Sante Reze
This article is for the Ajax-canon Sante Reze. For the generic canon, see Santheres
Most Eminently Serene Noble Republic of Sante Reze | |
|---|---|
 Flag | |
| Motto: "Patria fideles defendit." | |
| Anthem: "Valze Rezi" "Rezese Waltz" | |
| Capital | San Gianpier |
| Largest | Eporte Vir |
| Official languages | Rezese, Latin |
| Recognised regional languages | Roqxo, Qwahi, Jamede |
| Ethnic groups (2016) | Rezese, Yacuyare, Ucayare, Runakuna, Qwahi, Jama'a |
| Demonym(s) | Rezese |
| Government | Noble Republic |
• Executive Council | Nongova tei Dez |
| Legislature | Korik Signorun |
| Establishment | |
• Kingdom | 1006 |
• Federation of the Nine Cousins | 1468 |
• Theocratic Republic | 3 May 1502 |
• Noble Republic | 1702 |
• Cession of Ypau Yisaz | 1750 |
• Cession of _TBD_ | April 27, 1917 |
| Area | |
• Total | 2,588,375 km2 (999,377 sq mi) |
• Water (%) | 0.83 |
| Population | |
• 2016 estimate | 105,500,000 |
• 2016 census | 105,430,000 |
| GDP (PPP) | 2017 estimate |
• Total | $3.75 trillion |
• Per capita | $35,590 |
| HDI | 0.906 very high |
| Currency | Lir (SRL) |
| Date format | yyyy-mm-dd |
| Driving side | right |
| Internet TLD | .sr |
Sante Reze (IPA /sɑnta. ɹeɪt͡ʃʌ/) (SAHN-tuh RAY-chuh), officially the Most Eminently Serene Noble Republic of Sante Reze is an equatorial country located mostly in the southern hemisphere. It controls approximately forty percent of the continent of Oxidentale, including the majority of the Ucayare rainforest, as well as some islands in the South Thalassan Ocean, and seven city-state like territories in Scipia. It borders the nation of Mutul in the northwest.
There are twenty-three administrative regions, discounting all foreign dependencies, and nine major noble families. Sante Reze is an economically powerful nation, owning companies all over the world, and is among the largest exporters of pharmaceuticals and renewable energy solutions. Sante Reze trades globally, but its primary partners are Belfras, Mutul, and Yisrael.
History
Around 600 CE, Yacuyare seafarers began voyages far to the east following legends of untold riches in the ocean. They discovered the uninhabited northern Paraguasurun islands. Finding little in terms of wealth, they continued setting out from the easternmost island of Ita Moroti and landed in western Scipia approximately three months after having initially set out. By this time, many ships in the fleet setting out from Ita Moroti turned around, but most stayed. In western Scipia, they found various coastal islands or generally uninhabited areas and began constructing settlements as they came into contact with the Jama'a and Qwahi peoplein what are now the Nine Cousins, as well as the people in modern Yisrael, thereby bringing them into contact with the Latin Empire by 675.
Returning ships slowly established settlements in the northern Paraguasurun islands to help supply trans-oceanic trips. Those ships that came back in later waves did so with information and artifacts more than anything else. One of the things that the Yacuyare eventually brought back was Scipian religion, which introduced Oxidentale to Christianity, Judaism, and Whyzun. None of them caught on strongly with the local populations, however many of the various trappings were appropriated and the religions began the long process of syncretizing the eastern faiths with the indigenous animism. This would eventually be codified as Kirizyuntupao over the next several centuries.
Voyages across the Thalassan continued for decades but were fairly limited to a handful of ships per season. Those who had stayed in Scipia and built settlements traded up and down the Scipian coast and into Belisaria, becoming wealthy and adopting many Latin customs as well as their language for use in their trade.
Kingdom of Sante Reze
In 996, the merchant-princes of the Scipian and Paraguasurun ports banded together with a plan to bring back to Oxidentale the immense wealth and power from trade between the continents, as well as Scipian indentured soldiery to supplant the Yacuyare and Tapizakuéra monarchs there. After putting down myriad rebellions amongst the Yacuyare people against what they perceived as foreign invasion, the merchant princes - known as duxes - campaigned to pacify the people under a single banner, language, and culture, forming Sante Reze and the seeds of the Rezese ethnic group. They established Sante Reze as an elective monarchy.
The Kingdom of Sante Reze thrived on both sides of the ocean for nearly five hundred years, though the Promontoroi dynasty had firmly established the monarchy as hereditary by 1300. It fell in 1490 when the heir Prinzip Livi Savine assassinated her father and abolished the monarchy rather than assuming the throne. She hoped for the duchies to revert peacefully to independent rule while collaborating under a general council, the idea being that the dukes will meet twice yearly to settle disputes. Instead, war quickly erupted between almost every duchy, some of which broke into civil wars themselves. The trade guilds, having long since separated from being controlled by the ruling class, hired Scipian and Belisarian mercenaries as the ancient merchant-princes had and incited mobs to seize control of port cities and remove the aristocracy.
