Shazbotdom
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The Shazbotdom Empire Shạzbộtdom | |
|---|---|
 Flag
 Coat of arms
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| Motto: | |
| Anthem: | |
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| Capital | Shaz City |
| Largest city | Romeoville |
| Official languages | Legal Doc: Shazite; Standard Doc: English |
| Recognized regional languages | French, Spanish, Dutch |
| Ethnic groups (2020) | Shazite, Brittish, French |
| Demonym(s) | Nown: Shazite
Adjective: Shazbotian Plural: Shazites |
| Government | Constitutional Monarchy |
• Supreme Emperor | Larry Williams |
• Prime Minister | Stephanie F. Alridge |
• Senatorial President Pro Temp | Romeo Mckinley |
• Speaker of the House | Christiana Layman |
| Legislature | Imperial Parliament |
| Refugees from Cultural Oppression | |
• Left Europe | c.1019 |
• Original Founding | c.1021 |
• Original Constitution | c.1022 |
• Dissolution of Constitution | C.1456 |
• Leaving North America | c.1456 |
• Landing on Shazonite Island | c.1458 |
• Founding of Parliament | 1st October, 1458 |
• Dissolution of Parliament | 15th July, 1999 |
• Re-Founding of Parliament | 1st January, 2010 |
• Establishment of Imperial Family | 20th November, 2014 |
| Area | |
• Total | 360,000 km2 (140,000 sq mi) |
• Water (%) | 0.99 |
| Population | |
• 2016 estimate | 24,772,000,000 |
• Density | 68,000/km2 (176,119.2/sq mi) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2020 estimate |
• Total | 192,138,213,934,114.31 |
• Per capita | 7756.26 |
| GDP (nominal) | 2020 estimate |
• Total | 191,967,913,726,347.19 |
• Per capita | 7,749.39 |
| Gini (2019) | 23 low |
| HDI (2020) | 0.892 very high |
| Currency | Black Dollar (B$) |
| Time zone | UTC-8 |
| Date format | DD MM, YYYY (CE) |
| Driving side | right |
| Calling code | 571+ |
| Internet TLD | .SHZ |
Shazbotdom, officially designated as The Shazbotdom Empire, began as a collection of Islands in the tropical sections of the Pacific Ocean. It is unsure as to how it was formed due to there not being sufficient information. Although it is speculated that the Island of the Shazbotdom Empire were formed from volcanic activity as well as other types of natural disasters. One such theory is that Shazbotdom Bay (located south central Shaz Island) was originally filled in but, due to a massive earthquake, broke apart and the left over chunks of land became Tip Island, Kent Island and Thero Island.
The National Motto, Veritas Omnia Vincit, was picked in a nationwide contest. This is a contest in which High School Students submitted their idea of what the National Motto should be and then the winning motto was then translated to Latin previous to it's use. The Imperial Seal was also orriginally designed by another High School Student and was picked in a nation wide contest. The template for the Imperial Seal was then used for the creation of the seal's for the Colonies of the Shazbotdom Empire, which are depicted below. The change in the seal's for the Colonies of the Shazbotdom Empire were done over a period of 6 months in 2013 (Shazbodom Standard Calendar).
The Great Migration began in the year 2015 when all the citizens of the Imperial Mainland, by decree of the Supreme Emperor, relocated to the Region of Ellorea. This was done in an effort to gain not only more territory, but also to establish a growing friendship with the members of the Ellorean Region, of whom the Empire has had exceptional relations with in the past.
Etymology
Shazonitedom
- The original name of the Empire, back during it's founding in the early 11th Century when they were settled within the North American continent with the vikings, originates from the name of the ethnic group that left Europe. The Shazonites were a minority ethnic group that existed in Europe. When the Empire was first founded, it was called "Shazonitedom".
Shazbotdom
- It wasn't until many years later when the first leader of the Empire was picked and into his first few terms in office that the official name was changed to Shazbotdom, in honor of the first Emperor, Mr. Shaz Bot. Several times the name of the Nation was attempted to be changed via Referendum, which was shot down every time by a majority vote.
History
The Exile and The Colonization
- In the late 10th Century, a group of people who called themselves Shazonites were under constant prosecution in Europe. Mainly in the nations of Germany, Austria, France, Spain and Portugal where they were fined heavily, and in some cases, jailed for their beliefs and way of life. In fact, the Germans even went as far as to torture the Shazonites for information about the location of more of their kind and what their names were. After 20 years of prosecution they left to find a place of their own. They paid the Vikings to bring them to a land in which the other European Kingdoms did not know of, they were brought to what would later be called the America's. They had a long stay on the American continents for the better part of the very early 11th Century in the far northern sections of North America. They longed for a place to call their own and, in 1456, set sail with some ships that were purchased from the Vikings and headed out into open waters.
- They then ran across and Island that was otherwise unknown. They named it Hades Island, due to the fact that it was found to be desolate along the shoreline, where the first settlements were placed. After moving inland they found many lush forests. They then began to build cities, the first was Shazonite City, named after their ethnic group. Having no real governmental leader during this time-frame, only the rudimentary small-scale governing body that had governed the Shazonite people since they arrived in the America's, they bartered for all supplies among themselves with the items that they made themselves. In the early 20th Century, it was decided that they would pick a leader to rule their nation. With a vote within the Parliament, it was decided that a young man by the name of Shaz Bot would be the leader of the nation. After a successful first couple years of his reign, the people decided to rename the nation Shazbotdom and rename the capital city Shaz City in honor of their new leader.
The First Election
- After 55 years of being the Emperor, Mr. Shaz Bot made a decree. The First Imperial Election was to take place. And the kicker was that he was not running for the position in which was created for him. In this election, Mr Galen Q. Leotardia would pull away as the winner and would rule for two terms, winning the Second Imperial Election.
The Nuclear Attack and the Aftermath
- It was an early morning in Shazbotdom when two nuclear missiles hit the nation. They hit two military bases where the Get To Know Your Military program was in effect. Several hundred school children from across Shazbotdom were being taken on tours of the buildings at two different military bases when missiels struck them. At the one military base, they had enough warning that all those at the base were hussled into bunkers underneith the base and were kept safe. Although at the other military base, they had no warning before the missile hit and several hundred school children, along with over 4 thousand marines, were killed instantly.
