Isolaprugna

Commonwealth of Isolaprugna Collettività di Isolaprugna (Arday)
Flag
Motto: "Progress Is Always Good"
Capital and municipality	Costapunente
Official languages	Arday
Ethnic groups (2016)	43% Asuran-Isolaprugnan 37% Catainese-Isolaprugnan 13% Mixed 7% Native
Demonym(s)	Isolaprugnan
Government	Unitary semi-presidential Georgist republic
• President	Emanuela Amatore (PGS)
• Prime Minister	Federico Cho (PGS)
Legislature	Assembly of Delegates
Establishment
• Independence from Ardaima	7th October 1867
• Military Coup	3rd December 1943
Area
•	10,293 km2 (3,974 sq mi)
• Water (%)	1.7
Population
• 2017 estimate	3,102,000
• 2016 census	3,101,293
• Density	301.37/km2 (780.5/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	2016 estimate
• Total	67.8 billion
• Per capita	21,850
GDP (nominal)	2016 estimate
• Total	69.2 billion
• Per capita	22,293
Gini (2016)	24.7 low
HDI (2016)	0.829 very high
Currency	Isolaprugnan Munita (ISM)
Time zone	UTC-6:30 (Isolaprugnan Standard Time)
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy CE
Calling code	+420
ISO 3166 code	IS
Internet TLD	.is

Isolaprugna, officially the Commonwealth of Isolaprugna (Arday: Collettività di Isolaprugna), is a country consisting of the island of Isolaprugna and smaller, surrounding islands. It is in the middle of the Gulf of Vestrim, due southeast of the Democratic Federation. It has its capital in the coastal city of Costapunente, originally founded by penal colonists. It is rather small compared to most of Vestrim's other islands, with an area of merely 10,293 square kilometres, although this area boasts a population of 3 million people.

Prior to Ardaiman colonization in the early 16th century, the island was inhabited by native tribes, who lived a lifestyle based on fishing and agriculture. It became a penal colony of the nation, but transportation ceased in the 19th century, and many Catainese merchants and settlers from Ardaima's Catainese colonies arrived in the island, and stayed there, leading to a large ethnically Catainese population. After increased tensions, the nation became independent in 1867 as a democratic republic. A left-wing government was elected in 1941, which saw struggles with the military before being deposed in 1943 via a coup. This led to a brutal dictatorship until 1967 when free elections were held, with the ruling Party for Social Justice (PGS) setting up a new republic, implementing Georgist economic policies, and thus implementing a land value tax and a universal basic income.

The nation has developed a unique culture, arising from the mixture of ethnic Asuran and Catainese peoples, and the small Native population, and is considered a multiethnic country due to this. The nation is well-known for its musical heritage, with many styles such as reggae, ska and dancehall coming from the nation.

It is the only Georgist state in the world, and has large tourism and finance sectors, with a minor agricultural sector inland. It has a very high Human Development Index of 0.829, coupled with a relatively low Gini coefficient of 24.7, although this has been on the rise recently, with President Emanuela Amatore expressing concern at such a rise. It boasts a well-funded single-payer healthcare system, funded through the land value tax, and has a notably lax attitude towards recreational drug use.

Etymology

The name "Isolaprugna" derives from the Arday phrase "Isola prugna", which can be translated as "plum island". The origin of this name references the island's shape, with early explorers from Ardaima thinking that the island looked like a plum in shape and thus gave it the name of "plum island" to reflect this.

The name came into wide usage; while originally many had named the island "Nuovo-Reno" (New Reno), after the river in Ardaima, this name died out in the mid 17th century and Isolaprugna became more popular, and the island was officially referred to as the "Colony of Isolaprugna" from 1672, later becoming the "Dominion of Isolaprugna" after 1864. Upon independence, the new Republic was just named "Isolaprugna".

History

It is thought that humans did not settle Isolaprugna until the 10th century, due to the lack of available naval technology in the peoples of Vestrim at the time. After the arrival of humans in the 10th century, who are thought to have travelled over in primitive boats, archaeological remains are found. DNA testing has shown that the people of Isolaprugna were related to the native peoples in nations such as Motsvara and the UVSS. It is unknown why they moved to Isolaprugna, but it is thought that they were escaping warlords and other figures on mainland Vestrim.

