Floptropica
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Island Republic of Floptropica | |
|---|---|
 Flag | |
| Anthem: Ye Hua Xiang (Scent of the Wildflowers) | |
| Capital | Flop City |
| Largest | Ciudad Potaxie |
| Official languages | English, Spanish, Flopa |
| Vernacular language | Floptropican Creole |
| Ethnic groups (2020) | 49.2% Black 38% Mixed 11.2% White 1.6% other/unspecified |
| Religion (2020) |
17.1% no religion 3.1% other |
| Demonym(s) | Floptropican Flop (colloquial) |
| Government | Federal presidential republic |
• President | Deborah Ali-Williams |
• Vice President | Jiafei Dai |
| Legislature | National Parliament |
| Senate | |
| House of Flops | |
| Independence from the United States | |
• Cession | June 10, 1980 |
• Self-government | December 8, 1980 |
• Recognized | December 18, 1980 |
| Area | |
• Total | 22,058 km2 (8,517 sq mi) (148th) |
• Water (%) | 2.4% |
| Population | |
• 2023 estimate | 2,790,000 (139th) |
• 2020 census | 2,710,382 |
• Density | 318/km2 (823.6/sq mi) (46th) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2024 estimate estimate |
• Total | $92.030 billion (103rd) |
• Per capita | $34,085 (59th) |
| GDP (nominal) | 2024 estimate estimate |
• Total | $64.800 billion (88th) |
• Per capita | $24,800 (44th) |
| Gini (2023) | 49.6 high (14th) |
| HDI (2023) |  0.819very high (59th) |
| Currency | Floptropican Florin (FFN) United States dollar (USD)` |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (EST) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
| Date format | mm/dd/yyyy |
| Driving side | right |
| Calling code | +1 244, +1 277 |
| ISO 3166 code | FL |
| Internet TLD | .fl |
Floptropica, officially the Island Republic of Floptropica, is an island country in the eastern end of the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains about a half of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and most of its population. The archipelagic country consists of about 10 islands, cays, and islets in the Atlantic Ocean, with the largest islands being Flop Island and Tate Island (the latter being the location of the autonomous region of Da Boyz, home to about 700,000 people), and is located north of the Dominican Republic and west of the island of the Turks and Caicos Islands. The capital is Flop City on Flop Island. Floptropica is the fifth-largest country in the Carribean by population, with about 2.7 million people, of which approximately 1 million live in the Greater Ciudad Potaxie area.
The islands were inhabited for centuries by the indigenous Flopa people. The first recorded European sighting of them was in 1527. In subsequent centuries, they were claimed by both Spain and England, with the Spanish eventually gaining control in the 19th century. The British-controlled Tate Island eventually became part of 'Santo Domingo Norte', the Spanish name at the time for Floptropica. In 1898, following the Spanish-American War, Floptropica became an American territory, until independence talks began in 1976 and Floptropica became an independent nation in 1980. In 1987, fighting broke out in the then-province of Da Boyz, after police fatally shot a group of Da Boyzians during a protest, which ultimately led up to the Badussy War, which lasted until a treaty was signed in 2001, ending 14 years of fighting.
Floptropica is the most visited destination in the Carribean, and Ciudad Potaxie Airport handles the most passengers yearly in the Carribean, with 15.6 milion travellers passing through the airport in 2023. Resorts, beaches, coral reefs, and rainforests are major attractions. Floptropica is also home to the Carribean's second tallest mountain, Mount Poosay.
Naming and etymology
The name Floptropica is derived from a portmanteau of flopera and tropical , with flopera being a Flopa word, and tropical being borrowed from English settlers on the nearby Turks and Caicos Islands. Tourist guides often state that the name comes from the Potaxie dialect of Flopa, but many linguists argue that this is a folk etymology. Alternatively, Floptropica may have been derived from Flatropia, a local name of unclear meaning.
First attested on the c. 1523 Turin Map, Floptropica originally referred to Flop Island alone but was used inclusively in English by the early 1600s to refer to all nearby islands, including Tate Island.
History
Pre-Columbian era
The islands of the Caribbean were first settled around 6,000 years ago by hunter-gatherer peoples originating from Central America or northern South America. The Arawakan-speaking ancestors of the Taíno moved into the Caribbean from South America during the 1st millennium BC, reaching Floptropica and the Lucayan archipelago by around 650 CE. These Arawakan peoples engaged in farming, fishing, hunting and gathering, and the widespread production of ceramic goods. The estimates of Floptropica's population in 1492, when Christopher Columbus reached the islands vary widely, ranging from just thousands to about 300,000. By 1492, the island was divided into four distinct chiefdoms. The Flopa name for the entire island was Flopera, a Flopa word with unknown meaning.