Costa Bravo

Free State of Costa Bravo Estado Libre de Costa Bravo
Flag
Motto: "Trabajadores, unite!"
Anthem: The Internationale/La Internacional
Capital	Nuevo Puerto Hércules
Official languages	None
Local languages	a la brava
Ethnic groups (2019)	40.0% Bravo 18.6% South Asian 16.0% African 10.9% Asian 5.6% Polynesian 3.9% West Asian 5.0% other
Religion (2019)	33.1% Liberational Catholicism 20.8% Buddhism 20.0% Irreligious 10.4% Islam 9.0% Hinduism 5.6% Judaism 1.1% other
Demonym(s)	Bravo
Government	Democratic confederalism (Devolved council democracy government on a confederated model with syndicalist traditions)
Stages of sovereignty
• Discovery by Europeans	1522
• Colonization by Spain	1580
• Ceded to Great Britain	1714
• Independence	1812
• Abolition of the directory system	1991
Area
• Total	14,382 km2 (5,553 sq mi)
• Water (%)	69.0
Population
• 2019 census	5,001,250
• Density	333/km2 (862.5/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	estimate
• Total	ƒ800 billion
• Per capita	ƒ54,821
GDP (nominal)	estimate
• Total	ƒ700 billion
• Per capita	ƒ35,934
Gini	.13 low
HDI	0.893 very high
Currency	Costa Bravo Florín (ƒ) (FLO)
Time zone	UTC+3:00 (UTC)
Date format	dd-mm-yyyy
Driving side	right
Calling code	+666
Internet TLD	.cb

Costa Bravo, officially the Free State of Costa Bravo or Estado Libre de Costa Bravo, is a confederal democracy located on a chain of islands spanning the South Atlantic and Southern Indian Ocean. Costa Bravo was formerly a colonial subject of Spain and Britain. It won independence from Britain in 1812. The current form of government dates to 1991 following a period of civil war.

Costa Bravo is governed from the ‘bottom-up’. Every community, ethnicity, culture, religious group, intellectual movement, and economic unit is autonomously organized as a political entity. All issues of daily life are decided on by the members of these organizations in consensus decision-making and direct democracy. Issues are put to the vote in an endless stream of referenda. This political apparatus is highly digital: votes are cast by citizens ‘on the go’ with their personal smart devices and computers. Political participation and voting are mandatory for all citizens. There is no head of state, but a ‘Representative’ may be provisionally appointed to conduct diplomacy on the people’s behalf (for example).

There is no official language. Media and daily conversations are in code-switched English and Spanish. This vernacular is called a la brava, or Bravo Spanglish. Private automobiles are banned on the islands, with extensive ferry, train, bus, and bicycling infrastructure. The three most popular sports are Rugby 7s, hurling, and a theatrical form of populist ‘street tennis’ called tenis libre or freestyle tennis in which the tenista (tennis player) resembles a luchador. Baseball and soccer are widely enjoyed as well.

Costa Bravo has no National Olympic Committee, although it has produced a number of Olympic and Paralympic champions. All Bravo athletes compete as ‘Independent Olympians’ under the Olympic Flag. Costa Bravo eschews globalism in other ways: it is a non-member observer of the United Nations and a non-member of the British Commonwealth.

The military of Costa Bravo is composed of a network of government-equipped militias in localities throughout the country. These militias exist under the aegis of the Self-Defense Forces or Fuerzas de Autodefensa (SDFOR). The military is intended to protect the home territories against invasion and has no capability to deploy elsewhere in the world. The Bravo military is the last in the world to still have a zouaves contingent. Once an elite strike team built for precision operations worldwide, the Bravo zouaves or los zuavos are today an honor guard.

The islands of Costa Bravo generally have chilly, wet climes with mild summers and windy, wet winters. The islands are rocky, volcanic, and forested, with a strikingly large biodiversity of flowers in particular. Populations of giant stilt-owls (flightless long-legged 3 foot tall owls) and dagger-toothed or dagadiente cats are the most iconic local fauna. To the dismay of ecological organizations, Costa Bravo’s strong whaling traditions continue to this day. Whacon is a staple of Bravo diet.

The principal population centers of Costa Bravo are: Nuevo Puerto Hércules, Zeta Fe, Atroz Aires, San Barto, Santa Bondad, and Hueco. Nuevo Puerto Hércules is the nominal seat of government while Zeta Fe is the center of industry.

Etymology

The name "Costa Bravo" is a corruption of the original name, which dates from the Spanish discovery of the archipelago. Noting the tumultuous waters and rocky coastline of the region's many islands, crewmember of the Victoria Antonio Pigafetta dubbed the place Costa Brava, Spanish for "furious coast". The name subsequently appeared in Maximilianus Transylvanus's De Moluccis Insulis. The shift from Brava to Bravo occurred shortly after the British takeover in 1714, when the evolved form began began appearing in administration records. The original name remained in vernacular use for the remainder of the century.

In contemporary Latin language accounts of the original discovery, the name is sometimes given as Ora Pravo, meaning "crooked coast" or "wicked coast".

Inhabitants of Costa Bravo are known as Bravoes.

History

WIP