It is thought that the society that was founded by the refugees was rather egalitarian, with little in the way of social hierarchy within the nation and relative gender equality. Records from Ardaiman explorers describe the people as "living in small groups" and "voting on important decisions". Small passage graves have been found, suggesting that the natives buried their dead in passage graves.

In 1500, an Ardaiman galleon led by the famous explorer Nicolao Arrigucci landed on the island. He planted a flag on the beaches of the west coast of the island, claiming it for the City of Giozzara, and met some of the native population, who passively onlooked their coming. The galleon sailed back, delivering news to the Doge of Giozzara of their discovery. The next year, a galleon sailed back to the island with a larger population and resources, with the attempt of forming a settlement on the beaches they had been to.

The settlement was built quickly, with a few stone houses and farms being set up along the coast, as well as a primitive dockyard. However, many were not used to the climate of the island, and some of the more aggressive native tribes attacked the settlement. Many of the colonists died, leading to the settlement being nicknamed "costa punente", or "punishing coast", which eventually stuck as a name and the town became known as Costapunente.

The town grew as the Ardaimans sent more settlers to the island, and soon the agricultural potential of many plants in the area, such as sugar cane, was found by the settlers. However, due to a lack of will among the settlers to farm the lands, natives were kidnapped by the settlers to work the farms.

This arrangement did not impress many of the other native peoples, who were angry at the enslavement of their brethren, and thus fought back against the settlers, leading to many skirmishes in the area as the natives demanded the release of their brethren and, from some, the abandonment of the native settlement.

Eventually, the settlers were forced to free their native labourers, resulting in the problem of settling the island, which resulted in the use of petty criminals sentenced to serve in Isolaprugna's farms on seven-year terms, after which they would be free to settle in Isolaprugna as they wished; this helped to ease tensions with the natives and allowed the farming to continue; the Colony of Costapunente had agreed to respect the natives' rights.

As the 17th century progressed, in response to religious turmoil and dissidence in Asura, and social discrimination against said religious dissidence, a mostly-Ardaiman set of pilgrims set off from Giozzara to Isolaprugna to found a new colony in which dissident Alydianism would be tolerated. In 1629, the town of Soprano was founded on the other side of the island to Costapunente as a result, being populated largely by dissident Alydians. The town's public assembly has been often cited as an early Asuran democracy, and has been cited as a model by many liberal thinkers, although women and natives were notably excluded from the assembly.

A second wave of religious dissidents settling nearby created Caltana, the "sister city" to Soprano, which was soon amalgamated with Soprano into a single administrative district, in which dissident Alydians were allowed to live in peace.

A Ksaiist mission from modern-day Carcossica was inspired by the dissident Alydian colonisation, and along the coast from Caltana Ksaiist missionaries settled the towns of Vassena and Uognasce. Compared to some other colonies, Vassena-Uognasce was very integrating of natives, encouraging them to convert to Ksaiism; thus, while many residents to this day still consider themselves "Asuran-Isolaprugnan", they have a significant native heritage.

From Ardaima's large Catainese holdings, many merchants traveled to Isolaprugna, using it as a base for trade with the new world, thus setting up the port town of Nereto, and setting up the fourth and final colony that made up Isolaprugna.

Soon after the founding of the Colony of Nereto, the Ardaiman government initiated a reordering of the governance of the island, merging the independent colonies of Costapunente, Soprano-Caltana, Vassena-Uognasce and Nereto into one, Isolaprugna, in 1701. While each of the six towns were given their own councils to manage local affairs, the main body of governance was to be a Territorial Council, chosen by men over 25 who owned property and were not serving in Costapunente's penal colony, supervised by a Governor who was to be appointed by the Duge of Giozzara.

While initially the Territorial Council proved a popular governing system, and worked to bring the different communities on Isolaprugna together, soon problems started appearing as a discrepancy between the interests of the Council and the Governor emerged; the Governor would veto many new laws that the Council tried to make and appeals to the King would go unnoticed. One notable case cited was the approval of the abolition of the penal colony; while the council had approved a motion to abolish it in 1761, successive governors kept blocking it until the 1790's, under much less generous terms than originally proposed. Issues like this caused a rift between many more liberal minded or working-class residents of the colony, who resented the conservative interests of the Governor.

These problems went on into the 19th century. Over the 1820's and 1830's 64 riots were recorded, led by liberal and radical forces and supported by many working-class people. This culminated in the Riot of 1839, resulting from the flagellation of an 8-year-old half-native child for stealing a loaf of bread in Costapunente, to which many protested, culminating in island-wide protests for the resignation of the governor at the time, Niccolo Di Maio, which were met with force via the authorities.

