I don't understand something about uncolonized provinces

[Geodynamis]

Why does the amount of development of an "uncolonized" province possess sometimes vary so much? Most are just at the minimum (3), but some places, like Flores and Timor islands, have a much higher count. This has no apparent correlation to the native population count nor change the requirement of having 1000 settlers to become a province. What is going on here?

 

[Dominion]

Development is an abstraction and supposed to reflect a lot of factors (population, wealth, geopolitical importance, etc.) over the course of all 377 years of gametime, not just the state these provinces were in at the start of the game.

 

[Bouchart]

Usually the higher development uncolonized provinces are estuaries or important natural harbors.

 

[Vetgirig]

Manpower development can be seen as how many people can live in an area. In an arid area where its hard to grow food it gonna have a low manpower - but in an area with rich soil who can produce alot of food; manpower are higher.

Development is how much natural resources that is in the area and which can be used by people produce food to eat and produce other products which they can trade with other provinces.

 

[Thrake]

What would you suggest? Same base development for every uncolonized province? Boring. The actual way is a bit arbitrary but allows to make some places more attractive and model to some point the historical setup (rich regions IRL should be rich IG).

 

[Lor360]

Its partly to represent that some provinces where more wealthier than others regardless of trade goods and partly a abstraction to represent what provinces where traditionaly more important in history (thus provinces on the American eastern coast having more development than American prairie provinces in the interior that were hardly even populated by 1821)

 

[Sfan]

It's also to lead to a more historical outcome, and to make some places more appealing to the colonization. If all provinces were 3 development, there would be no race for colonization and it would be even more dull to play a colonial game.

 

[otaats]

Now that we're talking colonies, why does a colony always pick worst possible province as capital? Shouldn't the choice be up to us? It is our colony, after all.