, to provide more public services, and to allow foreign population to move in.

Population declined over the next two decades as the oil reserve in the area has depleted. In 2013, the city was re-incorporated into a company town, where Ocean Quigley Incorporated retook the operations of the city. In 2014, Ocean Quigley decided to cease all its oil rigs' operations in Midways Centre. The company town's population thus further declined, as the staff of the former oil facilities moved out of the region. Ocean Quigley has been hiring contractors to actively demolish abandoned buildings in the area, beginning September 2013.

Today, a few oil refineries continue to operate in the area. The town continues to be home to over 5,000 residents, though the population continues to decline on a yearly basis due to a lack of natural resources and its cold subarctic climate.

Ocean Quigley estimates that it will close down the remaining oil refineries by 2019. However, residents may continue to reside in the town, and that the company will continue to maintain the town to the "best of its abilities".

Climate
Midways Centre has a continental subarctic climate (Dfc) as classified by the Köppen climate classification, with very cold winters and a mild summer.

Demography
The latest 2015 Census shows that there are 5,046 residents in the company town. It has been projected that, if the oil refinery closes down by 2019, the company town would be abandoned by the year 2025.