Île d'Émeraude

Republic of Île d'Émeraude République de l’Île d’Émeraude
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Vers la prospérité Towards Prosperity
Anthem: Hymne de l’île d’Émeraude
Capital and largest city	Port-au-Grégoire
Official languages	Gaullican
Recognised regional languages	Emeraudian Creole
Ethnic groups	Bahio-Emeraudian or Mixed (88%) Gowsan-Emeraudian (5%) Eucleo-Emeraudian (3%) Other (3%) Narapanese Emeraudian (<1%)
Demonym(s)	Emeraudian
Government	Unitary presidential republic
• President	Benjamin Claude
Legislature	Emeraudian Senate
Independence
• Granted	1952
Area
•	133,969.92 km2 (51,726.08 sq mi)
Population
• 2021 estimate	1,546,923
• Density	12.62/km2 (32.7/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	2021 estimate
• Total	$25.123 billion
• Per capita	$16,241
GDP (nominal)	2021 estimate
• Total	$19.888 billion
• Per capita	$12,857
Gini (2021)	32.5 medium
HDI	0.75691 high
Currency	Arucian shilling
Date format	dd-mm-yy
Driving side	right

Île d'Émeraude (Gaullican: Île d'Émeraude, Emeraudian Creole: Zile Emeraude), formally known as the Republic of Île d'Émeraude (Gaullican: République de l’Île d’Émeraude, Emeraudian Creole: Repiblik de Zile Emeraude), is a small island nation located in the Emerald Isles of the East Arucian Sea. It shares maritime borders with TBD to the east, Gapolania to the southeast, Satucin to the south, Vinalia to the west, and Chistovodia to the northwest.

The first humans arrived on the island around 4000 BC, believed to have originated from Asteria Inferior. These natives, known as the Narapanese, spread and populated the island, living in isolation on the island until it's discovery by Gaullican explorer TBD in 1517 AD. The Narapanese tribes would unite to from a single tribal kingdom in 1535, but Gaullica began to conquer the island, which fell by 1542.

The island would be named Île d'Émeraude by the Gaullicans, called as such for the emerald-green waters that surrounded the island, and as disease spread and killed a majority of the native Narapanese population, white Gaullican settlers and Bahian slaves were imported, and the descendents of the slaves ended up forming a strong majority of the population that persists to this day.

After the Great War, Île d'Émeraude would become a part of the Arucian Federation, a trusteeship of the Community of Nations. After an independence referendum, and a subsequent 5-year transitonal period, Île d'Émeraude would be granted independence on September 21, 1952. In the modern day, Île d'Émeraude is an upper-middle income country with an economy dependent on finances, manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism; it has an average of 4.3 million tourists a year. Île d'Émeraude performs favorably in measurements of press freedom and democratic governance. It ranked first in the Arucians on the World Happiness Report for 2020. It's a member of the Community of Nations, the Arucian Cooperation Organization, the International Council for Democracy and the Organization of Asterian Nations.

Etymology

The name Île d'Émeraude, literally "Emerald Isle" in Estmerish, comes from the Gaullican explorers, who named the island after observing the emerald-green waters that surrounded the island when they first landed. The native Narapanese tribes called the island "deblaraq", which meant "homeland" in their native language.

History

note: history subject to change

Prior to colonization

The first humans arrived on the island around 4000 BC, believed to have originated on Asteria Inferior. These people, known as the Narapanese, spread and populating the island, which they named "deblaraq" (Narapanese for "homeland"), with most living on the coasts, though eventually settlement would go further inland. As the population of the island increased more and more over the course of centuries, the Narapan had formed a tribal kingdom known as the Narapan Confederation, which lasted from around 1200 CE to around 1400 CE, when the Confederation splintered between Narapan tribes, largely due to the growing cultural differences that began to appear. Soon, the different tribes that emerged from the ashes of the Confederation had distinct cultures of their own, which were influenced by many factors- primarily, terrain. Naturally, coastal tribes lived and worked differently than tribes in the hilly and mountainy interior of the island would, which resulted in a variety of cultures that were birthed from the diversity of their lifestyles.