- This caused Shazbotdom to fortify and construct a Missile Defence Shield. This MDS has expanded over the years to include orbital lasers and missile launch points on the ground. It has never been used but in simulations it has proved 99.9% successful with ICBM's and MRBM's and 100% successful against SRBM's.
The Third Election
- The Third Imperial Election saw another change in leadership. Mr. Galen Q. Leotardia was not running in re-election. Instead, for his political party Mr. George A. Loak was running and won by a major margin. He then went on to win the Fourth Imperial Election by a slight margin, beating out the Socialist Shazbot candidate by less than 1,000 votes.
The Sixth Election
- After running two successful re-elections, the Sixth Imperial Elections saw the emergence of Larry Williams, an otherwise unknown in the political arena and former Minister of Foreign Affairs for the George A. Loak administration, running against his former boss. With a total of four candidates running against George A. Loak within this election, only two came out on top. After the main election, there were a total of four run-off Elections between the newcomer, Larry Williams, and the incumbent, George A. Loak, both candidates finished with roughly 49.934% of the vote, with the remainder of the less than 1% going to write in candidates. It wasn't until the fifth run-off election where Larry Williams was able to secure the vote and get 51.002% of the votes within the Empire.
Post Sixth Election
- The night of the last run-off election, a very exhausted George A. Loak took to the podium within the Imperial palace and conceded defeat to his former protege. Thus began the reign of Larry Williams within the Empire. Within the first year of his tenure as Supreme Emperor, Larry began to rework the governmental structure of the Empire. Seeing the corruption of the Imperial Parliament, he ordered forces from the Shazbotdom Army (now reorganized into the Marines) to storm the Parliament building and arrest those who were taking bribes in order to pass laws that undermined the safety and security of the Empire. With the amount of members that were arrested, it was in the decision of the Joint Chiefs and the Ministers to dissolve the Parliament for the time being under Article 2 of the Imperial Constitution.
The Empire at Current
- Since the beginning of the Larry Williams era within the Empire, personal freedoms have skyrocketed to unseen levels within Shazbotdom, forging an era of peace and prosperity within the land. Political freedoms are at an all time high, with more than 8 Political Parties taking part in the previous elections and nearly all of them getting seats within both houses of the Imperial Parliament.
- The Economy within the Empire has faulted a little during the last few years, mainly due to increasing tensions between the Axis Commonwealth and the Santiago Anti-Communist Treaty Organization, causing many of the Empire's former trade partners to withdraw their support due to the increasing hostilities at the time. Currently, the Economy is in an upswing upon the market hearing of talks between SACTO and the Imperial Government.
Geography, Climate, Environment
Geography
- The Shazbotdom Imperial Mainland, as it currently stands, is a Peninsula along the eastern edge of the Region of Ellorea. A lake is located along the western edge of the Mainland and is the natural boarder between the Empire and some Un-colonized lands within the Region. The Capital City, Shaz City, is located within the Central portion of the Western Half of the Empire. There are four main Mountains within the Empire, of which a couple of them have smaller Cities and Towns along their peaks.
Climate
- The Climate of the Empire is Sub-Tropical, with the northern boarder of the Empire very close to the Tropic Of Cancer, within the Southern Hemisphere. The median temperatures within the Empire are as follows: -9.5 Degrees Celsius at it's highest point of elevation. 36.6 Degrees Celsius at it's lowest point of elevation. The Summer months are between November and February within the Empire and it's Winter months are between June and August.
Environment
- Forests cover roughly 65 Percent of the Empire, Prairies cover 9.5 Percent of the Empire, Water, including the coastal shoreline, covers roughly 5.5 Percent of the Empire, Urban and Suburban area's cover 12.5 Percent and Farm and Ranch Land covers 7.5 Percent of the Empire. There is a wide range of diverse floral life within the Empire with over 180 species of plants, 263 species of marine and 421 species of animal life have been documented.
Indigenous Wildlife
- The Havoc, also known as the National Animal of the Shazbotdom Empire, is an indigenous species that has been found within the Empire and doesn't exist within any other part of the world. Shazite Scientists have scoured the globe looking for this species within other nations and area's of the world that are uninhabited, and after searching for more than 50 years, have not found the Havoc within any other part of the world. It was determined that the climate within the Empire, as well as the vegitation and other unknown reasons, are the reason why the HAVOC has not attempted to travel out of the territorial area that they occupy within Shazbotdom.
Demographics
Population
- The Population of the Shazbotdom Empire is made up of a very large and diverse group of people. With a majority of the population made up of the original Shazonite people, other ethnic groups within the Empire include Caucasian, African, Asian, Middle Eastern and Other. This diverse populace brings many different ideas and schools of thought to the political pool within the Shazbotdom Empire.
- The Shazonite People have been the dominant ethnic group within the Empire for more than 200 years, with the percentage of the population being more than 80% until the 1870's, when an influx of refugees entered the nation from all over the world. From the 1870's onwards, the shift in the population of the Empire began to change with more people immigrating to the Empire. By the year 2010, the Shazonite population had dropped to 33% of the total population of the Empire, but there is an increased trend in the Shazonite population. Roughly 11% of all elected officials were non-native born.
- There was a push from the fringe political parties within the Empire, especially the Nazi and Fascist Parties, to permanently close the borders of the Empire to immigration and purge the populace of those who were not born within the Empire. They gained a few seats in the Parliament within the last few elections, but failed to gain as many as they wanted. A militia was formed by the Nazi party in the year 2014 with the aim of harassing immigrants within the Empire to the point that they wanted to leave, but was dismantled in 2018 after the leadership was arrested for assaulting a family of 5 immigrants outside a polling place during an election cycle.
Language
- The Shazbotdom Empire has two official languages, English and Shazite. The English language is used for every day use within the Empire, as dictated by Imperial Law, while anything associated with Legal Documents within the Empire is done originally within the Shazite language within the Imperial Parliament, but translated into English for the populace to be able to read. Anyone who wishes to attend Law School must pass at least 6 credit hours of college courses in the Shazite language, this is to ensure that the language will not become a lost language within the Empire.