Ecclesiastical Republic of Sante Reze
Most of the nobility fled to the interior of the country, establishing firm but weak power bases in and around the Ucayare rainforest and continuing their wars. After twelve years of fighting, the Kirizyuntupao Church negotiated a peace in 1502 between the coalition of noble houses and the alliance of merchants and guilds, the latter of which had been slowly winning the war by cutting off access to further manpower and food supplies. As a part of this truce, Sante Reze formed into a theocratic republic, and the guilds agreed that the houses could maintain their current lands and titles so long as they did not challenge the dominance of the guilds in the coastal regions. Some of the merchants, notably those dealing in spices and slaves, dominated sea trade in the South Thalassan, and used their wealth to manipulate the ecclesiastical government.
Between 1504 and 1511, many new Kirizyuntupao monasteries and temples were constructed, swelling the ranks of Church electors, paid for by wealthy benefactors who were allowed to decide who would be the electors of each parish. In 1513, low-level church electors turned out in droves to elect guild puppets into leadership, who replaced all of the republic's ministers with allies of the guilds. At this point, the ecclesiastical republic ceased to exist beyond its name, as the guild cartel seized control over everything the nobles did not manage to protect for themselves.
In 1684, the cartel removed arrested the Kirizyuntupao church leadership, flaunting their power and executing several when they condemned the guilds' growing practices of usury and debt-bondage. As word spread, there were riots which were quickly and violently put down. The cartel sent the noble houses a reminder that they were not to interfere with guild business if they wanted to be left with what they still had. As a result, the houses began looking for support in the Mutul and in Belisaria to overthrow what they saw as a kleptocracy. The work to gain support culminated in a rebellion in 1699. Lacking in ships, the nobles had a difficult time making much headway against the major coastal cities, but this changed with the arrival of naval support from Sydalon and the Republic of Tyrrslynd. This support allowed the Giarelli family to march on [Eporte Vir]] in 1701. After besieging the port on land with the support of Mutulese troops, as well as a Tyrrslynder naval blockade, for three months, the garrison surrendered when the residents rioted having run out of food and seized control of one of the gates, letting in a Giarelli vanguard and giving the noble coalition their first majority victory of the war.
Noble Republic of Sante Reze
Despite the war still raging for another six years, the Noble Republic was founded on what would have been the 200th anniversary of the ecclesiastical republic in 1702. In response Noble Republic's support from abroad, the Ecclesiastical Republic hired its own mercenaries from Belisaria and Scipia, notably several Stromheimer regiments and several thousand Fahranis eager to fight the Mutul. The war officially ended with the seizure of EASTERN_CITY in 1708.
Following the end of the war, many surviving guild ships turned to piracy along the Oxidentale, Norumbian, and Scipian coasts. Some of them became privateers for the House of Gentry of Ghant.
Geography
Mainland Oxidentali Sante Reze consists primarily of rainforest and mountainous cloud forest in the west; and broad, flat tropical savanna in the northeast, south, and along much of its coastline. These are generally separated by mountains and cloud forests. Some of the rainforest has been cleared for human settlement over the several millennia of human habitation, but the vast majority of it remains as natural as possible, in part due to cultures of sustainable living and programs over the last century for revitalization. Much of the coast is protected by harsh cliff faces, but wide beaches dot these at fairly narrow intervals and there are large natural harbors. Rainfall is heaviest in the western Ucayare provinces.
The Scipian holdings are coastal tropical, mostly rocky with rolling hills and cliffs. They are almost completely urbanized with the exception of planned catchment areas, natural reserves, and some farms.
Climate
Temperatures in Sante Reze can reach over 38ºC (100ºF) and rarely sink below 18ºC (65ºF). The yearly average is approximately 26.5ºC (80ºF). Humidity is high year-round - especially in the west - and there is no dry season in most of the country as rainfall averages at least 4 inches every month, often more especially in the interior provinces. Mainland Sante Reze is almost uniformly tropical, and experiences little difference between summer and winter except in the far south; it is hot and wet throughout the year, with heavy rains at least two days out of the week in most of the central regions of the country. The change in temperature between day and night is decidedly larger than the average change in temperature between "summer" and "winter" months in the majority of the country.
Much of the rainforest experiences over 750 cm (295 in.) of rainfall a year, a product of heavy precipitation on a nearly daily basis. The eastern and southern savannahs, however, are naturally drier and do have relative dry seasons which average less than 5 cm (2 in.)of rainfall in each of the summer months.
