Pongi
Federation Of Rygerrof | |
|---|---|
 Flag | |
Motto: "Standing United In Blood" | |
Anthem: Pongi United Forever | |
 | |
 Geographic map of Pongi | |
| Capital | Monsvallis |
| Largest City | Rygerrof City |
| Official languages | Pongian, English |
| Recognised national languages | Pongian, English, Portuguese, Austrolisian, Indigenous Languages |
| Ethnic groups (2021) | Rygerran, Native Pongian, Elborran, Iobarayi |
| Demonym(s) | Pongian |
| Government | Parliamentary Republic |
• Prime Minister | Bretford Rintt |
• Governor of the Unions | William Etwyaip |
| Legislature | House of Assembly |
| Establishment | |
• Territory Formed | 1677 |
• Treaty of Mitangi | 1823 |
• Independence | 1929 |
| Population | |
• 2023 census | 9,328,000 |
| GDP (PPP) | 2023 estimate |
• Total | 551.2 Billion |
• Per capita | 60,478 |
| HDI (2023) | .898 very high |
| Currency | Pongian Solar Microchip (Dollar) (PSM) |
| Time zone | UTC-11:00 (Pongian Standard Time) |
| Date format | DD/MM/YY |
| Driving side | left |
The Federation of Rygerrof, also known as Pongi is a sovereign state that borders Nublarr, Iobaray and Alluna. It is well known for its outstanding mountains, lovely beachside cafes and beautiful scenery. It is located on the shore of the Elborra Bay. Pongi has 5 states, including Capital Districts. The states are Bareka'i, Pensular, Swarfzern, Arukka and Bolttar, along with 15 districts that govern day-day policy. The meaning of the name "Pongi" is hook in an indigenous language, as after the final acquisition of the Mt Bright area, the territory looked like a hook over Iobaray.
History
Pre-Colonial
Pongi was home to several different groups of people during ancient periods, and it was surprisingly different to nearby Iobaray, in the way it was more remote. People have inhabited the area surrounding Rygerrof City for millennia. Creating a seperate culture, the native people relied on the fresh water from streams and rivers, along with grain, for survival. Pongi was notably home to multiple empires, including the Julian Empire.
Independence
Pongi was founded in 1908 as a territory before an uprising happened in the Iobaray Empire. Soon, Pongi managed to gain full independence, with the country being purely coastal, on the Elborra Bay, before expanding inwards to now cover large mountain swaths on the West Adula Range. Uprisings across the country nearly caused the breakdown of the governmental system. A new capital was established, in Rygerrof City, however, supporters of independence said that it was "too close" to the Iobaray Empire's capital. Independence day is now celebrated on the 8th of January every year, showing Pongians pride and hope for the upcoming year.
1949-1961
The Pongian Revolution and the Battle for Rygerrof were aimed to create a stable government within Pongi and to ensure everyone gets free speech. However, this angered the Chancellor, Julie Meanace, who declared war on these protesters and upstaged a coup in order to remain in government. In shock, many notable Pongians combined to storm the capitol and potentially overthrow the government. As the world war raged on, many Pongians lacked food and died from famine. This uprising in capital Rygerrof led to the "so called" Battle for Rygerrof, where the army went on to defend the capitol. This attracted worldwide attention, for the enormity and shock this event caused within the region.
Soon, after heavy international pressures, Meanace agreed to elections and set up a new Pongian Assembly. However, she was revealed to be part of a secret family drug trafficking operation, which caused the people to riot again, in the disappointment of leadership that Meanace had given to them. The Army sided with the protesters, stormed the Capitol again and declared a revolution. This was the start of the "real" Federation of Pongi.
1961-1999
The new government, voted in many changes to the Pongian system, allowing for free and fair elections. But the lack of economic management from the ruling parties led to the 1959 crisis, where there was no industry within Pongi. There was no progress, and the government was stuck on ideas, before they realised tourism would bring in much needed money, along with energy. This was soon the start of the rebuild the nation had to go through to achieve success.
