Portcullia
Republic of Portcullia | |
|---|---|
 Flag | |
| Motto: "Unity, Our Strength!" | |
| Anthem: Advance, Portcullia Fair! | |
| Capital | Portcullia |
| Official languages | Anglian |
| Demonym(s) | Portcullian |
| Government | Federal Republic |
• President | Alexander Harper |
• Monarch | Richard I |
• Crown Representative | Logan Davidson |
• Vice President | Aaron Murphy |
• Representative of the Houses | Khloe Mcintyre |
| Legislature | Congress |
| Chamber of Provinces | |
| National Council | |
| Establishment | |
• Tyrannian Colonization | 1688 |
| 1864 | |
| 1952 | |
| Area | |
• | 7,087.56 km2 (2,736.52 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• 2017 census | 1,091,484 |
• Density | 154/km2 (398.9/sq mi) |
| GDP (PPP) | estimate |
• Total | 59.634 Billion USD |
• Per capita | 54,636 USD |
| Gini (2015) | 34 medium |
| HDI (2015) | .901 very high |
| Currency | Portcullian Dollar (PCD) |
| Driving side | right |
| Calling code | +51 |
| Internet TLD | .pc |
History
Prehistory
Themiclesian presence
The first attested reference to Portcullia is attributed to a journal by Gwjang Mjangs on his commercial voyages. In the summer of 883, his ship went off course and ran ashore on the isle, which he described as having a strangely-shaped mountain that is identified in Portcullia. In the 10th century, Themiclesian trade with Meridian states and Menghe created the need for a sojourning place that was some distance from a major power; Portcullia satisfied this requirement. In 1054, the Later Sung dynasty in Themiclesia dispatched a magistrate to administer the island and collect taxes there; witht the magistrate came a small detachment of soldiers, who are known in Themiclesia as the Port Corps, responsible for defending the outpost from piracy. Gradually, the presence of merchants of other nationalities, particularly Mengheans, also grew on the island.
Themiclesian administration persisted for the next 300 years. In 1354, the Menghean Navy (under the Yi Dynasty), docked at the island. Sources differ on what next occurred on the island. The Records of Sung, an anthology of government papers in Themiclesia, states that the Menghean Navy unloaded soldiers from its warships to attack the facilities on the island without any forewarning or cognizable cause. Contemporary Menghean sources point out that the Themiclesian authorities for a prolonged period refused to allow the Menghean ships to enter port, which was interpreted as enmity. In any event, the Menghean fleet managed to take control of the island in the following months, during which the Themiclesian court recalled its administrators and abandoned the outpost to Menghe.
Menghean settlements
Following the evacuation of the Themiclesian administrators, Menghean officials took over. A shift in trade-routes would see the island's population steadily decline over the next few centuries until much of the island was depopulated by the early 17th century. With the island falling mostly into insignificance, what few Mengheans would leave back to Menghe by the mid-17th century.
Tyrannian conquest and colonization
In the early 18th century, the first Anglians would arrive. These early traders would note the island initially as being devoid of population, with only the remains of at least two older civilizations present on the island. Early rumors of holdouts arise during this time, but they are not substantiated.
These first inhabitants typically would either recycle the usable building material left behind by the previous inhabitants, or just outright refurbish and live in the older living quarters. The island would formally be brought under direct New Tyrannian rule by 1688. Its importance as a trade hub would be realized very quickly as trade from Menghe, Dayashina and even parts of Meridia moving out into Casaterra would need to pass by.