In an attempt to quell the riots a liberal governor, Federico Iannucci, was appointed, who was open to social reform. The election of a council with a strong liberal majority in 1840 allowed many reforms to be passed over the next few years, the most notable of which being the guarantee of freedom of speech and expression, a primitive form of public education, a ban on child labour and the right to vote for all men.

Many Isolaprugnans had also, after the riots, started to see Isolaprugna's future as its own nation independent from Ardaima. This view was prominent among many more radical liberals, and in 1850 many radical-liberals formed the Partito Repubblicano (PR), Isolaprugna's first official political party advocating a liberal platform and an independent Isolaprugnan republic.

As a result of the PR's growth, many other political parties started to be formed, such as the Movimento Radicale (MR), a left-wing liberal party which opposed independence, the Partito della Sinistra Moderata (PdSM), a conservative-liberal party without an official stance on independence, and the Partito Unionista (PU), a conservative party strongly opposed to independence.

In the 1864 election, the PR emerged with a plurality of the seats, but nobody wished to work with them, leading to a stalemate in the Council, causing the governor to call for new elections in 1865. These new elections saw the PR gain an absolute majority of the Council, and attempted to open up dialogue with the central government in Ardaima over independence. While originally the Ardaima government refused to consider Isolaprugna's independence, upon a series of riots over the course of 1865 and early 1866, the government reopened dialogue, fearing an outright revolution in Isolaprugna if independence was not given peacefully.

A constitution was agreed to as a compromise between the various political groups on the island and the Ardaima government, with the King remaining the nominal head of state and continuing to manage the island's defence, yet a parliamentary democracy with universal suffrage was set up, in which an elected Senate would have full control over other areas of policy, and Isolaprugna was free to negotiate its own trade and alliances so long as they did not interfere with its partnership with Ardaima, and official independence was thus granted under this constitution on the 7th October, 1867.

In the first elections in an independent Isolaprugna, the PdSM won a majority of seats within the Senate, and the first Prime Minister of an independent Isolaprugna became their leader, Venusto Rossi. Rossi followed his party's liberal ideology, with the added status as an Isolaprugnan nationalist; he sought to create a national identity for Isolaprugna, and thus in his 16-year term as Prime Minister he greatly encouraged the arts in a way to show Isolaprugna's national identity. He also passed some of Isolaprugna's first workers' rights laws, restricting work hours to nine and a half hours a day and raising the minimum work age from ten to twelve.

He was succeeded by the next leader of his party, Liberatore Giraldi, who for his eight years in government did not make any particularly significant changes, and was voted out in 1892 in favour of the Radical Movement with support from the Republican Party.

The right of workers to strike was legalised by the Radical-Republican government, and a bill that would make Isolaprugna one of the first countries to allow female suffrage was proposed but failed. The government also saw the Great War, in which many from Isolaprugna were sent to fight in Asura in the Ardaiman army, many of which died during the war's campaigns.

The War had many effects on Isolaprugna, decreasing the working-age population and leading to many questioning the nation's relationship with Ardaima. The Radical-Republican government remained in power in the 1900 election, yet the Radical Movement suffered from a decrease in support to the benefit of the Republican Party, and the Partito Socialista di Isolaprugna (PSI) was formed shortly after.

1904 saw the Republican Party gain the plurality of seats and the PSI gaining their first seats; the Republican Party renewed their coalition with the Radical Movement. Unmarried women were given the right to vote in 1905, and a referendum was called in 1906 as to Isolaprugna's future status, with a republic being established on the 19th December 1906.

The republic was modelled on the Midrasian Republic, possessing a Consul who headed the executive branch, with the Senate keeping its role as the legislative branch of the republic. Its constitution expanded the right to vote to all women over 25 regardless of marital status, making the republic an early adopter of universal suffrage.

Politics

Government structure

Emanuela Amatore President	Federico Cho Prime Minister

The Republic of Isolaprugna is a unitary, semi-presidential, representative democratic republic. The government is set up by the 1967 Constitution of Isolaprugna, which was inspired both by Asuran liberal democracy and Catainese traditional forms of government, and thus it has many unique features, such as the prescence of five branches of government: the legislative, the executive, the judicial, the audit branch and the examination branch.

