2014 Modern World STGOD Roll Call

[Steve]

To prevent confusions where I think Skywalker is someone else and such, let's go ahead and post here what our countries are again.

United States of Cascadia




Information
Formal Name: The United States and Republics of Cascadia
Short Formal Name: The United States of Cascadia
Short Name: Cascadia, the USC

Government Type: Federal Republic
Head of State: President Alexander W. Penton. (Whig Party)
Head of Government: President Alexander W. Penton (Whig Party)
Legislature: Bicameral Congress, lower chamber is the House of Representatives, democratically elected by basis of population arranged into districts; upper chamber is the Senate, elected by the states and republics of the Union.
Judicial Branch: Supreme Court, composed of nine judges with the sole powers of judicial review.
Capitol: Portland, Federal District, on both sides of the Columbia River at Portland where the states of Columbia and Oregon meet.
Major Political Parties: Whig Party, Liberal Party, Democratic Party, Conservative "Tory" Party
Minor Political Parties: Stalwart Party (Right-Military Conservatives), Labor Party (Left Trade Unionist), Evergreen Party (Left-Centrist, environmental concerns), Cascadian Socialist Party (Left Marxist), First Nations' Party (Advocates of semi-independence for the First Nation Republics)
Currency: Cascadian Dollar ($)
Population: 158,000,000 (2014 est.)
GDP: $7.94 trillion, $50,253 per capita
Major Industries: Biotech, Fishing, Logging, Shipbuilding, Computer Technology, Mineral Extraction, Aerospace
Major Imports: Rare Minerals, Consumer Goods, Foodstuffs
Energy Information: Modern power grid. Nuclear, Hydroelectric, Solar, and Wind Farms produce the vast majority of the country's power. Natural gas power common in the north near natural gas and oil fields.

Major Political Parties

Whig Party: The Whig Party is a left-centrist party that favors some government involvement in the national economy, specifically in matters of "national importance", usually defined as infrastructure and regulation of power industries and healthcare. The Whigs tend to favor restraint in giving too much government authority for fear of undermining the traditional freedoms of the nation. They will, however, support regulation where there is a demonstrated need for it.

Liberal Party: Named for their adherence to liberal laissez faire economics, the Liberal Party is considered right-wing centrist. They acknowledge "reasonable interest" in "vital areas", but favor deregulation of industry when at all possible. Liberal Party activists promote the idea of personal responsibility as part of the national character of civic virtue and duty.

Conservative Party: Derisively called "Tories' due to the early days of the Republic when they were considered monarchists, the Conservatives are not opposed to state power the same way Liberals are, believing it is necessary to safeguard the country from threats and to encourage the principles of civic duty and moral stance in the populace. Generally right-wing moralist.

Democratic Party: Founded after the Klavostani War in 1907, the Democrats believe in vox populi and the progress of society. They favor active government intervention to restrain powrful business and private interests to protect the lower and middle classes from upper class malfeasance. They oppose government power in personal and private life and believe in personal freedom, but believe powerful government regulation, taxation, and monitoring of the economy is necessary to prevent private concerns from ruining the public.

Stalwart Party: Named for the turn-of-the-century veterans movement, the Stalwarts are considered a right wing minor party due to their limited plank; the growth of the Cascadian military, especially the army, to high levels. The Stalwart Party branched out of the Liberals, Conservatives, and Whigs following the detentè with Klavostan, declaring the agreements a mistake and that the Cascadian Army should be kept at a million men in strength. The Stalwarts conistantly vote for higher defense spending.

Labor Party: The Labor Party branched off of the Democrats in 1920 mand consider themselves the oldest "unionist" party in current existence. They go further than the Democrats in their belief of economic control by the government, believing that strict laws to harshly limit business in favor of trade unions are required. Many of their votes come from the worker-owned co-ops and communes of Klamath, Oregon, and Columbia. They are considered Trade Unionist Leftists.