depiction of a coastal Narapanese village, pre-Gaullican discovery

The different tribes would coexist in relative peace for millennia, remaining isolated from the outside world up until 1517 AD, when the first voyages from Euclea arrived on the island. The first voyage that reached the island was headed by a Gaullican captain, TBD, who claimed the island for Gaullica. The natives, to say the least, did not appreciate attempts of subjugation by the explorers, but thankfully, the chief of the coastal Narapan tribe, Kawacatoose, was able to negotiate a deal with the expedition- they would be able to establish a port/trading outpost on the southern coast near the mouth of the Crystal Bay, and the rest of the island would remain free. This deal would temporarily keep the two sides from descending into conflict, and initially friendly relationships between the two sides would be forged. However, Kawacatoose's goal of peace and cooperation with the Gaullicans, which was briefly realized, would come crashing down after foreign diseases were introduced in 1521, and around 75% of the island's 3 million indigenous inhabitants, including Chief Kawacatoose, would perish. The natives eventually put two and two together and realized that the Gaullicans had brought this plague of disease and death with them, and relations quickly crumbled. Even though tensions climbed pretty high, a larger conflict was, for the moment, avoided.

Over the next 10 years, the tribes began to merge through personal unions, where the children of the chiefs of two (or more; having multiple spouses was not frowned upon by the Narapanese tribes during the period) tribes would be arranged to marry, and once the chiefs died and passed leadership to their children, the tribal kingdoms would merge into one. These mergers would occur, and soon enough, by 1533, only two Narapanese kingdoms remained, divided by north and south, and each felt they were destined to reunify the island under their own control. Because of this, the headstrong chiefs of both tribes were, to say the least, uninterested in the personal union option. This would soon culminate in the War of Reunification in 1534, where the northern kingdom launched an invasion of the southern, backed by the Gaullicans, who saw the infighting among the tribes as beneficial to their plans of eventual takeover. Eventually the northern kingdom sacked the south's capital and, for the first time since the days of the Narapanese Confederation, the island was united; at least politically. While the different Narapanese tribes had formed distinct cultures, they all shared many similarities, and cultural syncretism occurred. Inter-tribal marriages were not uncommon, and the people kept the fact that the tribes were of a common origin to heart, and the people of the different Narapanese tribes often treated each other like brothers.

The chief who led the north to victory would pass in 1535, leaving his son Mathias to take control of the recently reunified kingdom. He is remembered as a revered figure in Île d'Émeraude's history, being the second - and last - Narapanese monarch to rule over a reunified island. He would be a champion of equality among the tribespeople, would abolish slavery (which existed as a debtor's system; if someone was in debt to you, you would have the right to kidnap and enslave them for as long as you pleased), introduced the idea of even handed and fair rule through Mathias' Declaration (basically Île d'Émeraude's Magna Carta), and would watch over an age of prosperity on the island, known as the Golden Age of Narapanese Île d'Émeraude. Unfortunately, the Golden Age would come to a premature end.

Gaullica for the moment honored agreements with the locals, though they still had ambitions to take over the island, and they grew impatient. When the time came to renegotiate and renew the lease on the outpost, the Gaullicans began to demand more privileges, which were rejected by the Narapanese. Tensions would culminate in the Wars of Gaullican Conquest, which lasted from 1539 to 1542. The wars were a repetitive pattern of Gaullica invading and occupying a chunk of land, sign an armistice/ceasefire, break the ceasefire and occupy more land, sign another ceasefire, repeat. This went on until the entire island fell under Gaullica's control in 1542.