The Nine Cousins are similarly tropical, though with a much drier climate. The climate of each city is mitigated by their respective proxsimities to the ocean, and daily temperatures.
Politics
As a noble republic, various members of the noble class are elected to offices. The Korik Signorun (the body of lords, its legislature) and the Nongova tei Dez (the Council of Ten) are the two elective branches of government. They operate elections in different fashions, however, with the Signorun requiring first a vote from the commons to establish how many seats each House controls. Other branches do not make use of common confidence votes; Council elections are done solely out of the body of the nobility.
No-confidence votes may be called for at any time and for any member of the government, no matter their title, role, or how long they have been in office. These votes have tended to succeed historically, removing the offending member from office, and as such have historically served as useful tools in keeping politicians in line.
Government
Administrative divisions
Crime and law enforcement
Law enforcement in the Most Eminently Serene Noble Republic is primarily the responsibility of the itanna, which is also tasked with keeping the peace between the houses since 18XX. Other national-level agencies such as the FBI_ANALOG have specialized duties and operate in conjunction with the itanna, though are outside of the traditional military structure. Jurisprudence operates on a common law system, and all trials start at the lowest rung in the court system and may move up through appeals to the provincial level. Lacking a national constitution, there is no constitutional court.
Criminal punishment is centered around rehabilitation, with incarceration available in cases determined to be outside of the realm of mental illness or minor offense. Incarceration rates are extremely low due to the social policies of the country, with fewer than one prisoner per 100,000 persons. Rehabilitation rates bring the total number of held criminals to 59 per 100,000 persons.
Capital punishment is illegal in Sante Reze, and has been since the founding of the Noble Republic. Extreme punishments for those who are deemed incapable of rehabilitation include lifetime imprisonment and work detail.
The itanna also maintains the Firefighters Corps, though this is organized at the provincial level rather than national. They are designated as being part of the military, however, as provincial militia.
Military
The national military is comprised primarily of the itanna, which acts mostly in a domestic policing and border protection role, and the condottieri, which are the standing armies of the Houses Paramount. It would be inaccurate to describe the condottieri as private military forces, as the houses are also the majority of the national government itself, and any large operations must either be run directly by STATE_DEFENSE, or approved by the STATE_DEFENSE to be run without their direct oversight. Additionally, the Nine Cousins operate their own security forces as well as maintaining multiple private security contracting firms.
Foreign relations
Economy
Sante Reze has a stable, prosperous, and high-tech economy, maintaining a high per capita GDP relative to its population. The Rezese lir remains a strong currency with a relatively low inflation rate.
The Rezese job market is very flexible, and the unemployment rate is low, particularly among the those who are native. Its foreign citizen population is fairly high, as much as 9%, though most non-citizens employed by Rezese corporations and their subsidiaries are employed in foreign nations, particularly in Mutul, rather than being relocated to Sante Reze.
Energy
Electricity generated in Sante Reze is roughly 55% solar and wind, 35% hydroelectric and tidal, and 10% nuclear, resulting in a near-completely CO2-free electricity-generating network. Remaining CO2-producing electricity production belongs solely to the use of gas-powered generators, particularly amongst tribal peoples. In 2005, one anti-nuclear initiative was turned out, but another less drastic initiative was passed in 2006, limiting the expansion of nuclear plants and aiming for a reduction in nuclear power within ten years. The initiative was tempered by forbidding the construction of CO2-producing plants in any effort to prevent nuclear expansion, which has had the side effect of limiting any development of geothermal production.
Many energy firms have been pursuing the further expansion of offshore wind parks and tidal harnesses to replace land-based windmills and nuclear plants. There was also been a continuous drive to develop more advanced solar and wind technologies for mass deployment in urban centers.
Though fossil fuels have been almost entirely eliminated for the purposes of electrical generation, they do continue to be used in limited capacities, notably for military vehicles. Most forms of transportation, however, are either hybrid or full electric.
Infrastructure
Sante Reze has a well-used public transportation system based primarily around light rail and fast rail. The fast rail network carries over XXX million passengers annually, and the light rail network is said to carry over XX million. Though congestion is common on the few, small routes which pass through the Ucayare, all sides of the country are very well-connected. The rail systems make use of the "smart rail" technologies pioneered by Azende Vir Generale to maintain total surveillance of all tracks and trains for improved security and maintainability.
