Goulong

The Republic of Goulong 九龍
Flag
Anthem: 九龍不敗 "Undefeated Goulong"
Map of Goulong Map of Goulong
Capital	Yilan
Largest	Zhongwan
Official languages	Zau
Recognised national languages	Yen, Newreyan, Sükhbataaryn
Ethnic groups	65.1% Cantonese 17.9% Han Chinese 10.5% Sükhbataaryn 6.5% Other
Demonym(s)	Goulongese
Government	Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
• Prime Minister	Leung Kwok-hing
• Assistant Minister	Hu Wei
Legislature	LegCo
• Upper house	National Assembly
• Lower house	Senate
Establishment
• Unification	1011
• Republic established	1885
• Current constitution	1897
Area
• Total	819,115 km2 (316,262 sq mi)
• Water (%)	8.5%
Population
• Estimate	51,649,000
• Density	63.05/km2 (163.3/sq mi)
GDP (nominal)	estimate
• Total	$1.19 trillion
• Per capita	$23,081
Gini	41.5 medium
HDI	0.889 very high
Currency	Fuobi(貨幣)
Time zone	UTC+7 (Yilan Standard Time(YST))

Goulong (Chinese: 九龍, Cantonese Yale: [Gáulùhng]), officially the Republic of Goulong, is a sovereign state and constitutional monarchy on the continent of Catai, located within Aeia. Goulong is bordered by both Sükhbataar and Transcandar to the north, ocean to the west, and unclaimed territory to the south and east. The nation's climate tends to be humid, subtropical and moderate, with hot summers and mild winters. Warm temperatures are common throughout most of the year. Goulong is a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy. The reigning monarch is Emperor Xingzong, who ascended to the throne in 1991.

The capital of Goulong is Yilan, historically the nation's capital. Yilan, due to its historical significance as the location of the Goulongese royalty, is a cultural center of Goulong. Yilan is a predominantly Han Chinese city. The largest city, however, is Zhongwan, an important economic and culturally-diverse city. Zhongwan has nearly 8,000,000 inhabitants and is the center of Goulongese trade and finance. It is also the center of the Cantonese ethnic group which make up the majority of Goulong's population.

Present-day Goulong was historically comprised of swathes of warring states, until 1011, when Emperor Jiulong(from which the nation takes its name using a different romanization) conquered all warring states, unifying the nation for the first time. Over its thousand-year history the nation's dynastical system has seen the rise and fall of unified Goulong states, including a Sukhbataaryn dynasty lasting from the 16th to 17th centuries founded by invading Sukhbataaryn forces, until the overthrow of the final emperor of Goulong in 1885, Emperor Zuihou, marked the founding of a republic by revolutionaries who wrote Goulong's present-day Constitution, bringing Goulong's current government into existence on 1 June 1897. Since then Goulong has existed as a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarchy due to a constitutional agreement between the monarchy and rebel forces at the start of the republic, lasting to the present day.

Goulong spans an area of 819,115 square kilometers and has a population of around 51,649,000 people. While Goulong experiences a fairly large disparity in income, it has been classified as a developed nation with very high standards of living. With a post-industrial economy, the nation's GDP relies partly on manufacturing, agriculture. However, services and knowledged-based activities make up the majority of the Goulongese economy. Goulong's GDP is $1.19 trillion, aided by trade profits from exporting more than importing. Goulong's social welfare services, education, healthcare, life expectancy and public transport all rank highly within Aeia. Goulong's military power, especially its navy, has made it a substantial presence within the Aeian community.

Etymology

The name Goulong comes from the name of Emperor Jiulong, who was the first true ruler of Goulong, after he united the five warring states that covered much of the present-day nation. While Jiulong achieved his feat in 1011, the nation was called "Quanzhou(泉州)", referring to the spring on which the capital of Goulong, Yilan, sits. The first known use of Goulong was its Yen variant "Jiulong", used on a map created by a cartographer in the late 12th century. From the early 13th century onward, official Goulong government documents transcribed the present-day name, 九龍, and adopted the Zau variant 'Goulong' when Newreyan was introduced in the nation. The first official use of '九龍' on an official government document was 1433, on a letter sent to Emperor Guangwu. The name went on to dwarf and eventually render the use of the name '泉州' obsolete. After adopting Newreyan as a recognized language in 1911, the more popular Zau was used to romanize the name to Goulong.

Goulong has no formal alternatives but does have regional language variants. In the northern areas where Yen is the prominent language, 'Jiulong' is still commonly used. The Sukhbataaryn variant is 'Есөнлуу'.

Geography

Goulong is a moderately-sized nation. The nation measures 522 kilometers in width and 1,780 kilometers in length at its greatest extreme. It has a relatively small coastline that measures around 796 kilometers total, and has a roughly rectangular shape. Goulong's total area, including ocean territory and lakes, totals at 819,115 square kilometers. However, approximately 8.5%, or 69,624 square kilometers that make up that area are lakes or water.

The country is surrounded by ocean to the west. The nation shares a small border with Transcandar, but its main neighbor, which it borders to the north, is the nation of Sükhbataar.

Goulong is divided into four main geographical regions- Haibian, Lam Tong, Inner Sükhbataar, and the Eastern Territories. Haibian and Lam Tong are characterized by sitting along the coastline. The regions are comprised mainly of coastal plains and wide plateaus, where many of Goulong's major cities are located.

Inner Sükhbataar is comprised mainly of desert plains, with an elevated central plateau. The Eastern Territories are much more mountainous than the rest of the nation, with the Gaoshan mountain range extending across the majority of the area.

Demographics

Population

The Goulong Citizen Ministry estimated the country's population to be 51,649,228 as of 1 July 2018, and to be adding 1 person (net gain) every 44 seconds, or about 1,964 people per day. The Goulongese population almost quadrupled during the 20th century, from 11.3 million in 1900 to 46 million in 2000. Goulong is the fifth-largest nation by population in Yidao(out of eight), but is one of the only Yidao nations to project moderate population growth in the near future. In the 1800s the average woman had 3.84 children; by the 1900s this number had decreased to 2.35. Since the early 1970s the birth rate has been below the replacement rate of 1.9 with 1.86 children per woman in 2014. Foreign-born immigration makes up 5 million of Goulong's citizens, which has steady increased since the 1960s. The three main Goulongese ethnic groups are Zau(65.1%), Yen(17.0%), and Sükhbataaryn(10.5%).

Language

Zau is the official national language. Other nationally recognized languages include Yen, Newreyan, and Sükhbataaryn. The average Goulongese citizen(65% of citizens over five) speak Zau, Yen, and Newreyan due to the three languages being taught in public schools since 1971. 82.1% of Goulong can speak Zau fluently, with a 71.5% fluency rate for Yen, 68.9% fluency rate for Newreyan, and 11.5% fluency rate for Sükhbataaryn. Sükhbataaryn speakers tend to speak just the single language.

Traditional Zau is the dominant writing system, with Simplified Zau and Yen used elsewhere within Yidao.

Religion

The Goulongese Constitution guarantees the right of citizens to practice any or no religion without interference and bars the Legislative Council from infringing upon this right.

In the 2015 census, 38% of Goulongese said that religion played a "very important role in their lives".