Evergreen Party: Founded in response to the rise of pollution in the great cities in the 1960s, the Evergreen Party are also considered leftist, but their plank is dominated by the mantra that everything done must be for the good of nature and of Cascadia's many and beautiful natural wonders. The Evergreen Party is also known for advocating the strictest punishments for illegal whaling and animal captivity.

Cascadian Socialist Party: The Marxist party of Cascadia. The Socialists advocate wide-spread constitutional reform to enact complete government control of the economy, high taxation of anyone with a six digit income, and full rapproachment with Klavostan. They are aligned to the Klavostani side of the Comintern.

Christian-Socialist Party: Counterpart of the Socialists, the Christian-Socialists beleive in the form of religious socialism practiced in the Union of Orthodox and Catholic Socialist Republics and of Holy Democratic Kagaria. They are most popular in the socialist-minded of the south's voters, who see Klavostan as a vicious enemy.

First Nations' Party: A small organization made by radical advocates of the Shoshone Republic, the FNP believes in bringing semi-independence to the First Nation Republics in preparation of taking over

[TimothyC]

Long Form: Unified Kingdoms of Hawai'i, Tahiti, Fiji & Samoa
Short Form: Kingdom of Hawai'i

[Siege]

The City of San Dorado.

Technically not a country, but you get the idea.

[Eternal_Freedom]

The Kingdom of Orion

[Ahriman238]

Isla Aurum, the Golden Isle off the coast of Dreisgrond by the trade route.

[Skywalker_T-65]

Kingdom of Arcadia: the dysfunctional group of islands where Iceland should be.

[Shinn Langley Soryu]

The Republic of Fuso.

[The Romulan Republic]

The Kingdom of Corona.

[Thanas]

The Imperial and Federal Union of Rheinland and lesser territories
The Empire of Rheinland

[Agent Sorchus]

I have 4 nations, the first is the Patron Democracy of Whimstry.
Second is the Revolutionary Council of Somad
Third is the Dictatorial Triumvirate Neru
Fourth is the Greater Repulbic of Guaran

[Jub]

I'm in as Dreisgrond and Versahinveld.

Dreisgrond has roughly 5 million square kilometers of territory and 76 million people. It's a democracy that is struggling with a continued downward spiral after the separation of Versahinveld and the loss of her colonies.

Versahinveld has roughly 1.25 million square kilometers of territory and 35 million people. It's a democracy that is dealing with the split opinions of those who want to rejoin Dreisgrond and those who are vehemently opposed to any such thing.

-----

Name: The Republic of Dreisgrond

Land Area: ~5,000,000 sq km (~1.93 million sq mi)
Climate: Temperate in the south to arctic in the north
Terrain: Highly varied terrain ranging from arctic mountain ranges, to plains, to Dreisgrondian shield
Lowest Point: Sea Level
Highest Point: Mount Bergvogels 4,718m (15,479 feet)
Arable Land: 9.3%

Noun: Dreisgrondian
Nationality: Dreisgrondian 65%, Other 35%
Languages: Dreisgrondian 70%, English 50%, Other ??%
Population: 116,492,400
Population Density: 23.30 / sq km (60.36 / sq mi)*
*The population is mostly contained within large cities with higher population densities leaving large tracts of land sparsely inhabited.

National GDP: 4.66 Trillion
National GDP per Capita: 40,000

Name: The Free Nation of Versahinveld

Land Area: ~1,250,000 sq km (~482,000 million sq mi)
Climate: Temperate, Desert, and Subtropical
Terrain: Plains, Desert, Swamp, Dreisgrondian shield
Lowest Point: Sea Level
Highest Point: Mount Steinger 5,013m (16,447 feet)
Arable Land: 70%

Noun: Versahinvelder
Nationality: Versahinveld 75%, Other 25%
Languages: Dreisgrondian 70%, English 50%, Other ??%
Population: 34,614,100
Population Density: 27.69 / sq km (71.81 / sq mi)*
*The population is mostly contained within large cities with higher population densities leaving large tracts of land sparsely inhabited.