Some massive achievements from this time period is the brisk redevelopment of Pongi, upgrading infrastructure , public transport and improving education access to all. Improving literacy rates and infrastructure were main aims of the parties, as both main parties co operated together into the rebuild of Pongi, which strengthened the judicial system. By the 1990s, Pongi had somehow got most of the nation out of poverty, and had placed a bid for the 1999 Womens World Cup, which was a three bays world cup. The bid was successful, proving Pongi as developing hopefuls and growing national unity between the regions. However, there were still many sets of challenges for the emerging nation, as tourism was constraint to lowly infrastructure and poor spending had placed Pongi into deep debt, which is still an issue the nation manages today. There were no significant spending in the past eight out of ten budgets, showing that the government had indeed overloaded the economy and interest rates remained high.
2000-2020
The new millennium was a large turn for a highly developing nation, which had just hosted a very successful womens world cup, followed by multiple spending increases which boosted tourism to Pongi. Public education was at an all time high and new solar plants were constructed using Pongian materials, a pionner in renewable energy for Adula. This period brought a large change to the political landscape, with parties slowly dividing and taking contradicting stances. The 2 main parties have not appeared in the same coalition since 1987.
Pongi took leaps in poverty control, improving welfare and social housing for all. This has meant reducing wage gaps between men, women and different races. It put many things into stimulus, including the economy. Around this time period, most signs of the coup had been abolished within the political system.
Present
Pongi is in a long period of drought and financial pain after poor decisions made by previous governments caused the conomy to default. A large upgrade on town revitalisation has been included, with many upgrades to the Pongi Metro.
Geography
Climate
Pongi has many different types of climate, with a varying mediterranean climate on the coast to colder oceanic - continental within the West Adula Alps. The coast is heavily defined by the bay effect, where everything is warmer due to the surrounding land on four sides. Most of the country is a cooler mediterranean climate due to the lower latitude and a smaller hot water stream coming towards Antartique makes the Monsvallis area hot, with tendencies for heavy winter rain. A lot of the country has variable weather, with Monsvallis just qualifying for a Mediterreanean climate while Oakpalm has an oceanic climate. Most of the rainfall comes up in a narrow slope towards Cadair, greening forests in the supposed "rain belt".
Demographics
Religion
Pongi contains many different religions, including the unofficial religion SolarAnchor, which places belief that gods are here to promote equality and happiness within the human life, and does not utilise the belief of "not believing = hell", which has proven popular among the public, and is the official religion of the Native Pongians. Around 30% of people believe in Solar Anchor and head to meeting places for traditional ceremonies at least once per month.
The Church of Zian and other christian denominations including Protestant are Pongi's second largest religion, as around 25% of people believe in one christian denomination, including Protestanism containing the largest share. A large share of Pongi's population is Islam, with many mosques located across the cities and national laws banning discrimination against Islams. They contain around 8% of the population, however a growing share.
A study conducted in 2022 found that non religious people make up around 37% of the population and only 20% say they attend a place of worship regularly (ie. each week.) Pongi's government is fully secular, which is stated in Article 9 of the Pongian Constitution.
Population
Pongi is a surprisingly multicultural country, with many immigrants coming from nearby countries in Adula, seeking a better life. Around 30% of Pongians have 1 parent that was born outside of Pongi. The main ethnic groups are Rygerran, Native Pongian (who come second), Elborran and Iobarayi. The main ethinic groups coming outside the former Iobaray Empire borders are of Portuguese, Chinese and Spainish desent.
Pongi's has a population of 9.38 Million people, according to the 2023 Census. The Census is conducted every 5 years to calculate the amount of people residing in Pongi. This marks a massive growth from the previous 2018 census, which came in at 8.9 million. This is mostly due to migration and Pongi's "opening up" to the outside world and loosening border restrictions. The number of people born in Pongi narrowly increased, as the fertility rate drops slightly from 2.02 to 1.97. Like most middle countries, the average age of Pongi is sitting at 28.9 years, a slight increase from 27.7 years as development continues. The population is set to grow from 9.4 Million people to 11.5 Million people in 2050.