Religion
- Even though religion is central to the day to day lives of the people of the Empire, there is no Official Religion within the Shazbotdom Empire, and the Government has adopted an idea that the Empire is a Secular State. Christianity in it's various forms is the dominant religion in the Empire, holding 32% of the populace as it's followers, while other religions have their claim on the populace. Buddhism (21%), Hinduism (21%), Islam (6%), Judaism (4%), Jainism (3%), Shinto (5%), Taoism (6%), Uralic (1%) and religions considered Miscellaneous (~1%). The people of the Empire are very Devout in the faiths that they hold. With nearly 850,000 Houses of worship within the Empire, there are an estimated 6.8 Million religious services each week.
- A recent trend has shown, though, that Christianity is on the decline and religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism and Taoism are on the rise within the Empire. Estimates show that in the next 10 years, Christianity will be a minority religion. It is also estimated that Atheists, which now account for 0.78% of the Population, will grow to be roughly 5% of the total population, bringing them to existance on the chart and giving them their own category. It is unknown at this time what will contribute to this trend, and is under further study.
- Foreign interference within the religious teachings of the Empire is a major concern to the government, with an estimated B$1.4 Billion being funneled into the Empire illegally to various churches. Those churches using them in an attempt to create groups to assist in forcibly converting members of the population. The Imperial Government has taken steps to ensure that this money is cut off before it gets to the houses of worship, but it is met with little success. The Parliament has put this on the top of it's agenda for the 2020 Fall Regular Legislative Session.
Family Structure
- Even though it has been widely criticized, the Empire legalized Same Sex and Plural Marriage nearly 35 years ago. This has led to an influx of various faiths that allow the marriage between couples of the same gender as well as multiple spouses. The "Nuclear Family" as dictated by the Christian Faith is something that is still common within the Empire but it is not the norm. Many families are made of either two mothers, two fathers, one mother and multiple fathers or one father and multiple mothers.
Government and Politics
- As it currently stands, there are Three Branches of Government within the Empire. The Executive, Legislative and Judicial Branches have their own specific sub-sets, including 11 different Ministries within the Executive Branch that report to not only the Prime Minister of the Empire, but can, and do, report directly to the Supreme Emperor. Each Ministry has at least one subset within it that has their own Departmental Director.
- The purpose of the layout style of the Imperial Government was determined that it would be the most streamlined for the purposes of the Empire. This was determined through years of varied governmental models beginning with the Shaz Bot Administration. It wasn't until the 3rd Quarter of 2019 in which a couple of the departments were added, creating the Ministries of Energy, Transportation, Agriculture, Commerce and Labor out of sub-departments from other Ministries. If it is deemed necessary later on, the Imperial Palace has space set aside for another two or three Office Suites for more Ministries.
Ministries
- The Ministries of the Empire as set up to make the operation of the Imperial Government exceptionally efficient. With there being a total of Ten (10) total Ministries, the budget of each one comes out of the coffers of the overall Imperial Budget. The Ministries are overseen by the Prime Minister and the Supreme Emperor.
| Ministry | Ministers Name | Photo |
|---|---|---|
| Prime Minister | Stephanie F. Alridge | 
|
| Agriculture | Gianpiero S. Parrino | 
|
| Commerce | Marius A. Oliver | 
|
| Defense | Grand Admiral James E. Rockenbach | 
|
| Education | Dr. Stephanie Reignquest | 
|
| Finance | Ken Rudenbak | 
|
| Foreign Affairs | Kennith G. Terrance | 
|
| Interior & Energy | Gregory Kenith Vicrathrath | 
|
| Labor | Cadogan N. Mallown | 
|
| Public Relations | Charrel Cralom | 
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| Transportation | David M. Mounce | 
|
Political Divisions
- The Shazbotdom Empire is an Imperial Body consisting of the Mainland and Four Colonial Possessions. The Imperial Mainland is made up of 35 Senatorial Districts and 298 House of Commons districts. Each Colony of the Shazbotdom Empire has, respectively, 10 Senatorial Districts and 113 House of Commons Districts. The Capital of the Shazbotdom Empire is Shaz City, located within West Central Shazbotdom. Each Colony has it's own Capital City, where it's respective Prime Minister, their offices and chosen staff are located. Each person elected to the Parliament has an office within the Imperial Capital, as well as their District.
Colonial Holdings w/ Leadership
| Colonial Possession | Prime Ministers Name |
|---|---|
| Alraibris | Anthony S. Andromend |
| Bolrasha | Amanda Bowerstone |
| Halnara | Thomaas C. Andrade |
| Shazbotdom Miroxia | Nathanial Jackson |
Parties and Elections
- The Shazbotdom Empire has consisted of a plurality of Political Parties since the founding of the Empire back in the late early 18th Century. Currently consisting of Nine political Parties, each holds it's own set of seats within the Imperial Parliament as dictated throughout the Election Process. Numerous Independents also hold political offices within the Empire. At first, the Supreme Emperor was a position that during the formation of the position, was decided during an Election Process. For six elections, the position bounced around between a couple different political parties until the reign of the current Supreme Emperor, Mr. Larry Williams, when the Parliament made the position permanent and created the Imperial Family.
Political Parties of the Empire
| Political Party | House of Commons | House of the Senate |
|---|---|---|
| Shazbotdom First | 187 | 20 |
| United Empire | 182 | 18 |
| Libertarians | 173 | 13 |
| Democrats | 85 | 9 |
| Republicans | 81 | 7 |
| Independents | 20 | 2 |
| Separatists | 8 | 1 |
| Socialist Party | 6 | 1 |
| Fascist Party of Shazbotdom | 4 | 2 |
| Nazi Party of the Empire | 4 | 2 |
Foreign Relations
- The Empire has ties with a multitude of nations throughout the World, including having close personal ties with nations such as The Dominion of POF and Ganosia through the Axis Commonwealth. It also holds ties to several members of the International Freedom Coalition, as well as the now slumbering Brimstone Pact, Commonwealth of Independent Nations and the Grand Imperial Alliance.
- The Imperial Holding of Shazbotdom Miroxia, itself, holds a tie to the Axis Commonwealth as the Headquarters of the Alliance is located within the City of Chigo. It is here that the membership of the Alliance meet to discuss the happenings of the world and if those happenings are of importance to the AC and threaten peace-time stability throughout the world.
- The Empire also spend roughly $3.2 Trillion on Foreign Aide to nations around the world, including giving loans through the Imperial Bank to developing nations totaling $15.9 Trillion per year. This has helped boost the economy of the Empire and also serves as a method for expanding the Political Influence of the Empire to the developing world.