Early Gaullican rule

With Gaullica taking over, the island would be given a name, the Colonial Protectorate of Île d'Émeraude, named for the emerald green waters that surrounded the island, and (TBD), the same man who led the conquest, was made the Colonial Governor. He brutally repressed the local native population, as more disease would spread and kill many more, full on assaults were made against them, like the burning of villages, and other atrocities would be committed as well, like the forced capture of Narapanese women to be used as comfort women. It is argued, and hotly debated, in the present day that (TBD) had led and organized an early genocide on the Narapanese population. Meanwhile, Mathias abdicated the throne and went off the grid. Not much is known about his last years, and it is estimated that he died around the mid 1540's of disease. Meanwhile, immigration of Gaullican citizens and Bahian slaves began to kick off, with many using slave labor to grow a crop of sugarcane, tropical fruit, spices, rum, and cocoa beans. Many other changes occurred on the island as well; Gaullican quickly became the lingua franca, local populations were converted to Sotirianity, and Bahians became the dominant ethnicity, as the Narapanese population continued to dwindle rapidly. The island became a major hub for the slave trade; in fact, Île d'Émeraude's present day capital city, Port-au-Grégoire, was established as a port for slave ships dropping off shipments of Bahian slaves.

As the years continued to go on, the sugar cane industry grew into the largest, with sugar plantations seen left and right. To support the industry, more and more Bahian slaves were imported; at the height of the slave trade around 1648, the ships that came in per month with new slaves numbered in the hundreds. The population continued to grow, fueled mostly by the Bahian slave trade.

By the time the Ten Years' War began, Île d'Émeraude was considered a hub of the slave trade and reliable source of sugar, though was considered by most as a backwater. During the war, the island did come under brief Estmerish occupation. After the war, Île d'Émeraude once again came under Gaullican rule, with forces liberating that island. In the aftermath of the war, military presence had increased on the island, which some of the locals didn't appreciate. As such, protests against militarization of the island occurred in 1734, though they would soon die down as it was promised that civilians would not be obligated to quarter soldiers in their homes.

depiction of Emeraudian slaves, who would later become Maroons, battling Gaullican soldiers, circa 1751

Otherwise, life in Île d'Émeraude was relatively quiet up until 1751, when a series of slave revolts began to grip the island. A few thousand escaped slaves retreated into the interior hills and mountains of the island, forming communities that included them and a select few Narapanese who decided to join them. These people were called Emeraudian Maroons, and they often clashed with the colonial authority in what became known as the Maroon Wars, though a peace agreement was reached in 1760 where the Maroons would be allowed to continue existing while not aiding anymore escaped slaves.

During the Asterian War of Secession, Île d'Émeraude acted as an outpost for Gaullican troops opposing the secessionists. After the war ended, Gaullica had accumulated debts, and attempted to help pay them off by raising taxes, which many settlers disliked, sparking more protests in 1773. Protests continued for many months until open revolt was threatened, which forced Gaullica to the negotiating table. Eventually the taxes were dropped, the protest ended, and a period of relative quiet came to the island, though it wouldn't last too long.

18th to 19th centuries

depiction of a Gaullican colonial official reading aloud the order from the colonial governor declaring slavery abolished, circa 1834

Beginning in 1819, an economic recession swept the island. This occurred because the sugar cane industry, which for decades had been Île d'Émeraude's bread and butter, began to stagnate as sugar became cheaper and cheaper. As sugar, as well as other goods, became less profitable, combined with the inefficiencies of an economy dependent on slave labor, the economy endured a crash. Many bankrupted former sugar kings, as owners of multiple sugar plantations were called, ended up having their slaves buy their freedom from them so they could make a quick buck, take what money they had left and go elsewhere. The large increase of freed slaves created issues; there wasn't much work available for them, and many were illiterate. It didn't help that at the time Île d'Émeraude was essentially a proto apartheid state. A large number of homeless out of work people was not a great look, so in 1826, the colonial governor, (TBD), made a decree declaring that free Bahians would be considered citizens and eligible to join the workforce. Not long afterwards, in 1834, slavery was abolished, with many of the slave labor soon replaced with indebted Gowsans imported from Southeast Coius. This continued for a few decades until indentured servitude was abolished in 1856.

