Banana Republic (BTD5)

 is the third upgrade of path 1 for Banana Farm. It produces 25 bananas instead of 13, equating to $500 per round. It appears in Bloons Tower Defense 4, Bloons TD 4 Expansion, Bloons Tower Defense 5, Bloons Tower Defense 5 Deluxe, Bloons Tower Defense Battles and Bloons Monkey City.

Appearance
It also appears different from the lower tier-1 and tier-2 upgrades. If the player upgrades a Banana Plantation to a Banana Republic, the large crate containing the banana palms is replaced by an orange building with a banana palm at the side and a fictional Banana Republic flag. This looks different in the mobile versions of the games (includes BTD5 Mobile, BMC Mobile, and BTDB Mobile), which is instead a white building with a Spanish-style roof including two banana palms in front of it.

The fictional Banana Republic flag is instead a flag of yellow, green, black, green and yellow with vertical stripes, plus a banana bunch in the center of the flag.

Strategy
Being the predecessor to the most powerful Banana Farm upgrade (at least in Path 1), a Banana Republic should be purchased as early as possible. However, in tracks with more space for placing Farms, more Banana Plantations should be purchased instead, being the most cost-efficient non-tier 4 upgrade.

Differences Between BTD5 Flash and BTD5 Mobile
Banana Republic produces more cash per round ($500 → $520).

Update History (Bloons TD Battles Mobile)
The Banana Republic formerly was less efficient than two Banana Plantations. Formerly, it was only bought as a stepping stone for Banana Research Facility or if there isn't enough space for more Farms. But after the 4.6 buff, Banana Republic is now just slightly more efficient than the Banana Plantation.


 * 4.6

Banana Republic produces more bananas per round (13 → 15).

Trivia

 * There is actually a real-life clothing store called Banana Republic (external link).
 * "Banana republic" is a pejorative term for a typically Latin American country politically unstable, submissive and often a rich country with a corrupt and oppressive ruler. Its economy is largely dependent on the export of a single product of limited resources, such as bananas.
 * It's more efficient to get 2 Banana Plantations as opposed to a single Banana Republic, because two Banana Plantations are cheaper and give more cash too (2 Banana Plantations cost $5400 and give $520 per round ($560 on Mobile), while 1 Banana Republic costs $5900 and gives $500 per round ($520 on mobile).
 * In Bloons TD Battles however, 2 Banana Plantations cost $5900 and give $840 every round, while 1 Banana Republic costs $6150 and gives $900 per round. 2 plantations will break even in ~7.02 rounds while 1 Banana Republic breaks even after 6.83 rounds. This means in Bloons TD Battles, 1 republic is more efficient than 2 plantations.
 * The flash version of banana republic produces 25 bananas while the mobile version only produces 13.
 * This is because in mobile, there are half the amount of bananas, but they are worth double the money.
 * The flash version of appearance have one tree and the mobile version appearance have two trees.
 * Strangely, in BMC Mobile, the tower appearance is the BTD5 Mobile tower appearance but the artwork is the BMC Flash appearance.
 * There used to be a glitch in BTDB Mobile where the Banana Republic description wasn't updated after the Version 4.6 buff. This was fixed in Version 4.9.
 * In BTD6, the Banana Republic did not make a comeback. Instead, the pre-existing Banana Plantation upgrade fills that role as the third-tier. This may be due to avoiding offense, particularly with regards to Central America.
 * Banana Republic hasn't been totally ditched, however, as there is a Trophy Store item available for the Monkey Village in BTD6 that raises a flag of the Banana Republic. It refers to this flag as the "Banana Flag", but the likeliness of the Banana Republic still returns.