Alliances
- The Shazbotdom Empire prides itself in assisting the world through varied Alliances. The Empire has been a member of more than a dozen Alliances throughout the it's storied history and has been an Observer in several more. Alliances that are deemed inactive by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have their Ambassadors re-called back to the Empire and are re-deployed elsewhere.
Alliances - Member
- As it currently stands, the Empire is a member of Seven (7) Alliances, some have gone into a state of slumber as of this point in time and the Empire is waiting until they are called upon to help members of those alliances.
| Alliance Name | Ambassador | Photo | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Axis Commonwealth NS Forums Link |
Mr. Jeremy G. Gerontith |  |
Active Council of Founders |
| The International Freedom Coalition NS Forums Link |
Mr. Timmothy Moorston |  |
Active |
| The Imperion Coalition IC Thread Link // OOC Thread Link |
Nurin Abernaster |  |
Active |
| The Council of Nations NS Forums Link |
None | None | Inactive |
| Commonwealth of Independent Nations NS Forums Link |
None | None | Inactive |
| The Brimstone Pact NS Forums Link |
None | None | Inactive |
| The Grand Imperial Alliance NS Forums Link |
None | None | Inactive |
Alliances - Observer
- The Empire also prides itself in observing alliances in an attempt to further it's political ties throughout the world. As it currently stands, the Empire is an Observer in Three (3) Alliances.
| Alliance Name | Ambassador | Photo | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Socialist Nations | None | None | Inactive |
| The New Christian Liberty Alliance | None | None | Inactive |
| The United Left | None | None | Inactive |
Other Memberships
- Besides being a member and observer of several Alliances, the Empire also has Ambassadors to Two (2) other organizations. The Empire has an official Ambassador to not only the World Assembly, but also the Host Region of the Empire, Ellorea.
| Alliance Name | Ambassador | Photo | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| The World Assembly via Colonial Holdings |
Mr. Antuan D. Flaberghast |  |
Active |
| The Region of Ellorea | Mr. Samuele J. Leonardi |  |
Inactive |
Ambassadors in Waiting
| Ambassador | Photo | Ambassador | Photo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dr. Thompson K. Reynolds |  |
Vanalar Helmsdrag | 
| |
| Stan Dramdar |  |
Mortis Sternado | 
| |
| Kelgred Zonimar |  |
Hugo Ulandra | 
| |
| Heather Ernard |  |
Erica Pardanthia | 
| |
| Bandon Lirenard |  |
Achelon Dormith | 
| |
| Mr. Phillip Z. Gangerton |  |
Sparkles Enderhal | 
|
Government Finance
Taxation
- Taxes within the Empire is done on an Imperial, Colonial, and City-State level, with the Imperial Tax Rates in the Empire on a flat 0.2% tax rate for all income brackets. This makes up a total of 85% of the total Budget for the Empire. There is also an Imperial 1.35% Sales Tax rate on items that the Empire deems to be 'luxury items'; such as high octane sports cars, Televisions over 35", Cellular Phones priced at B$100 or more and Private Jets.
- In the past, the Imperial Tax rate has been determined by the Economic Conditions around the world, and the current administration at the time. THrough the 80's and 90's, the Imperial Tax rate skyrocketed at one point due to the economic downturn in many areas of the world, while in the early 2000's the Empire dabbled in a purely Socialistic Economic system and took control over many of the larger companies within the Empire, which caused the Income Tax to skyrocket to 100% and, thus, forced the tax rate for the CityStates of the Empire to drop to 0% as they would have no taxable income from any citizens.
- After a couple years of this failed experiment, the Imperial Government released control of the corporations within the Empire, slashed its budget, and dropped the Income Tax Rate to 20% by the year 2010. During the late 2010s, the Williams Administration decided to slash it's Government Budget once again, which in turn cut the Effective Income Tax Rate to nearly non-existent Levels, causing it to drop below the 1% mark and finally end its fall to an Effective Income Tax Rate of 0.20% by the year 2020. It has maintained this level since.
- The City-States within the Empire have an average tax collection rate for Income Tax of 7.25% and an average tax collection rate for sales tax of 6.5%, equating for the large majority (95%) of their budgets for the Fiscal Year 2019. The rest of their budget comes from Fines from parking enforcement, speeding tickets, etc on the streets of each City-State.
Imperial Budget
- With a total of 13 different branches of Government to be budgeted for, the Imperial Government is minimal in it's complexity. The main three Branches of the Government are the Executive (Supreme Emperor and Prime Minister), Legislative (House of Commons and House of the Senate), and the Justice and Judicial (Imperial Bureau of Investigation, Imperial Police and Imperial Courts) Departments. Among those that are also included in the budget is the Commerce, Interior, Labor, Foreign Affairs, Education, Defense, Energy, Transportation, Agriculture and Treasury Ministries.
- It is up to the Treasury Ministry, under the watchful eye of the Finance Minister, Mr. Ken Rudenbak, to oversee the entirety of the budget an ensure that the Imperial Government does not drop into a deficit. Since the inception of the Treasury Ministry, originally the Finance Ministry in 1901, only once, in 1927, has the Empire goes into a deficit and that was during the Global Depression of the 1920's and 1930's. Since then, the Empire has kept a surplus of at least B$100,000 each year.
- The Imperial Parliament of the Shazbotdom Empire meets during the 3rd Quarter of each Fiscal Year to go over budgetary figures for the next Fiscal Year. Each year, all the various Departments go before the Senate Budget Committee to give their proposals in full. The process takes Four Weeks. By the middle of the 4th Quarter of the current Fiscal Year, the Budget Committee puts forth the complete budget of the Shazbotdom Empire before the House of Commons for debate and vote. Taking a total time-frame of one week, the Budget Proposal normally passes through both houses of Parliament and is signed by the Prime Minister and Supreme Emperor jointly.
The Military
- The Military of the Shazbotdom Empire is broken down into several specific branches. Broken down into FIVE (5) Active branch forces and SIX (6) Reserve forces. Each goes through special training to ensure that they are prepared for anything that would need to be accomplished through their specific set of skills. From Naval Incursions, Naval Bombardments, areal insertions to your basic and old school ground and pound operations, the military of the Empire are on a nearly constant state of readiness.
The Marines
- The two broad branches of the Active Military are the Marine Corps and the Imperial Navy. With the Marine Corps broken down into FOUR (4) sub groups with their own command structure. These are the Standard Marines, BlackOps Marines, SCS Marines and the Marine Air Corps.
