Istane is the fourth province to have joined the Empire. Once an empire in its own right, it was annexed in the wake of the Istanean Wars first waged over control of the region of Lusant, then the very fate of the doomed Crown of Istane. Istane today is a granary of the Empire, with wheat and olive-based products being among its chief exports. Broadleaf forests and shrubland fill the spaces in between settled farmland, with most of the population centers close to coastal tributaries along the Inner Sea. Towards the Southern border with Lusant and in the heights of the Catanian Mountains the terrain is characterized by fir forests and small villages, with hunting, forestry, and small scale animal husbandry being the main ways of life.