Racinia

The Republic of Racinia Lu Ripùbbrica di Racinia
Flag
Anthem: Canzùna di lu Racinues (Song of the Racinians)
Capital	Sicuri
Official languages	Racinu (Racinian)
Demonym(s)	Racinu (Racinian)
Government	Unitary Parliamentary Republic
Area
• Total	375,808 km2 (145,100 sq mi)
Population
• 2022 estimate	53,364,736
• 2020 census	52,615,540
• Density	142/km2 (367.8/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	2022 estimate
• Total	1.861 Trillion ACU
• Per capita	34,847 ACU
GDP (nominal)	2022 estimate
• Total	2.021 Trillion ACU
• Per capita	37,842 ACU

Lu Ripùbbrica di Racinia or simply Racinia is nation on the east coast of Olivaica, centered on Sicuri Bay. The country has 52.6 million people according to the 2020 census, most living in cities near the coast. The capital Sicuri, named for the bay, is also the largest city, containing 7.31 million people.

The country is a unitary state, although a significant amount devolution has occurred in recent years. The capital of Sicuri has always been the center of the country, holding extreme economic and political weight, and other cities rising and failing in importance relative to it. As such the state has gone through periods of centralization and devolution as Sicuri and all the other cities wrestle over influence of the nation’s parliament.

Racinia was colonized by the Canterian Empire in the 1600s for it's ability to produce cash-crops. Gaining independence in 1787, Racinia would develop a more mercantile and urban character that would see the country emancipate its slaves between 1854 and 1859. After which industrialization would occur at a gradual pace before exploding in the 1880s due to prove mining techniques that allowed the exploitation of harder to reach iron and coal resources. General economic prosperity would continue until the 1940s, at which point the country entered a recession that would take nearly 30 years to come out of. The Lost Decades would see heavy political discontent spurred on my seemingly permanent recession. Political extremists, communist and fascist, committed acts of terror and waged a low-level guerrilla war in the western interior. Both against the government and each other. The Lost Decades would end with the tech boom of the 1980s that helped revitalize the economy and Operation Ruttu Custodiri that broke the backs of extremist paramilitaries.

Racinia would enter the new millennium with a robust economy that was reaping the benefits of being at the forefront of the electronics industry. Politically it was still recovering, as extremist parties retain influence in politics and often committed violent acts. Though not at the frequency or scale they once did. Development is high with and HDI rating of .835 but with high inequality with a GINI of 41.2. Structural issues remain within both the economy and political structures.

Ethnically, the country is divided into two main groups. The Racinians, the descendants of the old Canterian colonies and the people that have been assimilated into them. And indigenous peoples who were lived in the country before the Canterian colonization. Over the centuries Racinians have slowly pushed indigenous ethnicities to the fringes, with them making up a disproportionate part of the nation’s poor and rural population. Racinians meanwhile have benefited immensely from sea trade in the Aestas Sea, industrialization, and the economic boom of the late 20th century.

History

Racinia was settled by the Canterian Empire in the mid-1600s in a much more direct and involved fashion than the Soltenish colonies were. The economic profitablity was far more due the easy in which cash crops like sugar, cotton, and tobacco could be grown. The wealth this created drew many settlers from Prybroune, and the direct trade link meant that when Soltenia left the Empire, Racinia refused to follow. With only Irassia joining Soltenia, something that would be a sore point for Soltensian-Racinian relations in the future. However, the Canterian Empire eventually began to disintegrate in the east, with Racinia leaving the Empire in 1787. The Empire in its last few years had tried to squeeze wealth from the colony, souring the once good feelings between the two. With Racinia using the transition to the Canter Republic to become independent. Violence aganist Canterian forces was relatively brief due to the lack of reinforcments to support the Canterian garrison. With the Canter Republic being forced to recognize Racinia's independence in 1789.

In the post-colonial period, Racinia would have struggle economically due to the need to diversify from cash crops, and from increasing unrest among the slave population. A close call came in 1849 with the Virdi Coast Revolt, when 200 slaves from a half-dozen sugar plantations rose in revolt and ran amuck for 6 months before the revolt was put down. This event lead to the Freedom Act of 1853, in which though a process of compensated emancipation all slaves would be released by 1859. Parts of the planter class were outraged, however the increasingly large and influential liberal urban class did not want to be marked a slave state among their international peers. And they were able to begin smaller western farmers without slaves and more moderate planters to their side, leading to the proclamation.