Standard Marines
- The Marine Corps is the standard fighting force of the Shazbotdom Empire. It is currently broken up into Two (2) Primary Battalions, the Infantry Battalion and the Mechanized Battalion. The Infantry Battalion is then broken up into Five (5) Sub Battalions, the Recon, Demolitions, Assault, Close Quarters Combat and Base Defense Battalions. The Mechanized Battalions are broken up into Six (6) Sub Battalions, the Combat Support, Transportation, Desert Scout, Assault, Air Defense and Recon Battalions. Each was designed and designated for specific purposes in most combat operations.
Black Ops Marines
- The Black Operations are highly trained in hand to hand and gurrilla warfare. They strike and then leave as soon as possible with precision tactics. Not much else is known or to be released to public knoledge. Using sophisticated training and years of combat experience, these brave men and women take on the missions that the Standard Marine Corps is not quite trained enough to handle.
- It is because of this that many of the operations of the BlackOps Marines occur for night insertions. This is done in such a manner as where the Marines can make their insertion, strike their target as quickly as they can, and then retreat to the Evac Zone with little to no notice from any enemy positions.
- During the assault on the nation of Cymbric Nations, two fire teams of BlackOps Marines initiated an assault on a refueling depot for enemy tanks. After lasing a large fuel storage tank, a guided missile was fired from the naval ships just off shore. When the missile made it's impact, the BlackOps Marines used the confusion to apprehend the base commander and extracted him to the fleet. Setup for the operation took 45 minutes, it took 3 minutes for the missile to be fired and make impact, then it took another 15 minutes for them to locate, apprehend, and extract the base commander. This made the operation tied for 3rd place for one of the fastest in BlackOps history.
SCS Marines
- The SCS Project was originally conceived 5 years after the Marine Corps came into play. It's purpose was to design a Marine Unit that would be invincible to most ammunition. It's armor is a composite that will take damage, but not be penetrated, by most types of ammunition available on the open market. The original design process was long as it looked at more than 40 different armor permutations before it came up with the final product that would become the Mark 1. This caused major budget overages that almost caused the program to be halted. The SCS Project has gone through Three versions to date, with the Mark 2 and Mark 3 being the current versions. The Mark 1 was discontinued in 2016.
Marine Air Corps
- The Shazbotdom Marine Air Corps is comprised of any and all Aircraft of the Empire. From the Transportation Aircraft to the Unmanned Aircraft, the Marine Air Corps are the ones who fly it all. The development of the Marine Air Corps occurred just recently due to the need for a separate entity from the Corps with their own Command Structure due to overloading of the regular Marine Corps Command Chain.
- Shortly after the development of the Marine Air Corps, uniforms were of the top priority for the identity of the pilots, as they would now need their own unique equipment for future operations. After brainstorming at the Air Corps Command Center, the new Uniform as well as flight suit were designed by a think tank of Independent Advisers. With the creation of the new uniforms and flight suit, a reorganization of the current Air Corps became necessary.
- The reorganization of the Marine Air Corps was just one step further in the advancement of the Military within the Shazbotdom Empire. With previously there being only two Divisions (Transportation and Bombing) within the Air Corps while it was a subsidiary of the main Marine Corps; a need for attack squadrons became a necessity. Flight Groups were reorganized into Fighter, Transportation, Combat Support and Bomber. One Aircraft, the AH-33 Falcon, can be utilized in a Transportation role as well as a Combat Support role due to its design. Another aircraft, the UA-66 Longfellow, can be utilized in a Fighter role as well as a Bombing role due to its flexibility as being designed with guns as well as missile and rocket launchers as well as a bomb bay that holds 4 medium sized bombs for bombing troop emplacements as well as vehicles.
- The Shazbotdom Navy was originally created as a defense force for the mainland. Currently consisting of 33 Battlegroups. Each of these Battle Groups is composed of multiple different types of ships, currently these ships have been purchased from the Shipyards of Halycon Arms, or the Empire has purchased Domestic Production Rights for the ships that are currently used.
- Whenever orders are issues to the 33 various fleets of the Imperial Navy, they mainly come from Shazbotdom Naval Command. With their head offices on the Imperial Mainland located just north of the bridge leading to Southland Island, these house the offices of the main Admirality, including the head offices of Grand Admiral James E. Rockenbach.
- The bases are located in various locations throughout the Empire, with one located along the Continental Holdings of the Shazbotdom Empire, just north of the Kenner Tunnel. other locations include along the southern edge of the Imperial Mainland just south of the City of Livingston and a joint base between the Shazbotdom Empire and the ally of Minnysota on the Eastern side of Kenrick Island, which lies north of the Imperial Mainland. There are also several other locations, including Naval Bases at the Imperial Colonies of Alraibris, Bolrasha, Halnara and Shazbotdom Miroxia.
Law Enforcement and Crime
- Law enforcement in the Empire is primarily the responsibility of local police, with a regional police force providing broader services. The Police Department within the Imperial City of Joliet (JPD) is the largest in the country. Agencies on the National Government level, such as the Imperial Investigation Bureau (IIB), have specialized duties, including protecting civil rights, national security and enforcing Imperial Courts' Rulings and the Laws of the Shazbotdom Empire.
- At the national level and in almost every city state, a legal system operates on a common law. Regional courts conduct most criminal trials; Imperial courts handle certain designated crimes as well as certain appeals from the lower level courts. Very rarely do any criminal cases go as far as to be put in front of the Imperial Supreme Court, but it has happened on occasion. Most cases that go before the Imperial Supreme Court deal with court cases that stem from those who beleive that their rights have been violated, or other matters of that type. Plea bargaining in the Empire is uncommon; with very few criminal cases in the country are settled by plea bargaining.
Economy
- The Shazbotdom Empire has a Mixed Market Economy which is fueled by natural resources and the Information Technology Industry. Other markets include Book Publishing, Tourism and Trout Farming. There are several State Run corporations, but is fueled majorly by private industry.
- The Empire's nominal GDP for 2019 is estimated to be at $191.98 Trillion with the GDP Per Capita being roughly $7,749. This is down roughly 0.034% from the previous year, but up 1.34% from it's low point Eight (8) years ago. The Empire's GDP (PPP) for 2019 is estimated to be at $192.14 Trillion with the GDP Per Capita being roughly $7,756. This is also down roughly 0.035% from the previous year, but up 1.33% from it's low point Eight (8) years ago.