The Emeraudian economy was able to eventually rebound, and another period of quiet met the island. However, the period came to an end when the War of the Triple Alliance began. Île d'Émeraude was the sight of a few naval battles between Estmere and Gaullica, which were won by the Gaullicans. Île d'Émeraude was also a military outpost for Gaullican soldiers to resupply themselves. However, with the war causing a harsh impact on Île d'Émeraude's already volatile economy, it became quite unpopular among its inhabitants, who began to protest in favor of peace. Once it did end Île d'Émeraude benefitted, with the economy rebounding further.

In the almost immediate aftermath of the Arucian War, which saw Île d'Émeraude used largely as a naval base for Gaullica, the Gaullicans came to the concllusion that, to protect their strategic interests in the strait from any future threats, then they must better organize the governance of their colonies in the region. As such, Île d'Émeraude, along with the nearby Gaullican colonies of Parane, Îles Émeraude, TBD, and Îles des Saints were unified into a single entity, the Viceroyalty of the Emerald Isles (Gaullican: Vice-Royauté des Îles d'émeraude). This union would last from 1885 until the end of the Great War, when the union was dismantled.

Early 20th century, Great War, and Transitional Period

Another period of quiet came, and not much happened until 1915, when the Great Collapse reached the island. Île d'Émeraude would be hit quite hard as a still developing economy still heavily dependent on agriculture, with many losing their jobs and those who held onto theirs being paid significantly less than prior. Soon, one out of every 5 Emeraudians became unemployed. People defaulted on loans, many corporations shuttered, and banks were forced to close. The Great Collapse also helped trigger a vast political movement, based on Emeraudian nationalism, leftist economics and social progressivism known as the Emeraudian Spring, which quickly swept the island colony. The movement aimed to get workers back on their feet and protect their rights to jobs, fair wages and benefits, suitable working conditions, and promoting equal rights among all Emeraudians regardless of skin color (segregation was quite common at the time). This movement would see major support from many of the people, but the colonial elite, who preferred the status quo over any major social changes, rejected most of these demands, which would breed the first widespread dissatisfaction with colonial rule, though this wouldn't manifest into anything major for a couple of decades.

Meanwhile, recovery from the Great Collapse began, with a revitalization plan named by the Colonial Governor of the time, (TBD), coined the "Keys to Recovery" (basically Île d'Émeraude's version of the New Deal) would be put into effect, putting people to work by hiring workers to revitalize critical infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, power stations, ports, and airports. Île d'Émeraude also experienced a period of industrialization, with a lot more factories being built, and production of refined steel increasing nearly 3-fold from before the Great Collapse by 1923. This period would also see women begin a more widespread entrance into the workforce, with some finding factory jobs and even some jobs in the armed forces. The increased price of sugar during the sugar boom of the early 1920's would help bring much needed income to Île d'Émeraude.

Emeraudians protesting against the funcionalist colonial government, circa 1932

As functionalism began to take hold of the Gaullican mainland, many Emeraudians were against the spread of the ideology, especially considering that it went against almost everything the Emeraudian Spring stood for. Many would protest the sudden authoritarian turn of Gaullica, but many of these protests would be brutally suppressed. As a result of the brutal suppression, many began to rise in arms against the functionalists, in what became known as the War of Emeraudian Resistance, though actual violence was pretty minimal. Alongside this, more anti-functionalist protests were organized. This would drag on beginning in 1928 and ending along with the Great War. Once the Great War ended, control of Île d'Émeraude had been transferred to the recently established Community of Nations, and later would join the CN trusteeship in the region, the Arucian Federation.