The overall head of state is the President, a position currently held by Emanuela Amatore, member of the Party for Social Justice and the daughter of the first president, Milo Amatore. The President is elected by popular vote every four years and is meant to coordinate the affairs of the government as a mediator between the branches, as well as conduct the nation's international diplomatic ventures and appoint the Cabinet.

Legislative power is invested in the unicameral Assembly of Delegates, made up of 101 members elected on a proportional list in five constituencies. The legislature is tasked with creating, modifying and repealing the law of the nation and the debate of such policy in ways that ensure the representation of the views of as many islanders as possible.

The Prime Minister, the leader of the executive branch, is selected by the President with the approval of a majority of the Assembly of Delegates, and then selects the Cabinet in coordination with the President. The Prime Minister and their Cabinet are responsible for the assessment of government policies and the execution of policies approved by the Assembly of Delegates. The Prime Minister is currently Federico Cho of the Party for Social Justice.

The Legal Assembly is the highest court in the nation, charged with the interpretation of the Constitution and the nation's civil, criminal and commercial law codes, and the mediation of disputes between the municipal governments and the central government, or between individuals and the central government.

The Transparent Assembly is known as the audit branch and is responsible for the monitoring of the actions of the other branches. It is tasked with supplying information requested by citizens on the actions of their government, and if it finds evidence of corruption it is charged with presenting a motion to the people to impeach the members engaged in corruption, which can pass through a referendum.

The Assembly of Meritocracy is also known as the examination branch and is tasked with assessing the qualifications of civil servants and other public employees, in order to ensure the best possible individuals are chosen for the civil service. It arose from ancient traditions in Catainese cultures that Catainese settlers brought over to the island.

Political culture

Isolaprugna is said to have a founding ideology of Amatorism. This ideology was named after the first President of Isolaprugna, Milo Amatore, who was the leader of the Party for Social Justice. The ideology is defined as based around Amatore's theories on social justice, and thus combines economic principles such as land value tax and universal basic income with a sense of national unity and social equality referred to as liberal nationalism. This ideology has become central in the politics of Isolaprugna, becoming the official ideology of the Party for Social Justice, the major party on the island, currently controlling 62 out of 101 seats in the Assembly of Delegates, as well as the roles of President and Prime Minister, and the party has won 11 out of 13 elections in an independent Isolaprugna. Due to their strong performances in elections, many have characterised Isolaprugna as a dominant-party state, although many in the nation object to this classification on the grounds that it associates them with illiberal regimes and dictatorships, pointing to Isolaprugna's high levels of civil and political rights.

The second largest party is the Radical Movement, which is a Geolibertarian party, which while it believes in some common ground with the Party for Social Justice, supporting the basic economic model and general social liberalism, has some rather different views on many other issues; while the Party for Social Justice supports a regulated economy open to the outside world, the Radical Movement supports a deregulated economy closed to the outside world largely. They held the legislature from 2009 to 2013, and the Presidency from 2011 to 2015, during which Isolaprugna saw economic growth yet a growth in income inequality.

The next largest party is the Alydian People's Party, a party advocating for a strong welfare state, and an increase in the land value tax rates for higher earners, and redistributive efforts to benefit the worse off, yet they are also social conservatives with pro-life stances and a significant in-party opposition to same-sex marriage.

The Indigenous People's Party, a party advocating for the interests of the indigenous peoples of Isolaprugna as well as green politics, is also a significant political force, and is generally supportive of the Party for Social Justice on many issues, and has governed in coalition with them in some terms.

In the 2017 midterm election, events on the continent caused a resurge in support for the Communist Party and Social Democrats, the former advocating for socialist policies as seen in Motsvara, Ovandera and The UVSS and Isolaprugna joining the UVR, and the latter advocating a much more moderate approach to socialism, focused on strengthening Isolaprugna's co-operative business traditions.

Economy

Isolaprugna is considered to be a somewhat developed, stable, service-based economy, with low rates of inflation and unemployment, and moderate GDP growth; in 2015, the economy was worth 65.3 billion International Dollars, which has increased to 69.2 billion International Dollars in 2017. It is estimated that the economy will be worth around 71 billion in 2018 as a total.