- The Shazbotdom Empire is a minor importer of goods and one of the largest exporters, though exports per capita are relatively low. Information Technology, with a major push from Hexadecimal Computer Technology, are among one of the major exports of the Empire, factoring in nearly 60% of all exports.
- In 2009, the private sector was estimated to constitute 67% of the economy with State Run Corporations constituting 31% and the Public Sector filling in the remaining 2% of all business within the Empire.
- Agriculture accounts for just under 3% of all business, with the majority of food being imported from the Colonial Holding as well as Allied nations of the Empire. There has been a push for more family run farming operations within the Empire, as those have increased from 15% of all agriculture operations in 2003 to nearly 19% in 2019. It is estimated that by the year 2030, that number will have increased drastically and may get up to near 30% of all agriculture being family owned and operated.
- Consumer spending is steady within the Empire, with the majority of purchases (74%) within the Empire being of consumable goods such as food and water, while items that are deemed Luxury Goods making up roughly 19% of all purchases. Clothing items make up the remaining 7% of purchases throughout the Empire.
- The Empire is one of many advanced economies that does guarantee its workers paid vacation as well as allows, by Imperial Law, paid family leave as a legal right. The law that was passed in regards to this was due to a lawsuit filed in Imperial Court in 1982 in which a corporation denied someone leave for a family emergency. The lawsuit went through the Five (5) stages of the Imperial Court until the Supreme Court decided that all employees had a legal right to take time off of work. Eight (8) months later legislation was passed through the Imperial Parliament and passed by a wide margin and was put on the desk of the Emperor at the time, who signed it into law the same day.
- The 2008–2012 global recession had a slight impact on the Economy of the Empire, with consumer confidence in the world market shaky, the Economy of the Empire took a 10% hit. By 2017, the economy had finally gotten back up to the point it was before the recession and by 2019 it was up 2% from where it was in 2008. Currently it is another 0.023% up from where it was in 2019 and slowly rising.
Education
- Imperial public education is operated by municipal governments, regulated by the Imperial Department of Education, Ministry of the Interior. In most municipalities, children are required to attend school from the age of six until they turn 18; some municipalities allow students to leave school at 16 or 17 if they gain enough credit hours as dictated by Imperial Law.
- About 3% of children are enrolled in parochial or nonsectarian private schools. Just over 16% of children are home-schooled. The Empire spends more on education per student than a large amount of nations in the world, spending more than $45,000 per elementary student in 2018 and more than $70,000 per high school student. Some 67% of college students in the Empire attend public universities while 33% attend private universities.
- The Empire has many competitive private and public institutions of higher education. College Football is a major sport within the Empire, with sixteen different Major Conferences and more than twenty minor Conferences. The end of the College Football Season sees an extended playing system, where one team who wins their Major Conference Championship goes into the play off system for a sixteen team, Four week playoff program, where at the end of it, all the pop and circumstance accumulates to the Imperial College Football Championship Game.
- As for public expenditures on higher education, nearly $9 Trillion is spent to ensure that tuition costs for Higher Education is as low as it can be. Public Institutions have an average of $1,100 for one year of schooling while Private Institutions have an average of $7,500 for one year of schooling.
Culture
- The Shazbotdom Empire is home to many cultures and a wide variety of ethnic groups, traditions, and values; from the paganistic worshiping of multiple deities original Shazonite people to the hard-working traditions of the Asian populations that immigrated to the Empire in the mid 1900s.
- Core Imperial culture is formed from the cultural roots of the Shazonite people when they were culturally oppressed within western Europe. This culture consists of several varied things that are not well known to the rest of the world, but widely regarded in forms as to be bland to those that do know of it. One thing, though, that is better known throughout the world is Carnival, adopted by the Shazonite people due to that a wide majority of their people were originally from France and were there during the formation of Mardi Gras, otherwise known throughout the rest of the world as Fat Tuesday. A wide spectacle within the Empire, some of the largest parades are located in Shaz City.
Food
- Mainstream Imperial cuisine is exceptionally diverse. With the immigration of a variety of cultures over the past 100 years of the Empire's existence, culinary diversity has exceeded many other area's. Groups such as Haitians, Europeans, Africans and the varied groups from Asia and South-East Asia have expanded the culinary delights of the Empire by tenfold.
- Characteristic American dishes such as Burgers and Omelets are favorites of the Shazite's, while other such dishes from the far east such as Samoor Babi, Sushi, Fried rice and other such dishes from nations such as China, Japan, and Indonesia are becoming more and more popular within the Empire. Celebrity chefs have been known to travel to the Empire to film and create new dishes as well as television shows and series. In 2014, the people of the Empire were introduced to Gumbo by a chef from Louisiana within the United States. Since then, there have been several version of this that have hit the restaurant world, but many restaurants have done the classical Seafood Gumbo (pictured right).
- The Imperial fast food industry is nearly non-existent, with most restaurants being locally owned and operated and a very small number of them being corporate owned. Only a handful of restaurants have gone from being locally owned and operated places to being large chains of dining establishments, among those are The Grill, The Chop Shop, Madigans and Al's Steak House, which were contracted to have locations within Glendenhall Tower within Shazbotdom Miroxia.
Music
- A purveyor of varied types of music, the Shazbotdom Empire is home to many varieties of music, including Alternative Rock, Jazz and the Brass Bands. The Imperial Music industry is one of the lesser industries within the Empire and only makes up for less than 1% of the total GDP of the Empire. Artists within the Empire rarely if ever make it to the national stage and are quite content with that.
Sports
- The Empire has very few sporting groups within it's boarders and most sports are limited to the Collegiate level, with professional sporting teams equating to less than fifteen teams through various different types of sports. College sports, though, is a major player within with Empire, with there being more than Five hundred Colleges and Universities within the entirety of the Empire, from the Mainland to the Colonial Holdings.
- Last year, the College Football Playoff consisted of 32 Teams from Sixteen different Conferences within the Imperial College Athletic Association (ICAA). Originally consisting of only an 8 team playoff, through varied changes by the ICAA, it was deemed that for the betterment of College Athletics within the Empire, the playoff should be expanded to include all of the conferences within the Empire, and after that it was decided that it would be expanded to include two teams from each conference to get a better feel of the wide variety of College Athletics.