Another occurrence that took place after the war was a sharp increase in Emeraudian nationalism, while nationalism had already been rather high as a result of the Emeraudian Spring. As a result, support for Emeraudian independence grew and grew, and the significant portion of Île d'Émeraude's population who had long believed that colonialism was an oppressive system that Île d'Émeraude should break free from would come into the spotlight, led by notable Emeraudian activist and Bahian nationalist Jean-Baptiste Canmore. Eventually, in 1941, widespread protests would begin, which quickly grew so large that it was impossible for the CN to ignore. Many CN member nations were beginning to renounce colonialism themselves, with the 1940's ushering in an age of decolonization, so they were willing to negotiate, and a meeting between popular civilian pro-independence figures, pro-independence members of local government, and CN and AF government officials was planned to decide on a roadmap of Île d'Émeraude's future. However, these plans were held up by the outbreak of the Solarian War in 1943, which didn't involve Île d'Émeraude too much, and once it began to draw to a close, the meeting proceeded, occurring in Port-au-Grégoire on September 19, 1946. The meeting would last for two days, with a resolution reached on September 21. It was agreed that Île d'Émeraude would hold a referendum on September 21, 1947, a year after the meeting concluded, on whether to rejoin Gaullica, join the Union of the Satucins, or become independent. Once it came, the people overwhelmingly voted for independence, with 78% of the vote in favor of it. In the rest of the former Dominion of the Emerald Isles, Parane and Îles Émeraude voted to join Satucin, TBD also voted for independence, and Îles des Saints opted to return to Gaullican rule. Afterward, the island would enter a 5-year transitional period alongside TBD, and the two islands were temporarily united into a single entity known as the Transitional State of Île d'Émeraude-TBD; however, transitional efforts on the two islands were more or less completely separate, being placed under the same umbrella by the CoN. After the conclusion of this, both would be given independence.

The five-year period was mostly marked by preparation; The new transitional government embarked on ambitious nation-building policies in preparation for economic and political independence. These included national defense (such as the National Defense Act of 1949, which organized a conscription for service in the country), greater control over the economy, the perfection of democratic institutions, reforms in education, improvement of transport, the promotion of local capital, and industrialization. These initiatives would be continued following independence, which was granted on September 21, 1952.

Post-independence

Lou Dubois, independence advocate and first President of Île d'Émeraude, marching with children in September 1952 in celebration of independence being granted.

When independence was finally achieved, celebration swept the new island nation, independent for the first time since the 1540's. This would be solidified when on the same day, the Treaty of Port-au-Grégoire would be ratified, with the Arucian Federation relinquishing control over Île d'Émeraude and recognizing its independence, which would soon be internationally recognized. Later, in November, emergency elections were held to fill in legislative and executive positions. The Emeraudian Progressive Party would merge with the Emeraudian Liberal Party to form the Emeraudian Union Party, which would win a majority of seats in the newly created unicameral legislature called the Senate that, ironically, operated more like a house of representatives. They'd also win control of the Presidency, with Unionist Lou Dubois winning the Presidency with 54% of the vote to become Île d'Émeraude's first president.

President Dubois led charge of a new nation, getting Île d'Émeraude started off and overseeing the Republic's infancy. He first began to outline Île d'Émeraude's foreign policy, joining the Community of Nations and the International Council for Democracy, and later the Organization of Asterian Nations and the Arucian Cooperation Organization, as well as establishing diplomatic relations with most other countries. He would also oversee the ratification of the Emeraudian Constitution in February 1953, which formally established the basic groundwork of the Emeraudian government and enshrined the rights of Emeraudian citizens. He would also create many of the governmental agencies that are still around today. Dubois was a popular figure during his tenure as President and is today renowned as 'the Father of Modern Île d'Émeraude'.

