Île d'Émeraude

Republic of Île d'Émeraude République de l’Île d’Émeraude
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Vers la prospérité Towards Prosperity
Anthem: Hymne de l’île d’Émeraude
Capital and largest city	Port-au-Grégoire
Official languages	Gaullican
Recognised regional languages	Emeraudian Creole
Ethnic groups	Bahio-Emeraudian or Mixed (88%) Gowsan-Emeraudian (5%) White Emeraudian (3%) Other (3%) Narapanese Emeraudian (<1%)
Demonym(s)	Emeraudian
Government	Unitary presidential republic
• President	Benjamin Claude
Legislature	Emeraudian Senate
Independence
• Granted	1952
Area
•	133,969.92 km2 (51,726.08 sq mi)
Population
• 2021 estimate	1,546,923
• Density	12.62/km2 (32.7/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	2021 estimate
• Total	$25.123 billion
• Per capita	$16,241
GDP (nominal)	2021 estimate
• Total	$19.888 billion
• Per capita	$12,857
Gini (2021)	32.5 medium
HDI	0.75691 high
Currency	Arucian shilling
Date format	dd-mm-yy
Driving side	right

Île d'Émeraude (Gaullican: Île d'Émeraude, Emeraudian Creole: Zile Emeraude), formally known as the Republic of Île d'Émeraude (Gaullican: République de l’Île d’Émeraude, Emeraudian Creole: Repiblik de Zile Emeraude), is a small island nation located in the Emerald Isles of the East Arucian Sea. It shares maritime borders with TBD to the east, Gapolania to the southeast, Satucin to the south, Vinalia to the west, and Chistovodia to the northwest.

The first humans arrived on the island around 4000 BC, believed to have originated from Asteria Inferior. These natives, known as the Narapanese, spread and populated the island, living in isolation on the island until it's discovery by Gaullican explorer TBD in 1517 AD. The Narapanese tribes would unite to from a single tribal kingdom in 1535, but Gaullica began to conquer the island, which fell by 1542.

The island would be named Île d'Émeraude by the Gaullicans, called as such for the emerald-green waters that surrounded the island, and as disease spread and killed a majority of the native Narapanese population, white Gaullican settlers and Bahian slaves were imported, and the descendents of the slaves ended up forming a strong majority of the population that persists to this day.

After the Great War, Île d'Émeraude would become a part of the Arucian Federation, a trusteeship of the Community of Nations. After an independence referendum, and a subsequent 5-year transitonal period, Île d'Émeraude would be granted independence on September 21, 1952. In the modern day, Île d'Émeraude is an upper-middle income country with an economy dependent on finances, manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism; it has an average of 4.3 million tourists a year. Île d'Émeraude performs favorably in measurements of press freedom and democratic governance. It ranked first in the Arucians on the World Happiness Report for 2020. It's a member of the Community of Nations, the Arucian Cooperation Organization, the International Council for Democracy and the Organization of Asterian Nations.

Etymology

The name Île d'Émeraude, literally "Emerald Isle" in Estmerish, comes from the Gaullican explorers, who named the island after observing the emerald-green waters that surrounded the island when they first landed. The native Narapanese tribes called the island "deblaraq", which meant "homeland" in their native language.

History

note: history subject to change

Prior to colonization

The first humans arrived on the island around 4000 BC, believed to have originated on Asteria Inferior. These people, known as the Narapanese, spread and populating the island, which they named "deblaraq" (Narapanese for "homeland"), with most living on the coasts, though eventually settlement would go further inland. As the population of the island increased more and more over the course of centuries, the Narapan had formed a tribal kingdom known as the Narapanese Confederation, which lasted from around 3200 BC to around 2800 BC, when the Confederation splintered between Narapan tribes, largely due to the growing cultural differences that began to appear. Soon, the different tribes that emerged from the ashes of the Confederation had distinct cultures of their own, which were influenced by many factors- primarily, terrain. Naturally, coastal tribes lived and worked differently than tribes in the hilly and mountainy interior of the island would, which resulted in a variety of cultures that were birthed from the diversity of their lifestyles.

The different tribes would coexist in relative peace for millennia, remaining isolated from the outside world up until 1517 AD, when the first voyages from Euclea arrived on the island. The first voyage that reached the island was headed by a Gaullican captain, TBD, who claimed the island for Gaullica. The natives, to say the least, did not appreciate attempts of subjugation by the explorers, but thankfully, the chief of the coastal Narapan tribe, Kawacatoose, was able to negotiate a deal with the expedition- they would be able to establish a port/trading outpost on the southern coast near the mouth of the Crystal Bay (large bay on the island, see claim), and the rest of the island would remain free. This deal would temporarily keep the two sides from descending into conflict, and initially friendly relationships between the two sides would be forged. However, Kawacatoose's goal of peace and cooperation with the Gaullicans, which was briefly realized, would come crashing down after foreign diseases were introduced in 1521, and around 75% of the island's 3 million indigenous inhabitants, including Chief Kawacatoose, would perish. The natives eventually put two and two together and realized that the Gaullicans had brought this plague of disease and death with them, and relations quickly crumbled. Even though tensions climbed pretty high, a larger conflict was, for the moment, avoided.

