Aredoa
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The Republic of Aredoa | |
|---|---|
 Flag | |
| Motto: "Prosper as One" | |
| Anthem: "Courage at Heart" | |
| Capital | Vahania |
| Official languages | English, Spanish |
| Demonym(s) | Aredoan |
| Government | Unicameral Democratic Parliamentary Republic |
| Maria Ortalez | |
| Alejandro Lopez | |
| Legislature | National Assembly of Aredoa |
| Chamber of Regions | |
| Chamber of Deputies | |
| Independence from Spain | |
| 16 September 1876 | |
| 3 August 1879 | |
| Area | |
• Total | 64,755 km2 (25,002 sq mi) |
• Water (%) | 3.6% |
| Population | |
• 2022 estimate | 29,856,398 |
• 2013 census | 28,231,503 |
| GDP (PPP) | estimate |
• Per capita | $36,860 |
| GDP (nominal) | estimate |
• Per capita | $29,450 |
| Gini (2018) | 32.8 medium |
| HDI (2018) | .926 very high |
| Currency | Aredoan Pono (ADP) |
| Time zone | UTC+8 (Aredoan Standard Time) |
| Date format | dd-mm-yyyy |
| Driving side | left |
| Calling code | +693 |
| Internet TLD | .ad |
Aredoa, officially the Republic of Aredoa, is a democratic parliamentary republic located in the International Democratic Union. The capital of Aredoa is Vahania, also the largest city. Aredoa has a population of 29,856,398 and covers an area of 64,755 km². The head of state is the President, who is directly elected by the people and fulfills a largely ceremonial yet constitutionally important role. The head of government is the Chief Minister, who is elected by the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the National Assembly and appointed by the President.
Aredoa was forcibly colonized by Spain in 1765. During the colonial period, the country was governed by the Colonial Governor of Aredoa who answered directly to the Spanish Crown. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, newer generations were growing increasingly disillusioned with colonial rule and implanted Spanish culture. A number of societies formed advocating for various Aredoan cultural interests, which all became strongly intertwined and were later pushed underground and towards armed revolution due to crackdowns by the colonial government.The revolutionaries won a majority of seats in the 1876 General Election to the Colonial Parliament; they refused to take their seats in the powerless colonial body and instead interpreted the election result as a mandate for the Revoltuionary Aredoan Congress to act on behalf of the nation. At the first post-election meeting of the Revolutionary Aredoan Congress, the Congress unanimously voted to issue the Aredoan Declaration of Independence. The Revolutionary Aredoan Army subsequently moved to occupy several towns and cities in the strongly revolutionary south-west of Aredoa, marking the start of the Aredoan War of Independence.
On the 3rd of August 1879, Aredoa officially gained its independence with the promulgation of the Treaty of Vahania, resulting in a Spanish withdrawal from Aredoa. The Republic of Aredoa was proclaimed on the same day. The Constitution of Aredoa was ratified in February 1880, establishing the framework that lays out how Aredoa is governed to this day. Modern-day Aredoa is a multi-party democracy with a strong economy, in large part thanks to the thriving tourism industry which sees tourists arriving from near and far due to Aredoa's natural beauty and culture.
Etymology
The name Aredoa emerges from the Old Aredoan phrase arah d'Oah, meaning 'land of the sun'. The sun played a prominent role in early Aredoan culture & mythology and remains a core part of the nation to this day, being emblazoned on the center of the national flag. Each year at the summer solstice, the Festival of Sun is held nationwide in celebration of Aredoan culture.
History
Early History
The earliest known modern human remains in Aredoa date back to the late Palaeolithic period. Early settlers were reliant on the sea for their livelihood, and so the first recorded permanent settlements were in coastal areas.
As the Neolithic period arrived, large farming settlements came into fruition across Aredoa, eventually forming the first towns. There was great variety in how these local areas were administered: some practiced hereditary leadership, while others had tribal councils operated by the heads of the most influential families. Modern research has explored the nature of the communal leadership of a select few early settlements.
Based on early written records, the first resemblance of a unified Aredoa was c. 100 CE. Although the country was still very much governed on a local basis with no overarching national authority, it is from this period that local tribal leaders began meeting on a biannual basis as the various Aredoan settlements had developed cultural similarities making them distinct from settlements in bordering regions. Concepts of non-aggression and trade across towns were quickly developed; in later centuries, the tribes had developed some shared conventions on inheritance, disputes, and land ownership.
Spanish Colonial Rule
Aredoa pre-colonization
By the beginning of the eighteenth century, Aredoa still lacked strong national cohesion, although its borders were widely accepted and largely match the modern day borders. Three dynasties each controlled a region of Aredoa: The Velazah dynasty, controlling North-Eastern Aredoa, the Florron dynasty, controlling North-Western Aredoa, and the Mamanté dynasty, controlling Southern Aredoa.