Strong economic growth, averaging approximately 6% per annum, marked the first ten years of independence under progressive EUP governments; these were led by successive Presidents Dubois, Gautier Blanchard (who died of natural causes within two months of taking office) and Hugo Gosselin. The optimism of the first decade was accompanied by a growing sense of inequality among many Bahio-Emeraudians, and a concern that the benefits of growth were not being shared by the urban poor, many of whom ended up living in crime-ridden shanty towns in Port-au-Grégoire and other towns. As a result, the Emeraudian Worker's Party, a leftist party that pledged to solve Île d'Émeraude's growing income inequality problem, would be elected as the majority party in the Senate in the 1964, while Worker's Party candidate Matéo Deniaud would win the presidency.

Deniaud's government enacted various social reforms, such as a higher minimum wage, land reform, legislation for women's equality, greater housing construction and an increase in educational provision. He would also begin redistributing income more effectively, increasing the corporate tax to 47% and using the money to fund an expanded welfare net, which further helped combat inequality. However, the economy meanwhile began to falter, as sugar, which was still Île d'Émeraude's primary export, began to crash in prices following a trend of plummeting sugar prices of prior years. The Emeraudian economy would be hit rather hard, with many losing their jobs. This would serve as a wakeup call that, for Île d'Émeraude's economy to remain stable, then Île d'Émeraude's industry needed to be diversified. As such, industrialization would be pursued with more fervor, with the manufacturing of consumer goods being a targeted sector. Tourism also became an important industry around this time, as much more investment into it was made by the government.

In the 1968 election, for the first time in Île d'Émeraude's history, no party won an outright majority in the Senate, with the PU and PT forming a coalition government. However, in the presidential election, Emeraudian Conservative Party candidate Alexandre Chauvin would win the presidency, in what was widely believed to have been a fraudulent vote (which would later be proved). Protests were sparked by his 'victory', and he used national police to attempt to quell these protests with force. All that did was anger the populace, which began rioting. Chauvin attempted to declare martial law and have the military suppress protests, but they refused to go along with it and initiated a coup on March 1, 1969 (nice). Civilian rule was quickly reestablished, and Deniaud would win reelection in an emergency presidential election.

Meanwhile, around this time, Île d'Émeraude experienced a cultural renaissance of sorts, with Mufastism beginning to rise to prominence among impoverished Bahia-Emeraudians (a religion that developed in Île d'Émeraude during the 1930s and gained popularity in the 1970s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion), and a genre of music originating in Île d'Émeraude known as Rande began to grow in popularity, both at home and abroad.

The EUP and EWP went on to win a string of elections, under Presidents Deniaud (1964–1972), P. J. Claire (1972–1980) and Jocelyne Louisette-Noel (1980–1988), the latter of which would be Île d'Émeraude's first female President. During these 24 years, Île d'Émeraude would become more industrialized, with an economy now more based on consumer goods manufacturing and tourism, while social and political advances and progresses made life rather nice in Île d'Émeraude. In 1990, Île d'Émeraude was ranked as one of the happiest nations in the Asterias, despite the fact that it was rather poor.

Île d'Émeraude would be hit by the 2005 recession, though effects were rather minor, with a small number of some foreign corporations either folding or leaving Île d'Émeraude to do business elsewhere. In 2007, a major hurricane would strike the island nation, killing 56 and injuring or displacing 240,000. The hurricane would become the costliest natural disaster in Île d'Émeraude's recorded history, and the hit to the economy was rather severe; economically, Île d'Émeraude still hasn't fully recovered, but they have come close in recent years.

Geography

Climate

• tropical in the south, humid subtropical in the north
• prone to hurricanes

Politics

Government

WIP

President Benjamin Claude

The Republic of Île d'Émeraude is constitutionally defined as a unitary presidential republic, with three different branches of government. Those branches are the executive, the legislative, and an independent judiciary. The government's groundwork is based off of the Constitution of the Republic of Île d'Émeraude, which lays the boundaries of the three branches and outlines their duties, as well as Île d'Émeraude's system of checks and balances. The President takes a very prominent role in national politics, being the head of state and the head of government. The unicameral legislature, the Emeraudian Senate, often takes a secondary role in national politics, though still holds a fair amount of significance.

The executive branch is made