Gardavasque

Social Democracy of Gardavasque
Flag of Gardavasque Flag
Motto: “The Noblest Motive is the Public Good”
Anthem: "Gardavasque, Beloved Nation"
Map of Gardavasque Map of Gardavasque
Capital	Eternity
Official languages	Modern Romanx
Demonym(s)	Gardavascan
Government	Federal Multiparty Democratic Republic
• President	Biff Snollygoster
• Prime Minister	Yorick Spence
• Premier of the Senate	Adam Brator
• Chamberlain of Parliament	Marcy Bellows
• Chief Justice of Supreme Court	Robert Johns
Legislature	Congress of Gardavasque
• Upper house	Senate
• Lower house	Parliament
Establishment
• Independent from Ecclesiastical Dominions	1780
• Constitution establishing Federal Democratic Republic	1800
Area
•	2,780,400 km2 (1,073,500 sq mi)
• Water (%)	1.57%
Population
• July 2019 estimate	44,822,005
• 2010 census	44,788,100
• Density	16.11/km2 (41.7/sq mi)
GDP (nominal)	estimate
• Total	1.95T ¥
• Per capita	¥43,389
Currency	Gardavascan Yesca (GDV¥)
Date format	mm-dd-yyyy
Driving side	right
Calling code	+345

The Social Democracy of Gardavasque, commonly called Gardavasque, is a Federal Multiparty Democratic Republic in the International Democratic Union, on the south central portion of the continent of Hespia. Gardavasque is famed for its stunningly beautiful environment rich in biodiversity, empathic population, and progressive civil rights policies. It holds strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties with neighboring nations of The Lavender Country (to the north), Great Tequila Island (south), Azaffran (west), and Ecclesiastical Dominions (to the east). Gardavasque is an active member of the World Assembly, Security Council, and International Democratic Union States' Assembly and is signatory to numerous environmental and human rights treaties. The medium-sized government juggles the competing demands of Education, Industry, and Environment. The "frighteningly efficient" Gardavascan economy, worth 145 trillion Yescas a year, is quite specialized and led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Tourism, Retail, and Book Publishing. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 99,890 Yescas, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.2 times as much as the poorest. Gardavasque has a keen scientific interest in space; its Space Program (SPG) officially launched in 1960 and is currently developing a 100-year off-world colonization project.

Etymology

The word "Gardavasque" means "Protectors of the Forest" in Romanx. This was the word used to describe the prehistoric Sempervirens culture who coexisted with dinosaurs and constructed elaborate cities in the canopies of the Redwood forests throughout the rainforests of modern-day Gardavasque. Although not directly descended from the Sempervirens culture, which vanished approximately 6 thousand years ago, Gardavascans tend to look to the Sempervirens as spiritual ancestors, taking inspiration from their engineering marvels and sustainable agricultural practices that continue into the present day.

History

Gardavasque's history is often divided in four major eras: Prehistory, Classical Era, Thalassic Era, and Modern Era.

Geography

Gardavasque covers 2,780,400 km² of environmentally-stunning landscapes rich in natural resources and abundant in biodiversity. Approximately 30% of its territory has been designated Federally and Provincially-protected Wildland Reserves, National Parks, and Autonomous Tribal Lands with limited capacity for development in these areas. Gardavasque is strategically located in south central Hespia along the northwest coast of the Deep Blue Sea and the southwest coast of the Vespucci Channel, making it ideally situated for maritime and overland trade. For being a relatively medium-sized country, Gardavasque has an astonishing range of biodiversity and dramatically varied ecosystems; nearly every type of climate except polar and tundra can be found within the country. The northern border of Gardavasque reaches to the Hallelujah Mountains, the highest mountain range in the region, with nearly a hundred peaks remaining snow capped year round. The famous Emerald Forest in Eastern Gardavasque, contains approximately 25% of the last remaining rainforests in Hespia as well as some of the the last reserves of free-roaming dinosaurs in the world. The Deep Blue Sea along Gardavasque's southern coast, is famed for its nearly perfect weather year-round, pristine beaches, and excellent surfing conditions. The Calescent Desert on the west, the most sparsely-populated part of the country. Western Gardavasque is rich in mineral resources, wildflower blooms, and contains extensive underground caverns which have been a treasure of rare fossils and scientific study.

Gardavasque's total land area is 2,780,400 km² with approximately 1.57% of that being water. Major navigable river systems include the Loyal River, Glory River, Liberty River, Independence River, and Sequoia River. The coastline of Gardavasque is 8,965 km long. It's Maritime Claims include 22 km of territorial sea and an exclusive economic zone of 370 km.

Most of the nation enjoys a Mediterranean climate with the interior Loyal Valley basin experiencing clear hot summers and cloudy, cold, wet, winters. Along the coastal areas, summers tend to be moderate and foggy in the summers and partly cloudy and cool, with infrequent storms, in the winter. Rainforest areas remain warm and wet year round, but are particularly hot and humid in the summer. Alpine forests tend to be hot and dry in summer and snowy or rainy in winter.

Natural Resources Gardavasque's natural resources include precious metals (gold, silver, platinum), gems, coal, lignite, iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, uranium, tungsten, mercury, pyrites, magnesite, woodchips, rare fossils, hydropower, arable land, wildlife habitats, unique natural wonders. It's mining industry provides raw materials for electronics and automobile manufacturing, major staples of the economy.