Media
- The Empire has been moving away from standard Cable and Satellite over the better part of ten years, with television services switching to app services, and the creation of "Smart TV's" over the past ten years, old school cable companies are scrambling to keep up with the changes.
- Newspapers have switched to mostly online services, creating apps for smart phones and tablets while continuing their print services for government notifications and other major news articles. The largest news corporation within the Empire is Shazbotdom News Corporation, which owns Seventy newspapers and Fifteen news television stations and their apps that go along with them. Since the change away from standard services by SNC, only five of their staffers have been laid off, out of more than 3,000 employees.
Other Corporations
Transnational Worldwide Operations
Broomsides Hotel Complex
Colonial Oil Production/Exportation Co.
Imperial Work Release, Inc.
Infrastructure
Transportation
- Personal transportation is dominated by automobiles, which operate on a network of public roads, The Imperial automobile market includes a high rate of per-capita vehicle ownership, with 982 vehicles per 1,000 Americans of legal driving age. Although only about 15% of personal vehicles are vans, SUVs, or light trucks. The average adult within the Empire spends 42 minutes driving every day, traveling less than 35 km for work.
- A wide range of rail systems exist throughout the Shazbotdom Empire, from subways and local rail systems within the inner cities of the Empire, to a network of high-speed rail systems that connect the larger cities of the Empire in a central network, these systems make up roughly 11% of total travel throughout the Empire. These systems generate more than 45 Billion dollars annually in Government revenue as well as more than 140 Billion dollars annually in Revenue for Private Corporations.
- Mass transit accounts for 11% of total U.S. work trips. Transport of goods by rail is extensive, though relatively moderate numbers of passengers use intercity rail to travel, a fairly large part of the low population density throughout much of the Imperial interior. Although inner city elevated rail travel is used frequently for those who live within the city limits as well as tourists who wish to not deal with the busy roads throughout the city.
- The civil airline industry is entirely privately owned and has been largely deregulated since 1952, causing the rise and fall of many airlines. The major airline that has stood the test of time is ShazAir, who have used fair pricing and excellent customer service to provide services throughout the Empire. In 1995, they expanded their operations to include the subsidiary ShazHopper, which currently services all flight between the Imperial Mainland and the Colonial Holdings. Up until 2019, it was the only airline that was allowed by Imperial Law to provide services to the Colonial Holdings of the Shazbotdom Empire.
- That changed in September 2019 when legislation was passed that allowed foreign airlines to fly between the Mainland, the outer cities of the Mainland and the Colonial Holdings of the Empire, in an effort to bring more competition to the Airline Industry within Shazbotdom. Currently Shaz City International Airport makes up for all of the flights entering and exiting the Empire and has the most sophisticated security to be used at an airport.
Energy
- The Imperial energy market is about 1,932,000 terawatt hours per year. Energy consumption per capita is 57.8 tons (7076 kg) of liquid ethanol fuel per year. In 2005, 12% of this energy came from petroleum, 8% from coal, and 35% from natural gas. The remaining 45% was supplied by renewable energy sources.
- For decades, nuclear power has played a limited role relative to many other developed countries, in part because of public perception in the wake of a 1982 accident. In 2007, all but one Nuclear Power plant closed down within the confines of the Empire, with by 2017 that last power plant was closed down. With more and more power plants opening up using renewable resources, it is estimated that petroleum and coal power plants will be a thing of the past by the year 2029 and Natural Gas Plants will be gone by the year 2045.
Water Supply and Sanitation
- Issues that affect water supply in the Empire include droughts in the North-East, pollution due to industry, a backlog of investment, and a rapidly retiring workforce. Increasing intensity of rainfall within the Empire is expected to cause problems with more pollution from industry making it into water tables, thereby effecting the larger municipalities and cities. Concerns for this have been raised with the Imperial Parliament, who have passed legislation restricting industry and their run-off. Pollution control stations are also being built outside major metropolitan areas as well as regional stations located throughout the countryside at locales that feed major river ways and water bodies that feed the sub-urban and rural area's of the Imperial Mainland.
Science and Technology
Computing
- Computing came late to the Shazbotdom Empire. The first personal computers were imported into the Empire in 1997, which brought acclaim from the academic world and took everything to the next level. By the early 21st Century, computers were in every school and home within the Empire, with the Internet being freely accessibly to all people of the Empire through the Government. In 2011, the first Sextuple core Processors hit the market and computer sales went through the roof.
- For five years, computer processor technology stagnated within the Empire. The populace continued to work while at a research facility at Shazbotdom University within the city of Romeoville began experimenting with a new type of processing technology that would promise to bring faster gaming, faster internet streaming and better productivity to the people of the Empire. In late 2016, news was leaked about this new processor technology to the public and it was met with certain skepticism.
- On February 1st, 2017, the first computers with the Hexadecimal technology hit the shelves within just a few markets within the Empire. Preliminary news reports were that only a handful were sold within a weeks time-frame. After consumer reporting companies began to release reports of how fast the new computers were in comparison to the last generation of computers, a mass frenzy began of computer purchases. By the end of March of 2017, more than 3 Billion of the new computers were sold throughout the Imperial Mainland. Demand was so high that many were put on back-order at the time of purchase and they were delivered to the consumers house nearly 4 months later.
- It took until April of 2018 for nearly every household within the Empire to have at least one of these computers. When reports about sales came into the news outlets in June, the creation of this new computing technology caused a $12.8 Trillion spike to the economy of the Shazbotdom Empire. In an interview with the Shaz City Times, the Supreme Emperor stated the following.
- "This new technology will bring the industry within Shazbotdom to new heights. The economic impact has already shown to be exceptional and will cause new trade agreements to be forged with our friends in the International Community. The people of the Shazbotdom Empire should be proud of our researchers at Shazbotdom University for their perseverance in forging this new technology." -- Larry Williams, Supreme Emperor
- In September of 2017, the Internet companies began a massive overhaul of their systems and three months later they debuted upgrades to the Internet systems within the Empire that included the deployment of web servers and other systems that were built using the Hexadecimal processing technology, which caused internet speeds within the Empire to expand to nearly 25 times their previous speeds.