Politics
Legislature
Parties
There are many parties within the state of Pongi. They have a justice to serve the people and put their intrests first, according to the Pongian Constitution. This means there are many medium sized parties and independents, even with the 2 big parties still holding most seats within the legislature.
The two main parties are Pongian Labour Party and the National Patriot Party, which usually are the parties holding the government together. Currently there are 356 seats in the Parliament, with half of those belonging to the large state representation, which splits up seats to individual districts by population. The other half goes to local Member of Parliament, which is a stage for a local council / district on the national level.
Currently, Bretford Rintt is the 8th Prime Minister of the 3rd Federation, which started in 1988. Elections are held on a yearly basis, with the midterm year electing half of the parliament, while cabinet years elect the prime minister and the rest of the legislature. The rules will change to an election every 3 years, unless a snap election is called. This means midterms will be abolished and this change, voted by the people, will smooth out elections. Local elections in the 1st year, State elections in the 2nd and Federal elections in the 3rd.
William Etwyaip is the first Governor of the Unions to be of Indegenous Pongi descent, coming from the Ensvellp Tribe in Northern Pongi. Danielle Nera is also the second female deputy Prime Minister.
Government
In Pongi, the government is democratically elected, with runoff preferential voting used across all districts. There are 356 seats within the Pongian Legislature, which is unicameral. 173 seats go to individual districts, which are large and get spilt off by population. In addition, the other half will go to the member of parliament, which represents local areas individually. There is only one in the council / area, as it is used for local representation. Pongi goes through a 3-year election cycle, in which the 1st year are the local elections, which are held on different days across the country, usually going from September - December. The second year are the state elections, which means voters have to vote for state representatives. The final year of the election cycle is arguably the most important. It contains the race for the local MPs, District Representatives and the Prime Ministerial Election. PMs can only be MPs and usually a new prime minister is declared. Usually the DR Elections get held half a year before the Prime Ministerial Election.
New Federation & 2022 Election
A new federation is on the verge of being formed after Pongi descends into economic peril. Rintt's approval rating stays low, at 40%, as woes carried out by the previous government is impossible to fix. This will ensue a new cycle and shocking constitutional reform will be approved by the Governor of the Unions, which is supposed to be stable backing if Pongi ever desends into a new federation. Polls will be called and Pongi will vote in new leader in a "Super Election" which will put everyone in reelection.
This seems more likely than ever as the country navigates trade issues and soaring inflation and Labour leaving the Grand Coalition. The Labour Party and coalition party Greens have held power for almost 15 years before the 2022 election. At that election, all topics were contentious and the Patriots looked to be in heaving trouble. Alternative ended up shocking the polls to record a 34% vote share, meaning they would have to form a coalition. They did eventually with Labour and the Patriots.
On June 2nd, 2023, Labour left the coalition, saying that "inaction and idiotic parties" caused them to leave, however they were the main cause of the economy's dead state. The Patriots took control of the Deputy office and new ministers will be sworn in. This will be the first time in 21 years that Labour is not in a form of power.
Prime Minister
The Prime Minister, Bretford Rintt is part of the Centrist Party, representing Rygesie Forest in the House of Representatives. He was elected in 2022 and is set for reelection in 2025.
The Deputy Prime Minister, Danielle Nera is part of the Labour Party, representing Monsvallis River. She will retire as Deputy PM and become the new opposition leader on June 30, 2023. A replacement will be found, they will be most likely from the Patriot Party.
Foreign Relations
Pongi has many diplomatic relations with different countries on Iearth. Monsvallis is home to multiple embassies overseen by the Pongian Government. After development, Pongi has opened up with many nations across the world and strengthening its ties with neighbours. Pongi advocates for the democratic process, enviromentalism and personal freedom. Pongi's international relations have been guided by their main policies of common sense, multilateralism and respect for other nations.