The road network is funded primarily by road tolls and vehicle taxes, and is a regular recipient of donations by the great houses. The high-speed autoroute system requires the purchase of a permit for one calendar year in order to use its roadways, for both passenger cars and trucks. The _NORTHERNCITY_ international airport is Sante Reze's largest international flight gateway and handled XXX million passengers in 2011. The other major international airports are XXX (XXX million passengers), XXX (XXX million passengers), XXX, XXX, XXX, and XXX. Most cities are served by dozens of airports besides their main gateways.
Environment
Sante Reze has one of the best environmental records in the world. It is heavily active in recycling and anti-littering regulations and is one of the top recyclers in the region, possibly the world, with 85-95% of recyclable materials being recycled, depending on the area of the country. Rezese corporations also operate recycling centers in various other nations.
The domestic paper industry has among the most efficient recycling systems and a highly profitable farm system, which makes it a large but low-impact Rezese industry. Sante Reze is also home to an advanced alternative energy industry and seeks to cut fossil fuels from domestic use entirely.
Western Sante Reze is dominated by the Ucayare rain forest and Mantiqueir mountain range, which cover the central regions of the continent; the Ucayare extends beyond the mountains, almost to the ocean in the south and west. The northern savannah is home to the largest cities and has been historically much more intertwined with Belisaria and Scipia than the rest of the country has been. The Ucayare is heavily protected by the Rezese government, as are the tribal peoples (contacted and uncontacted) who live within.
Demographics
Education
School is mandatory from ages 5 to 15, where children are considered to be legal adults. University is also mandatory, though not for those serving instead in the armed forces; in theory, this means that everyone either attend university or opts out by joining the military. This is mostly true, though research on the subject has shown that many of the poor manage to get by without accomplishing either one due to their general invisibility to parts of the bureaucracy. This is especially true for the white and tribal minorities, though tribal Ucayare have an unofficial exception due to their voluntary-at-best style of handling of their Rezese citizenship.
The Rezese education system has been heavily criticized for its stress-inducing speed and comprehensiveness and has been cited as a primary reason for smaller than average programs for post-graduate degrees and a shortage of doctoral graduates. The lack of days off throughout the year is seen as directly related to burn-out, and the fact that secondary school completes earlier than in most other nations, students are not psychologically well-equipped to be functioning adults before entering university or the military.
Following the first 30 months of military service, student-aged Rezese may transfer to a university or technical school, taking with them credits from their mode of service training in the armed or civil forces. Ideally, this allows for them to complete university with a degree in approximately the same amount of time as if they had gone to university first, though more often such students require an additional year.
Religion
The largest Rezese religion is known as Kirizyuntupao, and is a local syncretic faith which has borrowed heavily from Fabrianism and West Scipian Whyzun, as well as many Oxidentali religious traditions. There is also a large Jewish population numbering approximately one million, most of which reside in the Nine Cousins.
Languages
Latin was initially adopted as a trade language for Yacuyare traders crossing the Southern Thalassan after their contact with Latium. The modern Rezese language is a creole derived largely from Latin from Belisaria and northern Scipia, Yacuyare from northern Oxidentale, Tapizakuéni from eastern Oxidentale, and Jamede and Qwahi from western Scipia.
The Rezese people generally learn Rezese and Latin, as well as a third language which is typically more applicable locally to them. Scipian Rezese, for example, will often learn Jamede or Qwahi fluently, while Oxidentali Rezese often learn Mutli or else Roqxo if they are in the interior near or within the Ucayare.
Health
Culture
Music and art
Sports
The national sport of Sante Reze is fencing, which the vast majority of nobles learn, as well as a large number of commons. Professional fencing is dominated by commons who have done little else but compete in the many circuits and championships from their youth. There are thousands of teams throughout the nation, none of which have any remaining basis on social strata, and there are hundreds of leagues for each class and many more for both.
Other popular sports include tennis, football, competitive swimming and diving, and Pitz.
Cuisine
Rezese cuisine varies greatly by region, and incorporates many elements from cultures around it. The most popular food in Oxidentali Sante Reze, however, often contains a holy trinity of garlic, chili peppers, and coconut milk. Many dishes from Scipian Sante Reze, however, make use of a base of tomatoes, onions, and chili peppers. The most common cooking oil nationwide is that of the palm nut.
Seafood is extremely popular in coastal regions, where most of the population lives, on both sides of the Thalassan. Fruits like açaí, cupuaçu, and hog plum are among the local ingredients used in cooking, along with more common tropical fruits like mango and pineapple. Meat is more prevalent in Scipia than in Oxidentale, where a very large proportion of the population is vegetarian either by choice or incidentally.
Chili peppers are common in cuisines of both Oxidentale and Scipia, though those in Scipia are generally extremely hot in comparison to those in Oxidentale, which are closer to their origins. The practice of breeding hotter peppers is far more popular in Scipia, where many of the staples are blander root vegetables.