Isolaprugna is a Georgist state; the nation levies a land value tax onto its residents due to a belief in the collective ownership of the land; it sees the use of land as rented from the community, and thus most of this tax is redistributed as a universal basic income. Many companies in Isolaprugna are run as worker co-operatives; this has led to a rather low level of income inequality within the nation, and has led to it being labelled market socialist by some.

Isolaprugna's economy is largely focused on the services sector. The nation has allowed for the growth of the financial sector, attracted by its lack of corporation taxes, with banking being a rather important industry within the nation. Gambling has also taken somewhat of a hold in the nation; casinos have registered within cities such as Costapunente and generated revenue for the nation in the process.

The nation promotes itself as a tourist destination somewhat; it displays itself as a warm, stable holiday getaway from Asura, and multiple companies have made profits on providing holidays to Isolaprugna. It has received many rankings from magazines as one of the world's best holiday getaway spots; many hotels and holiday resorts have set up within the nation, and small enclaves of Asuran expatriates can be found within the nation.

In the inland areas of Isolaprugna, an agricultural sector exists, which provides a small contribution to Isolaprugna's economy. Farming co-operatives dominate the internal countryside, growing sugar and coffee, which are exported to other developed nations for use in the drinks industry. More controversially, marijuana is grown in some of the farms, due to the nation's lax policy on recreational drug use; while most of the marijuana is sold within the nation, some is exported to nations with legal marijuana, and some is illegally smuggled into other nations, although the Isolaprugnan government has tried to stop this from occurring.

Overall, around 16% of the workforce is employed in agriculture, 5% is employed in manufacturing and 79% is employed in services, and agriculture generates 8% of the GDP, manufacturing generates 5% and services generate 87%.

The nation is one of the most developed of the Columbian island nations, with a developed education and healthcare system, financed using the land value tax. The healthcare system has been commended by the Aeian Public Health Organisation, and is a single-payer system, which covers the vast majority of treatments and has led to a high life expectancy. The education system is also of a high quality, with many Isolaprugnans having an advanced, comprehensive education due to it.

Demographics

Isolaprugna has a population of 3,101,293 according to the 2016 census, which gives a population density of 301.37 people per square kilometre. The population is largely concentrated in cities around the coast of the island, with the capital city of Costapunente having a population of 802,102 residents in the 2016 census. Other large cities include Soprano, Caltana, Nereto and Vassena, with these five cities making up approximately 85.2% of the population of the islands, or 2,642,452 residents. The rest of the population largely lives in the rural centre of the island, working on farms.

Ethnicity

Isolaprugna is a multiracial society. The original inhabitants, commonly referred to as the Native Isolaprugnans, make up around 7% of the population. However, due to the fact that the island was a penal colony of the City of Giozzara, large immigration from the continent of Asura has led to 43% of the population claiming their ethnicity as "Asuran-Isolaprugnan", with most being of Ardaiman descent, but some coming from nations such as Carcossica and Midrasia.

Immigration from Catai and Yidao, especially from Cheonsam and Mayawi, has created the other main ethnic group in Isolaprugna, who are referred to as Catainese-Isolaprugnans, despite the fact that many of them originate from Yidao. They make up 37% of the population, although a significant proportion of the population (13%) have mixed Asuran, Catainese-Yidaoese and Native ancestry, making them the third largest ethnic group in Isolaprugna.

Religion

The Constitution of Isolaprugna, while affirming the right to freedom of religion, states that "the state recognises the special role of Liberal Alydianism in Isolaprugnan society". According to the last census, 71.3% of the population were Alydians, with most being Liberal Alydians, with only 6.4% declared their allegiance to the Orthodox Alydian church or another church. The vast majority of Alydians in Isolaprugna belong to a movement known as Liberal Alydianism, which was opposed to what it considered a centralised and reactionary church in Laterna, and thus most of them were expelled from the City of Giozzara and sent to the penal colony in Isolaprugna for heresy. There are, however, multiple churches within the movement, such as the Friends of St. Alydian, which is the most popular denomination with 29.4% of the population following it. The church is run as a representative democracy and allows same-sex marriages, which most Alydian churches do not.

The second largest religion in Isolaprugna is Ksaiism, with around 8.9% of the population following it, largely concentrated in Vassena, which was a Ksaiist missionary outpost. The rest of the nation's religious population follows religions such as Göktanrism, Trúathi and Irsad.

Atheism and agnosticism have been on the rise in Isolaprugna, with 10.2% of the nation identifying themselves as not religious.