Pongi has 2 free trade deals, with Bentho and Greater Normark. It is reported that the Pongian Government is closest to Bentho, due to shared history and government similarities.
Embassies in Pongi:
- Bentho
- Greater Normark
- Nublarr
- Iobaray
- Alluna
- Quetana
- Beatavic
- Vœyetska
- Yuan
- Sateroc (Embassy in Sateroc closed temporarily due to the 2023 Sateroc conflict)
Military
Due to a relatively peaceful relationship with neighbours along with the remote location, Pongi does not have a large military. However, the Pongian Armed Forces is the main operating arm of the military, which was founded in 1931 after the collapse of the Iobaray Empire. This in turn built up a medium sized army, with a commanding amount of naval ships and fighter jets. Pongi has struggled significantly with the recruitment of people to the army, but with new university incentives and a free degree on offer, numbers are rising. Topping over 200,000 combined soldiers, in which around 50,000 are currently active, Pongi may have the means to fortify itself enough incase of an invasion.
Pongi contains many types of new equipment to replace ageing carriers, aircraft and tanks. The Pongian Navy patrols Pongi's section of the Elborra Bay, which is easily one of the largest navies in the region, even without a waterfront position. The Navy also has 3 Aircraft Carriers, rightfully named the RTs Commander, the RTs Swarfzern and the DYp Cliffside. The Army Force patrolls Pongi's borders with international neighbours, keeping peace within the Elborrabay Region. This includes mandatory patrols of the high mountains, installing new equipment across the plains and training soldiers to help with combat duties. The Pongian Air Force was founded alongside the navy in 1936.
The army will serve, protect, uphold Pongian values and the integrity of the constitution, as defenders of the land.
Culture
Sport
There are many different sports within Pongi. Usually, there are a few main sports vying for country dominance, in which it has become an interesting tussle between the main football codes. There are many casual sports that Pongians do. This may include surfing, volleyball and skiing, or maybe team sports like Pongipush.
Skiing is one of Pongi's best sports, in which tourists and locals benefit from lots of untouched, authentic and cheap ski fields. Paragliding in Pongi is world famous for its spectacular views of the Adulan Range and the unparalleled experience of flying over a more remote area makes extreme paragliding in Pongi the best in Southwestern Adula. Many other sports such as rock climbing, whitewater rafting and skydiving are also fairly popular for sportspeople, and some sports are also family friendly, such as snowboarding.
The native game, Pongipush, is a game focused on goal kicking and tackles, on which it is played on a smaller court. It is known for its fast paced and high scoring movements, which sees a rugby style game with heavy soccer and indigenous influence to create a game with multiple aspects of physicality. It is particularly popular within the north, has many leagues including the National Pongipush League and many smaller district leagues. The NPL will be moved forward for soccer's expansion into Pongi. The new league will start on the 5th of July and finish on the 4th of December, which is when the league previously used to start (pre 2000). It is played in Normark and Bentho as an international game.
Rugby Union is also one of Pongi's favourite games, which it was brought by explorers within the 1750s. It has been a success across Southern Pongi, with many people playing on a weekly basis. Currently it is Pongi's favourite sport, owing to the exceptional performance of the Pongian Rugby Team, which finished 4th in the International Rugby League, and the hosting of the 2023 IRL Championship. There is also a national league called the Pongian Rugby League, which starts on the 19th of May and ends on the 26th of August.
Association Football is one of Pongi's less favourite club league sports. After Pongi lost in the World Cup Qualifiers, a new league has been formed, which is called the Rygenrof Football Leagues, which will start in 2024. Pongi's soccer team has qualified once, in 1989, and made it to the quarterfinals.
Art
Pongi has a cultured art industry, being home to many famous painters and digital artists. Art is known to be a meditation form in Pongi, as it is supposed to help you relax. There are many famous paintings scattered within the nation, but the most famous is a painting made by Carlos Tenzwer, which is a painting of Pongi's 2 national animals, the little penguin and the snow leopard, representing 2 different areas in unity.