The dynasty heads acted as something of an informal triumvirate in governing the country at large, particularly when it came to relations with external powers and developing a shared criminal system for high crimes, but each of the dynasty heads retained almost complete control over the governance of their region save for foreign affairs and justice.
In 1765, Aredoa was invaded by Spain. The three dynasties and their heads united in their opposition to the invasion and took up arms, under the lead of Silvestre Mamanté. Mamanté was killed in battle in June 1765, leaving the Mamanté dynasty without an heir of age. The heads of the Velazah dynasty fled Aredoa shortly after the death of Mamanté, while the Florron dynasty struck a deal with Spain to voluntarily bring its territorial holdings under Spanish control in exchange for an aristocratic future for their dynasty. A political vacuum had been created amongst the native Aredoans. Leaderless and demoralized, Aredoan opposition to Spanish conquest ended shortly after Mamanté's death, with the Empire of Spain soon assuming control of all of Aredoa.
Spanish Control
During the colonial period from 1765, Aredoa was ruled by the Colonial Governor of Aredoa, who answered directly to the Spanish Crown. The Colonial Governor was advised by the Council of Advisors, consisting of wealthy settlers and influential natives who had submitted to Spanish rule; this formed an aristocracy with Councillors wielding much political power and controlling significant swathes of land, often land that was forcibly removed from natives who opposed Spanish colonization.
Spanish rule saw rapid industrialization, with manufacturing and mining becoming more prominent. Rural Aredoa remained strongly agricultural- however, with the aristocratic class controlling over 70% of farmland from 1790, farmers grew poorer despite increased output due to the exorbitant rent charged by landlords onto their tenants (whose ancestors had owned, rather than rented, the land, before it had been forcefully reassigned to the elite Spanish settlers).
In 1823, decrees were introduced to liberalize Aredoa and eliminate the resentment that was slowly building up amongst the native people against the aristocracy. The Colonial Parliament of Aredoa was introduced, giving the illusion of democracy. However, only those with property of a set value or those with income of a set value were enfranchised to vote in or stand for election, resulting in just 15% of adult men being able to vote. As a result, the Colonial Parliament was dominated by the aristocratic class, with the sons of Councillors often serving in the body to gain experience before assuming their fathers' position on the Council of Advisors. Voting requirements were progressively relaxed over time, but the Colonial Parliament remained a largely toothless body that the administration was not accountable to.
War of Independence
In the latter half of the nineteenth century, newer generations were growing increasingly disillusioned with colonial rule and implanted Spanish culture. A number of societies formed advocating for various Aredoan cultural interests, which all became strongly intertwined and collectively formed the Aredoan Cultural Congress, a body that acted as the central committee for the revival of the Aredoan culture.
The Aredoan Cultural Congress and its affiliated socities were banned by the colonial government in 1872, with seditious conspiracy given as the official reason. The societies were driven underground and continued to operate in secret. Crackdowns and arrests on the now-secret socities became more aggressive throughout the year of 1873, including the execution of five senior members for sedition against the colonial government. These developments radicalized the movement, with the majority of members soon coming to believe that armed revolution to achieve self-determination was the only viable way forward. The Aredoan Cultural Congress was rebranded as the Revolutionary Aredoan Congress in 1874 and elected an Executive Committee to take charge of the revolutionary movement. Under the lead of the Executive Committee, the revolutionary movement began to militarize as weapons were smuggled into the country and the Revolutionary Aredoan Army was established.
After success in local elections in southern Aredoa, the emboldened revolutionaries won a majority of seats in the 1876 General Election to the Colonial Parliament; they refused to take their seats in the powerless colonial body and instead interpreted the election result as a mandate for the Revolutionary Aredoan Congress to act on behalf of the nation. At the first post-election meeting of the Revolutionary Aredoan Congress, the Congress unanimously voted to issue the Aredoan Declaration of Independence. The Revolutionary Aredoan Army subsequently moved to occupy several towns and cities in the strongly revolutionary south-west of Aredoa, marking the start of the Aredoan War of Independence.
The colonial government's immediate reaction to the developments was to denounce the situation as an act of terrorism rather than a war, which the revolutionaries deemed it to be. The colonial military was deployed to the south-west of Aredoa with the aim of swiftly retaking the cities held by revolutionaries and, after facing strong initial resistance from the revolutionaries, began long-term sieges of the cities. For more than four months, revolutionary forces were intermittently besieged by the superior forces of the colonial government. The revolutionaries gained the respect of Aredoa and indeed many onlookers around the world as they fought while massively outnumbered, still managing to inflict much greater casualties on the colonial forces and showing no sign of letting up.