Mobile Devices
Cell Phones
- As it currently stands, Cell Phones make up nearly 21% of the economy within the Shazbotdom Empire. With it's short, but storied history, cellular communications within the Empire has come a long way since it's inception in the mid 1990's.
Previous Generations
1st Gen
2nd Gen
- The beginning of Cell Phones within the Empire started in 1994, several years after the Cellular Phone revolution throughout the rest of the known world. The first cell phones equated to what would be considered the 1st generation of cell phones depicted throughout Europe and the America's during the early to mid 1980s. The Empire would attempt different version of this type of Cell Phone
- Large bulky monstrosities that were no more mobile than chopping the wire off of a house phone and plugging a box with 4 D-Cell batteries into the back of it. This was the standard cell phone of the Empire until 1999. While the Y2K scare had the rest of the world panicking about the future of telecommunications, the technology industry of the Empire were working hard to develop new products that would not only survive into the new millenium, but also far into the distant future.
- It was then that the Plunix operating system was developed for Cellular Devices and another generation of Cellular Phones hit the market within the Empire. These were equatable to the Flip Phones of the early to mid 1990s elsewhere in the world, but with the operating system designed at the University of Berwin, the phones had a faster response time in all testing. Several different cellular providers surfaced in the late 1990's that toted cell phones with the Plunix operating system. These phones would be the primary cell phone systems within the Empire for the better part of the next ten years.
Next Generation
Aries Wrist-tonic
Drosen Shock Top v3
Drosen Crystal v2
- The Revolution for Cell Phones began within the Empire in the year 2008, when the Drosen Corporation began experimenting with advanced cell phone technology in their labs just outside of Jamestown, in the far Eastern portion of the Imperial Mainland. During that time they experimented with clear polymers for circuitry and micro wiring. After several failures, the first cell phone they produced was the Shock Top v1. It ran for about a year in production until the micro wires that ran under the buttons began to give out. Going back to the drawing board, they came out with version 2 of the Shock Top, which had about as many problems as the first version that they came out with.
- Meanwhile, the Aries Telecommunication Alternative Inc. was working on several designs to see what could be expanded upon in the open market. Out of these trials, they would develop what would become one of the most sought after cell phones within the Empire. The Wrist-Tonic was the design that came from these trials. With a roll-out screen that stemmed out of a wrist band, it connected to a blue-tooth headset that came with the device. Drosen Corporation went back to the drawing board for their second time and developed the 3rd Version of Shock Top. This one withstood all the testing that caused the two previous models to fail with customers.
- Using the methods that they figured out with the Shock Top v3, they went back to the development team and began designing a second cell phone. Redesigning the Shock Top was out of the question at this point in time, but they created a system in which everything within the cell phone was made out of the clear polymers that were used for the number pad of the Shock Top. What came out of this is the Crystal. The first version's screen had some flaws within it that made it so that the wiring became visible with intense use. After a few tweaks of the circuitry and altering the wiring a bit made it so that the only things that would be visible would be logo's, letters, and numbers. Making the entirety of the cell phone nearly completely see-through, a first for cell phones within the Empire.
Tablets
- Tablets have become a mainstay within the Shazbotdom Empire. While personal computers have dominated the market for many years, many people have been switched to Tablets for traveling purposes. Within the business world, Tablets have become the main system for work with businessmen who travel between the various city-states of the Empire to conduct business, especially those on the Corporate Level.
Old Generation
- The older generations of Tablets were rather simple at first. Roughly 1/2" thick, most of them were bulky compared to their counterparts throughout the world. These tablets are still a staple with families throughout the Empire as entry level for children between the ages of 14 and 17 years of age. Most parents allow their children to own tablets as a way to study within school, play simple games, or other such tasks that do not require major processing power. The major player currently within the field of entry level Tablets is the Ares Condor 3 (pictured right). It's base price for it's bottom of the line model is B$35, with the higher end model, the Condor 3(s), priced at B$130. As it currently stands, there are a total of fifteen various models of lower level tablets from seven different corporations.
Next Generation
Drosen Epsilon
Aries Flexall
- In late 2016, corporations within the Empire began using the knowledge that they acquired while working with cell phone technology and advanced the field of Tablets twofold. Aries, priding itself in pushing the envelope as it pertains to it's proprietary technology, came out with what they call the next generation in portable tablet computing. The Flexall was designed with the same flexible material that they used for their Wrist-tonic to create a completely flexible tablet. This tablet is ultra-thin and can be rolled up and put into your pants or jacket pocket.
- Not to be out-done, Drosen used it's own experimental proprietary technology to create a tablet with black handles on either side that housed most of the computer technology, with everything else fixed into the screen using their proprietary clear polymers in an effort to create a sleek design that also can be used within a corporate setting. Both of these tablets would become the biggest sellers in the Mobile Tablet market within the Shazbotdom Empire.
Health
- The Shazbotdom Empire has a life expectancy of 91.2 years at birth, up from 84.1 years in 1990. Declining trends in obesity in the Empire and health improvements have contributed to the escalation of the country's rank in life expectancy from 1987, when it was 45th in the world. Obesity rates in the Empire are amongst the lowest in the world.
- Less than 7% of the adult population is obese and an additional 12% is overweight; the obesity rate, among the lowest in the industrialized world, has shrank more than 20% in the last quarter-century. Obesity-related type 2 diabetes is rarely seen within the Empire, and is estimated at 0.02%. The infant mortality rate of 1.2 per thousand places Empire among the the lowest in Elorea.
- In 2010, coronary artery disease, lung cancer, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, and traffic accidents caused the most years of life lost in the Empire. Low back pain, depression, musculoskeletal disorders, neck pain, and anxiety caused the most years lost to disability. The most deleterious risk factors were poor diet, tobacco smoking, obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, physical inactivity, and alcohol use. Alzheimer's disease, drug abuse, kidney disease and cancer, and falls caused the most additional years of life lost over their age-adjusted 1990 per-capita rates.
- Health-care coverage in the Empire is a combination of public and private efforts and is universal. In 2014, 0.012% of the population currently do not carry health insurance. The subject of uninsured and underinsured Shazites was a major political issue in the late 1960's. In 1971, the City of Berwin became the first Imperial City-State to mandate universal health insurance. Imperial legislation was passed in 1983 creating the current health system. Health insurance is issued by Mutual of Georgetown, which is backed by the Department of Insurance, under the eye of the Ministry of the Interior.
External Links
| ShazWeb |