Over the next 10 years, the tribes began to merge through personal unions, where the children of the chiefs of two (or more; having multiple spouses was not frowned upon by the Narapanese tribes during the period) tribes would be arranged to marry, and once the chiefs died and passed leadership to their children, the tribal kingdoms would merge into one. These mergers would occur, and soon enough, by 1533, only two Narapanese kingdoms remained, divided by north and south, and each felt they were destined to reunify the island under their own control. Because of this, the headstrong chiefs of both tribes were, to say the least, uninterested in the personal union option. This would soon culminate in the War of Reunification in 1534, where the northern kingdom launched an invasion of the southern, backed by the Gaullicans, who saw the infighting among the tribes as beneficial to their plans of eventual takeover. Eventually the northern kingdom sacked the south's capital and, for the first time since the days of the Narapanese Confederation, the island was united; at least politically. While the different Narapanese tribes had formed distinct cultures, they all shared many similarities, and cultural syncretism occurred. Inter-tribal marriages were not uncommon, and the people kept the fact that the tribes were of a common origin to heart, and the people of the different Narapanese tribes often treated each other like brothers.

The chief who led the north to victory would pass in 1535, leaving his son Mathias to take control of the recently reunified kingdom. He is remembered as a revered figure in Île d'Émeraude's history, being the second - and last - Narapanese monarch to rule over a reunified island. He would be a champion of equality among the tribespeople, would abolish slavery (which existed as a debtor's system; if someone was in debt to you, you would have the right to kidnap and enslave them for as long as you pleased), introduced the idea of even handed and fair rule through Mathias' Declaration (basically Île d'Émeraude's Magna Carta), and would watch over an age of prosperity on the island, known as the Golden Age of Narapanese Île d'Émeraude. Unfortunately, the Golden Age would come to a premature end.

Gaullica for the moment honored agreements with the locals, though they still had ambitions to take over the island, and they grew impatient. When the time came to renegotiate and renew the lease on the outpost, the Gaullicans began to demand more privileges, which were rejected by the Narapanese. Tensions would culminate in the Wars of Gaullican Conquest, which lasted from 1539 to 1542. The wars were a repetitive pattern of Gaullica invading and occupying a chunk of land, sign an armistice/ceasefire, break the ceasefire and occupy more land, sign another ceasefire, repeat. This went on until the entire island fell under Gaullica's control in 1542.

Early Gaullican rule

With Gaullica taking over, the island would be given a name, the Colonial Protectorate of Île d'Émeraude, named for the emerald green waters that surrounded the island, and (TBD), the same man who led the conquest, was made the Colonial Governor. He brutally repressed the local native population, as more disease would spread and kill many more, full on assaults were made against them, like the burning of villages, and other atrocities would be committed as well, like the forced capture of Narapanese women to be used as comfort women. It is argued, and hotly debated, in the present day that (TBD) had led and organized an early genocide on the Narapanese population. Meanwhile, Mathias abdicated the throne and went off the grid. Not much is known about his last years, and it is estimated that he died around the mid 1540's of disease. Meanwhile, immigration of Gaullican citizens and Bahian slaves began to kick off, with many using slave labor to grow a crop of sugarcane, tropical fruit, spices, rum, and cocoa beans. Many other changes occurred on the island as well; Gaullican quickly became the lingua franca, local populations were converted to Sotirianity, and Bahians became the dominant ethnicity, as the Narapanese population continued to dwindle rapidly. The island became a major hub for the slave trade; in fact, Île d'Émeraude's present day capital city, Port-au-Grégoire, was established as a port for slave ships dropping off shipments of Bahian slaves.

As the years continued to go on, the sugar cane industry grew into the largest, with sugar plantations seen left and right. To support the industry, more and more Bahian slaves were imported; at the height of the slave trade around 1648, the ships that came in per month with new slaves numbered in the hundreds. The population continued to grow, fueled mostly by the Bahian slave trade.

By the time the Ten Year's War began, Île d'Émeraude was considered a hub of the slave trade and reliable source of sugar, though was considered by most as a backwater. During the war, the island did come under brief Estmerish occupation. After the war, Île d'Émeraude once again came under Gaullican rule, with forces liberating that island. In the aftermath of the war, military presence had increased on the island, which some of the locals didn't appreciate. As such, protests against militarization of the island occurred in 1734, though they would soon die down as it was promised that civilians would not be obligated to quarter soldiers in their homes.

Otherwise, life in Île d'Émeraude was relatively quiet up until 1751, when a series of slave revolts began to grip the island. A few thousand escaped slaves retreated into the interior hills and mountains of the island, forming communities that included them and a select few Narapanese who decided to join them. These people were called Emeraudian Maroons, and they often clashed with the colonial authority in what became known as the Maroon Wars, though a peace agreement was reached in 1760 where the Maroons would be allowed to continue existing while not aiding anymore escaped slaves.

18th to 19th centuries

• sugar price crashes
• slavery abolished in 1834, Gowsans brought in
• Gowsan indentured servitude abolished in 1856
• War of the Triple Alliance, Île d'Émeraude sees action as a naval base
• War of the Arucian occurs
• Île d'Émeraude unified with nearby Gaullican colonies of Parane, Îles Émeraude, Saint-Joyeux into single dominion

Early 20th century and the Great War

• Great Collapse occurs, spurs the Emeraudian Spring
• Resistance to social pressure for change from colonial elite cause widespread dissatisfaction
• Keys to Recovery implemented, economic recovery begin
• Rise of functionalism protested against, protests suppressed
• Minor open rebellion, continues until end of Great War
• Integrated into Asterian Federation after Great War
• Five-year transitional period to independence

Post-independence

• independence granted
• Constitution ratified
• Île d'Émeraude joins different multinational organizations
• Sugar Crash occurs, economy transitions to manufacturing and tourism as biggest industries over agriculture
• fraudulent election in 1968 leads to military coup to overthrow Alexandre Chauvin, who was seen abusing his powers. Civillian rule is quickly reestablished
• cultural renaissance, the xxx, occurs
• hurricane hits in 2007

Geography

Climate

• tropical in the south, humid subtropical in the north
• prone to hurricanes