Fourland

Federal Vez of Fourland Ferderl Vez Ferl
Flag of Fourland Flag
Motto: Curs Narens "Our Home"
Anthem: Tasenersher Tarls (Ten Thousand Years)
Capital and largest city	Camansh
Official languages	Standard Fourlandish
Religion (2021)	52.1% Belism 24.5% Christianity 20.2% Three Teachings 3.2% No or Other Religion
Demonym(s)	Fourlandish, Fourlandian
Government	Federal Monarchical Vez
• Vez	Noé Elías Melendez
• Vice President	Victoria Eva Montdero
Legislature	National Assembly
• Upper house	Senate
• Lower house	Chamber of Deputies
Establishment
• Unified	c.1000 BC
Population
• 2021 census	56,411,385
• Density	81.8/km2 (211.9/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	2022 estimate
• Total	$1.543 trillion (23rd)
• Per capita	$56,511 (23rd)
GDP (nominal)	2022 estimate
• Total	$771 billion (23rd)
• Per capita	$28,213 (38th)
Gini	32.1 medium (41st)
HDI (2022)	0.906 very high (27th)
Currency	Sartel (ⱺ) (SAR)
Time zone	UTC-6 (CT)
Date format	mm-dd-yyyy (CE)
Driving side	right
Calling code	+214
Internet TLD	.gj

Fourland, officially The Republic of the Fourlandian Isles is a nation made up of four islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It is generally considered to be part of the continent of Oceania. It has no land borders excepting those which it technically shares with Chile and Argentina/the United Kingdom through its Antarctic territories. It has a population of about 56.4 million, making it the 26th largest country in the world.

It has been inhabited for over 9,000 years, since the Ice Age began to end. The first inhabitants were from the region of modern-day Southern Chile. In about 2500 BC, people on the North-East Island discovered farming, of the cereal tenshen, which is distantly related to maize. However, not all of the tribes on the island adopted the agricultural way of life, some continued as hunter-gatherers in the rainforests of the region. In about 1000 BC, many of the tribes united to form a Vez, which formed an empire, slowly, covering most of the temperate, northern regions of the North-East Isle.

In around 200 BC, the great Vezes (King/Emperor) began his rule. During this period was the Golden Age of Fourland, where the island made many achievements in things like art, literature and philosophy, which would help lay the basis for the culture of Fourland to come. A number of religious and theological traditions were also founded at this time, which continue to have adherents today. The largest of these was Belism, declared the official religion of many sub-national areas in the Vez, to the point of eventually being declared the state religion in c. 310 AD.

The empire of the Vez started to slowly collapse in about 1200 AD. While it kept its core territory, all of its imperial holdings (e.g the descendants of the tribes which had not wished to join the Vez) became independent between that year and around 1500 AD, forming a number of rival city-states. One significant thing which happened during this time was the invention of a boat capable of traveling to Peru. It met with the Inca civilization there, and brought back some goods which did not grow natively in Fourland.

In 1774, James Cook discovered the island. His contact brought many diseases to the civilisation which its people had no immunity to-smallpox was the most devastating of these. The population was reduced by over a third, bringing it from approximately 30 million to 10 million. The Vezes there did not want to be conquered by the British, but instead wanted to establish his Vez as an international player in its own right. With the help of the British, he annexed all of the parts of the North-East Island that were not in his Vez, into his Vez. He led the country to become quite rich, trading with the European powers strategically. He also converted to Catholic Christianity, and attempted to convert large portions of his country to it as well.

The Vezes began to hold a more important role than he had before, in the early 19th century. He became at least essentially equivalent to the European King. In 1819, the Vez conquered the South Island of the Fourlandish group, and then the East Isle. A loosely federal system was established during this time, to pacify the different ethnic groups of the islands. The country was generally not allied particularly closely to Britain, instead doing what they thought to be best for them and their own interests.

The nation was somewhat cautious about industrializing, but eventually chose to encourage it in about 1840. This led to urbanization-by 1880, 60% of the population was living in cities, where previously it had been about 10%. Businesses were created which employed people to create their products in the cities. To help obtain resources for this shift, the country decided to engage in African colonization. They established a colony about as large as their main island near the colony, called Fourlandian Africa, in 1881.

During the first world war, the country did not participate. It continued industrializing, with its resources.

It was also neutral in the second world war.

Demography:

Ethnicity:

88.5% Fourlandish

10.2% European

1.1% African

0.2% Other

Native Language:

83.4% Standard Fourlandish

6.6% Other Fourlandish Language

9.8% European Language

0.2% Other Language

Religion:

52.1% Belism

24.5% Christianity

20.2% Three Teachings

3.2% Other or No Religion

Belism is a religion which revolves around the worship of the god Gar. There are said to be three Gods: Bel, who created the other Gods and the universe and is neither good nor evil, instead having "his own motivations", Ger, or Sem, who is evil demiurge of the universe who created humans, and Can who "only partially exists, or exists in a different way to everything else" and is the one who all adherents of the religion must worship "with abandon, to create order in the inherent chaos of the world created by Ger". Only Fourlandish people can follow the religion, if anybody else does, they must be put to death. It is a great shame for any Fourlandish person to not follow the religion, but they cannot be forced or coerced, in any way, to follow it. A government, however, can make it official and "endorsed by them" that all Fourlandish people must follow the Ten Great Rules (the other aspects of following the religion, while just as or more important, are more difficult to legislate and officiate), they must simply not criminalize not doing so, or force people to. It is said the values of honesty, bravery and honour are very important for men to follow. For woman, love and kindness are more important. However if there are not enough woman who exemplify the virtues of love and kindness, a separate class, or category, of men, called Amanshez, is created, made up of men who are inclined towards being loving and kind and are dedicated to those. Aside from that, all Belists must also, in general, follow the rule of "treat others like you would like to be treated"-Belists and non-Belists, Fourlandians and non-Fourlandians alike. There is also a list of Ten Great Laws, or commandments/sacraments, which must be followed by all Belists. It is very important but much more specific than the general rules of behaviour and not exactly about morality or ethics, although they are obligations.

There are about 700,000 Fourlandish people (sometimes called Fourlandians), either of heritage of citizenship, living overseas. Three quarters of these live in the United States, while most of the rest live in either Australia, New Zealand or Argentina.

Things Exported from Contact to 1900:

-Dyes

-Fur

-Precious Gems

-Wood

The largest book in Standard Fourlandish (and indeed, any Fourlandish language) is entitled Fourlandian History: A Comprehensive Guide. It contains 400 pages, each two metres from top to bottom and one metre left to right. The size of the font is 14. It is found in the libraries of all schools in Fourland.

The first dynasty of the Vez, lasting from c. 1000 BC-1400 BC, was the Cerl Dynasty. When it is not called the First Dynaty of the Vez, therefore, it is generally called the Cerl Vez.