The breakthrough in the initial conflict came after four months of fighting. Aredoans based in areas of the country that conflict had not yet spread to became emboldened by the ferocity of the revolutionaries and organized local community resistance, carrying out their own attacks on colonial forces including sabotaging colonial infrastructure and supplies, and later- after being supplied with arms by the Revolutionary Aredoan Army- also carrying out ambushes on police and assassination attempts on colonial officials. In order to prevent the complete breakdown of order in these areas, the colonial government was forced to withdraw a significant portion of their forces that had been besieging the revolutionary strongholds to instead quell unrest in other parts of the country.
The withdrawal of these forces allowed the revolutionaries (that had previously been under siege and on the defensive for the entirety of the conflict so far) to launch counter-attacks throughout 1878, forcing back the colonial forces that were soon stretched thin. Major territorial changes were sporadic throughout the year, with the revolutionaries instead focusing on becoming more coordinated and carrying out a number of guerilla attacks to demoralize and disrupt colonial forces.
In January 1879, revolutionary forces began a coordinated operation to expand their holdings by liberating further towns and cities with the goal of inching closer to Vahania, the strongly fortified capital city that was the seat of the colonial government. In February and April 1879 respectively, the revolutionaries captured Ahonda Harbor and Bancoa Port, the two largest seaports in Aredoa that had been used throughout the conflict by the colonial government to replenish supplies and ship reinforcements in from overseas. The capture of the ports by the revolutionaries represented a significant blow to the colonial government that was becoming increasingly isolated, facing the risk of being cut off from overseas support but also becoming encircled by revolutionary forces. With the writing on the wall for colonial forces, on the 28th of June 1879 the colonial government and revolutionary forces established a ceasefire, establishing diplomatic channels for negotiating an end to the conflict without further fighting.
On the 3rd of August 1879, representatives of both sides signed the Treaty of Vahania to end the conflict. The terms of the treaty, which had been negotiated for over a month, mandated the complete withdrawal of colonial forces. In exchange, the newly established Republic of Aredoa would assume all Aredoan debt, including bearing the brunt of the damage caused by the War of Independence, and Spain was allowed to retain control of a limited number of Aredoan ports for trading use only, with any Spanish military presence prohibited.
Mere hours after the signing of the treaty, the Republic of Aredoa was officially proclaimed by the revolutionaries in a ceremony attended by thousands. The Flag of Aredoa was hoisted and an interim Charter of Governance was promulgated, establishing a provisional government and a basic political system until a constitutional convention could ratify the permanent Constitution of Aredoa.
Post-Independence Aredoa
Geography
Aredoa is an island nation located in eastern Hesperida, in the Tenebric Ocean. It shares its only land border with Mallancaland, but has a maritime border close to its north-west coast with the Slokais Islands.
Climate
Aredoa has a tropical climate, moderated by cool coastal winds. The summer months of June to August average a temperature of 28 °C (82 °F), while the winter months of December to February average a temperature of 19 °C (68 °F). The eastern region features mountains near the border with Mallancaland, also containing some tropical rainforests that have a year-round wet season and are home to a number of indigenous species.
Regions
Aredoa is divided into three provinces: Hasprana, Trolopia, and Monterra. The provinces represent the areas controlled by three respective dynasties before Aredoa was unified under one central state following Costenan invasion. In the modern day, the provinces serve no administrative or political function but have strong historical and cultural backgrounds.
For administrative purposes, Aredoa is divided into 30 regions which form the basis of the system of local government. Each region elects a council that exercises local political power through the mayor-council government system.
Aredoa's national electoral constituencies were designed to be roughly equal in terms of population and see minor adjustments each decade by an independent commission to retain this equality of population.
Demographics
Government
Aredoa is a constitutional republic with a parliamentary system of government. The National Assembly is the bicameral national parliament composed of Chamber of Deputies, the lower chamber, and the Chamber of Regions, the upper chambers. Both chambers sit in the National House of Aredoa on Vallez Street, Vahania.
The President serves as the largely ceremonial head of state, elected for a seven-year term which is renewable once. The President is strongly confined by the constitutional obligations placed on the office with little room for discretion. The President appoints the Chief Minister following their election by the Chamber of Deputies, signs bills into law, and acts as the ceremonial Commander in Chief of the armed forces. The incumbent President is Maria Ortalez, serving since the 3rd of August 2021.
The Chief Minister serves as the chief executive and head of government. They head the Government of Aredoa and nominate cabinet ministers for appointment by the President. The Chief Minister exercises executive power through the cabinet and implements policy by wielding their majority in the Chamber of Deputies. The incumbent Chief Minister is Alejandro Lopez, serving since the 16th of January 2019.
The Chamber of Deputies has 400 members (Deputies) elected to represent multi-seat constituencies under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote. The Council of Regions is composed of 120 members (Regional Delegates), appointed by Regional Councils via the D'Hondt System.
The Superior Court is the highest judicial body in Aredoa. The court is Aredoa's court of final appeal and has the power of judicial review over both national and regional government bodies. The Superior Court can strike down acts of the National Assembly and injunct the actions of government departments.