Land Use Gardavasque's agricultural regions form the backbone of its economy and are a major food producer for the IDU; nearly 25% of the continent's fresh fruits, nuts, and vegetables are grown in Gardavasque. In particular, Gardavasque wine and cheese exports are a significant driver of the agricultural sector. Gardavasque's heritage as an agrarian nation is a significant contributor to its political and economic makeup. Approximately

Environment

Gardavasque's natural wonders and ecotourisism attractions are a primary economic driver for the country. Since the adoption of the "Quality of Life Amendment of 1982," economic development has been conducted responsibly to conserve the environment and sustain the well-being of local people at the Federal, Provincial, and Local level of government. Gardavasque's National Park System is the oldest in the IDU and among the most extensive in the region with over 27,000 Federal employees in the National Parks Service overseeing 100 National Parks and National Wildland Reserves. Gardavasque's otherworldly petting zoos are global attraction with thousands of rare, endangered, and fragile species receiving protections.

Demographics

Total Population: 379,064,900 Birth rate: 10.1/1,000 inhabitants Death rate: 7.9/1,000 inhabitants Net Migration rate: 12.2/1,000 inhabitants Infant Mortality Rate: 2.1/1,000 inhabitants Maternal Mortality Rate: 0.9/1,000 inhabitants Total Fertility Rate: 2.2 children/mother Median Age: 40.3 years Population Distribution Urban: 51.1% Suburban: 27.2% Rural: 17.7 Indigenous/Wildland Reserves: 3.9%

Languages

Modern Romanx (Official) 89.8% Other: 5%

Religion

Gardavasque has no official state religion. Catholicism 70% (Note: Gardavasque Conference of Catholic Bishops officially endorsed Women's Ordination in 2016 risking scism with global Catholic Church; currently in dispute resolution status with Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith in Vaticanus.) Christian, Other 12% None/No Particular Religion 9%

• Individuals may claim more than one religion

Government

Constitutional Federal Multi-party Democratic Republic with Limited Direct Democracy and Mixed Free Market/Socialist Economy. Executive Branch Chief of State/Government: President (4 year term) Elected by popular vote. Vice Executive: Prime Minister (4 year term) Elected on ticket with President.

Legislative Branch: Senate: 2 Senators elected from each Province (6 year term) Parliament: 1 Member elected from each Prefecture (2 year term)

Judicial Branch: Supreme Court: Chief Justice, nominated by President, Subject to Senate Confirmation (lifetime appointment).

Associate Justices: One elevated from each of ten Circuit Courts, nominated by President, subject to Senate Confirmation (12 year terms, limit 2) Bicameral legislature consists of an upper chamber, the Senate, and lower chamber, the Parliament. There are 80 Senators (2 from each of 36 provinces, 1 from Autonomous Municipality of Eternity, 1 from each of 3 proprovinces, 4 appointed at-large by the Prime Minister) and 220 Representatives in Parliament, each representing a district approved by its provincial or proprovincial legislature. Legislative districts are subject to redistricting process based on Federal census data every 10 years and subject to review of an independent redistricting commission made up volunteer citizen commissioners.

Political Parties Democratic Party (D) Dominant party in legislature since 1968. Notable issues include civil rights, immigration, women's rights, healthcare reform, criminal justice reform. Farm & Labor Party (F&L) Majority party in Rust Belt provinces, Farm Belt provinces, and major manufacturing cities. Notable issues include labor unions, pro-argribusiness policies, job growth in rural areas, and sustainable farming. Ecology and Conservation Organization (ECO) Minority party nationwide, with strong showing in local elections in coastal cities and university towns. Notable issues include protection of wildland areas, sustainable development, mass transit, and animal rights. Center for Conservative Capitalism (C3) Surges with populist sentiment every 40-60 years. Pro-business, nepotism, pro-corruption, anti-regulation agenda. Current president from this party, though this was a disputed election with suspected foreign influence. National Orthodox (NO) Extremist religious positions on human rights issues. Pro-catholic agenda.

Provinces

Foreign Relations and Military

Gardavasque repealed compulsory military service in 2018.

Culture

A majority of Gardavascan adolescents develop exceptional empathic abilities through a combination of innate capability, devout spiritual practice, and deep-rooted social norms. It is common for long term couples and family members to develop the ability to sense emotions and read one another's thoughts, even across great distances, leaving social and medical scientists divided on competing theories of explanation. Thus, despite being culturally and ethnically diverse, Gardavasque society is strikingly homogenous in its low tolerance for deception, indifference, or cruelty. Gardavasque's rates of preventable disease and injury are among the lowest in the IDU because of its advanced universal health care system which provides parity coverage for mental health, addiction, and spiritual well being. Divorce in most cases is prohibited by law because of robust community and social supports invested in couples and families. Crime is virtually unknown since the criminal justice system adopted a policy of "Perfect Reconciliation" that abolished prisons in favor of criminals co-experiencing the emotional injury of their victims. As a nation populated with empaths, Gardavasque is a prime destination for vacationers, political asylum-seekers, spiritual retreatants, business negotiators, and artists of all disciplines. Graduates of Gardavasque's top institutions are world-renowned among practitioners of the healing arts and sciences.

Gardavasue society is ethnically diverse, encompassing numerous ethnic and religious minorities from throughout the region. Ethnic Gardivascans make up the largest ethnic group at 76%, followed by Lavenderians (21%), Tequilans (18%), Ecclisians (8%), Azaffranx (8%), Lauchnoirian (6%), Trivian (5%), Zamistanian (4%), Maximusian (2%), and Sanctarian (1%). Individuals may identify with more than one ethnic group.