National GDP: 1.21 Trillion
National GDP per Capita: 35,000

Rough History in Very Broad Strokes

-1,000 years: The Kingdom of Dreisgrond is formed along the south east portion of the continent where her two largest cities sit today.
-600 years: The Kingdom, through marriage and warfare expands to hold much of eastern Driesgrond.
-415 years: A plague sweeps through the kingdoms surrounding Dreisgrond but thanks to the swift onset of the plague, the closing of boarders to trade, and burning any cities that showed signs of plague, Dreisgrond is less damaged than her neighbors.
-410 years: The Kingdom starts to expand into an empire thanks to conquest of her plague ravaged neighbors.
-360 years: The Dreisgrondian Empire has expanded to slightly more than the nations present day size.
-250 years: Industrial revolution starts. Colonization starts.
-300-75 years: Wars with neighboring PC nations.
-100 years: Colony loss starts.
-40 years: Terror attacks strike major cities in what is now Versahinveld. Weak government does little to respond to the attacks. Uprisings start in Versahinveld.
-39 years: Versahinveld state level government does what national government doesn't and uses state military assets to deal with terrorist threat.
-38 years: Start of the Dreisgrondian civil war.
-35 years: End of the civil war. Creation of Versahinveld as a nation.

[Simon_Jester]

I am playing the [hard to translate, sometimes rendered as Technocracy, sometimes as Commonwealth] of Umeria.

Umeria is a nation of roughly 500 million people in economic conditions a little bit ahead of 2014-era China. It is located at the east end of the larger of the two southern-hemisphere continents.

[Beowulf]

天國民主人民共和國 or transliterated:
Tianguo minzhu renmin gongheguo
aka
Democratic People's Republic of (insert localized translation of country here (typical is Tianguo(based on grabbing the untranslated part), or Catai(based on historical names)))

[madd0ct0r]

I am the Nation of Champa

[KlavoHunter]

The People's Democratic Republic of Komradistan.

[Esquire]

In as Apelia, proper name the Confederation of the Apelians. Details to follow as time and inspiration allow.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

The Union of Orthodox Catholic Socialist Republics.

[Force Lord]

I am the Granadian State.

[RogueIce]

Country: The Shinra Republic
Demonym: Shinra (not Shinran or anything else, just Shinra, and fuck you English language I like it this way)

[That_Guy]

Republic Of Underwood.

[Gill]

Greetings from the humble republic in name only that is Belkan! Hard figures and a OrBat are pending, but I decided to go ahead and post an encyclopedia-esque introduction and see how that fits. For a best real-world fit, see Greece.

“Machine guns? Feh! We shall show them the sort of good order that wins battles and wars!”
-Colonel Horatio Abassian’s last words

BELKAN
From Maxwell’s Encyclopedia of Nations, 3rd Edition

A Brief History

Settled for a period of around four thousand years, Belkan only grew to any interest on an international interest in the last thousand and a half as a source of pike and later musket mercenaries employed over its continent and seas. With little in the way of arable soil and raw materials, Belkan doggedly refused to industrialize as other nations did two centuries ago and saw its primary export gunned down by the thousands under better equipped and increasingly better organized militaries. For the last hundred years, Belkan spiraled into poverty and has only had token attempts at modernization to its credit, with the monotony being broken only twice with a power grab by the once elected head of government (the First Vizier) and a three month long war against rebellious elements operating in the country’s northern marches.

Geography & Climate

Belkan can be broken up into three geographical regions. Most of Belkan consists of rolling hills covered by short grasses and broken only by the occasional shrub or oasis, often referred to as the heartland of the nation by its inhabitants. The modest coastal region of the country is little better and often rocky in places, and natural harbors are far and few in between. Lastly, the northern expanse of land is covered in unforgiving rocky crags, but no real mountains exist in Belkan. A dry-summer sub-tropical climate encompasses the entire land, and dry winds are a common meteorological feature. Rain is infrequent, and snow is unheard of.

Politics

Until a century ago, the Belkan government was ruled by a parliament of nobles representing the fifty noble clans whom elect a First Vizier every decade as their leader. However, the First Vizier has since become a hereditary role with the parliament now subservient to the interests of the First Vizier. Parliament only meets every two years, while the day-to-day operation of the Belkan state is run by individuals appointed by parliament or the First Vizier. Suffrage is restricted to nobles within the fifty established noble clans, and this provoked a recent war among lesser nobility. Commoners are not represented in parliament, but are typically left to run their own local municipalities under their absentee landlords, and parliament and the First Vizier will frequently petitions from their group. Members of the Belkan parliament may be male or female (the latter being introduced as the male population experienced a steep decline several generations ago) or representatives of their respective clan, but never a commoner.

Economy

The Belkan economy is incredibly reliant on its lackluster agricultural output, as wool and subsequent textiles have long been an export of the nation. While the production of wine and olives has made considerable progress in the last two centuries, the arid Belkan soil is incapable of supporting much more despite advancements in irrigation and fertilization. Just as significant is the production or iron and coal, as both have long since been staple raw materials in the nation in lieu of copper and trees. Manufacturing is largely based on the production of raw cloth, though Belkan maintains a modest series of small arms plants which remain the sole supplier of rifles and handguns for the Belkan military. While transitions into heavier manufacturing have been attempted, the Belkan automobile industry remains restrained to local markets and the lack of proper facilities and harbors have restricted Belkan to the construction of modest boats. Transportation is handled by a few token railways and relatively poor highways in the nation as few harbors exist and navigable rivers are unheard of.

Military

The most obvious sign of Belkan’s impoverished state of affairs, the military consists of two branches (the Belkan Army and the Belkan Navy) often operating old and outdated equipment. Both institutions were largely used as state owned mercenary firms until a century ago, and have since done little in the way of fighting. Nowadays, the Army and Navy serve to employ the sons of the noble clans and many of the nation’s poor. While Belkan has produced its own small arms for five centuries, most significant items must be bought from outside the nation with the exception of Belkan’s patrol submarines, minesweepers and other light, primarily coastal vessels. A wheeled armor personnel carrier, the Dragoon, remains the only indigenously built armored fighting vehicle while the twin seater, turboprop Mu-10 light attack fighter remains the nation’s only locally built aircraft to date.

Culture

Belkan society is immediately differentiated from most others for its oft-mocked fascination in elaborate headgear on the part of men. The wealth and social position of nobles can be understood by the type of hat they are wearing, and only the unfashionable go without at least a modest head covering; being without a hat is akin to being undressed. The origins of the practice have much to do with the high instance of baldness and the unforgiving Belkan Sun, and even foreigners are encouraged to find suitable headgear. Women are forbidden from wearing such articles of clothing by custom (hats, as well as facial hair, are indicators of masculinity), but they make do with varying degrees of braids and clothing that attaches to their hair instead of setting atop it.

While Belkan society is largely egalitarian, the First Vizier’s office is restricted to men and few officers in the military are female. Such gender equality is a largely a recent invention that came about as plague, famine and foreign wars killed much of the nation’s male population over the course of a century, and women have since found considerable success in their new positions if not total equality in leadership roles.

The Belkan justice system is largely handled by traditionally elected judges and professional jurors, though crimes against the state are handled by parliamentary officials. While crime, especially banditry, have proliferated in Belkan’s recent history, punishments have remained harsh for nearly two thousand years. Pillorying remains common for minor offenses (such as theft), and branding is the go-to consequence for all but the most serious of crimes where the death penalty (almost always by firing squad) is mandated for all cases of murder. Prisons remain few, though perpetrators of violent crimes are kept in them and worked in the nation’s various iron or coal mines as punishment. The abysmal conditions of the latter have been the subject of considerable international outcry.

Military service in particular is seen as a rite of passage for most Belkan adults, and conscription has never been required because of this. Nobles cannot gain access to their traditional rights and privileges (often by law) without some form of service, and failure to obtain the truncheon of an officer warrants considerable mockery from one’s peers. The lack of wars in recent years have nonetheless made the Belkan military a conservative organization with the trapping of a social club, though the emergency brought about by the recent Three Month War provoked many changes during the conflict on the part of the First Vizier’s office.