Verde
The Republic of Isla Verde La Republica del Isla Verde | |
|---|---|
  Flag | |
| Motto: ¡Viva San Mariana! ¡Viva nos Liberación! (Verdean: Long live Saint Mariana, Long live our liberation.) | |
 Isla Verde within its borders in the Verdean Archipelago | |
| Capital | Castille |
| Largest city | Corazón del Río |
| Official languages | Classical Verdean |
| Recognised national languages | Vulgar Verdean |
| Ethnic groups |
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| Demonym(s) | Verdean, Verdeans |
| Government | Semi-Presidential Republic |
• President | Inés Spalding delas Vacas |
• Chancellor | Enrico Palenque |
| Legislature | Parliament |
| Establishment | |
• Foundation of Kingdom of Verde | AI 1807 |
• Formation of the First Verdean Empire | 8 de Mesisa, AdI 1 |
• Foundation of the First Verdean Republic | 9 de Mesjula DI I |
• Restoration of the Second Verdean Empire | 8 de Mesisa DI 50 |
• Independence from the Republic of Capisaria | 1 de Mesvacío DI 190 |
| Area | |
• Total | 1,286,513 km2 (496,725 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• DI 218 estimate | 224,670,350 (2) |
• DI 215 census | 224,470,159 |
• Density | 174.635/km2 (452.3/sq mi) |
| GDP (nominal) | DI 217 estimate |
• Total | $3,561,025,047,500 NSD (3) |
• Per capita | $15,850 NSD |
| Currency | Meridonian Unit Billeta Verdista |
| Date format | dd-mm-yyy DI |
| Driving side | right |
| Internet TLD | .iv |
The Republic of Verde (Verdean: La Republica del Isla Verde), also referred to as Verde, is a unitary Semi-Presidential Republic located centrally in the Verdean Archipelago of southern Greater Meridon. It is made up of several Administrative Districts. Verde is an extremely ethnically diverse nation, though unity is somewhat ensured by a shared religion and language. Verde is also ecologically diverse ranging from tropical forests along the northern costs, to arid volcanic plains along the western coast.
Humans first came to Verdean Archipelago roughly 10,000 years ago, with the first societies forming roughly 6,500 years ago. Though early societies vanished 5,800 years ago as a result of warring between the early city states, reformation of societies would occur 4,000 years ago culminating in the formation of the First Verdean Empire in AdI 1. Throughout the first 1,300 years of the Verdean Empire, its power would wax and wane as territories were colonized (most notably the continent of Especia), and lost (with the fall of San Lumen and Rosalínea). However, in AdI 1053, the Emperor closed the Empire, and the resulting 200 years of isolation led to a slow stagnation and decline. Though reopened in the AdI 1220s, the influx of trade was not enough to maintain the empire which finally collapsed at the end of the century.
The years following the fall of the First Verdean Empire were marked by constant instability as the First Republic was overthrown by a new line of emperors. The Carlosian War utterly destroyed the powerbase that had been in place since the ancient era, and though the Imperial dynasty did manage to hold the Empire together for the next 50 years, pressure from outside forces saw the Empire lose territory, and internal violence weakened the established order. In the Valden War of Aggression, the newly formed Second Republic imploded, breaking into a number of warlord states, most run by military commanders. Though many islands reestablished local order under civil governments, the Verdean archipelago was sufficiently weakened for the ascendant Federal Republic of Capisaria, which annexed the region in the DI 140s and 50s.
Throughout the second half of the second post-imperial century, the Verdean Archipelago was subjugated by the authorities of the Capisarians. In many cases the islands themselves were privatized, and more often private security firms enforced order on the islands. Consistent human rights abuses, as well as economic and environmental degredation, saw increased resistance to the Capisarian occupation. Under the banner of religious figures, and socialists alike, the Verdean people began to push for their independence. Allying with anti-capitalist revolutionaries in Capisaria proper, the Verdean archipelago was liberated during the DI 80s, with most of the islands forming their own states. Many of the following years were spent by the Verdean Republic rebuilding the nation after decades of strife and occupation, and assisting other nations in the archipelago in doing so. However, in DI 212, after a major nuclear attack undertaken by Isla Dorado, the Verdean Republic invaded Dorado, and enormous resources have since been poured into the war in Dorado, and restructing Dorado into a more democratic government.
The Republic of Verde has managed to quite successfully reconstruct the economy, and can be considered a developed nation, though many economic problems still loom in the country, especially since the start of the Verdean-Doradan War. The economy of the Republic of Verde is largely driven by the film industry, which exports throughout the Greater Meridonian area, as well as the shipwright industry which provides for the needs of several Meridonian nations as well as those of the Verdeans. In spite of the work done by the Verdean government to improve the economy, the Republic of Verde has still failed to ascend to the status of "upper income" nations, but does have quite a high level of income equality. The Verdean military receives a budget equivalent to roughly 3.5% of the nation's gdp, and is one of the largest in Greater Meridon, second only to Finorskia. Though diminished throughout the Capisarian occupation, Verdean prestige still holds significant cache, and the Republic of Verde is considered a major diplomatic player in Greater Meridon.
Etymology
The term Isla Verde is religious reference dating back to the earliest followers of the Regio dela Verde. According to legend, the islands of the Verdean Archipelago are the demenses of the deities of the Regio, Isla Verde being the home of the Jade Queen, the chief among the deities. The Republic of Isla Verde however is a modern construction, as for most of recorded history, the Verdean Archipelago had been more or less unified under the banner of successive Verdean Empires and Republics, and it was only with the warlord era that island specific cultural identities began to form. The demonym for citizens is Verdean.
History
Main Article: Verdean History
Prehistory and the First Societies
The first humans to arrive on the Verdean Archipelago were members of the species Homo floresiensis, who arrived by boat 14,000 years ago, likely fleeing from Homo sapiens who were spreading throughout Mainland Meridon. Little is known about how members of floresiensis organized themselves, but it is widely believed that they formed tribal societies similar to early sapiens. Roughly 3,500 years after the arrival of floresiensis, modern humans arrived and spread quickly throughout the archipelago, out-competing floresiensis, and driving them to extinction on the main islands of the archipelago.
Early agricultural societies were formed roughly 10,000 years ago, spreading throughout the Verdean Archipealgo. This early society was the the first example of permanent human settlement in Greater Meridon. For somewhat unknown reasons internal fighting destroyed the ancient city-states of the archipelago roughly 5,000 years after the start of agriculture. This collapse of civilization brought about a lonstanding regression, with many of the early advances in writing and pottery lost in the collapse of society. Later on settlements were refounded and city-states began to arise and spread throughout the archipelago again. This refound marked a transition period from the early stone using cultures, to the metallurgical cultures.
Classical Era
The Classical Period of Verdean history was marked by the foundation of the Regio dela Verde, the transition from stone use to metallurgy, a somewhat unified written language with the creation of the Stone of El Dorado, and the reformation of city-states in the Archipelago. The also saw the rise of early Verdean Kingdoms, and the beginnings of the Isla Verde centric power dynamic, with the first major dynasty beginning with Alexias Parisus, who successfully conquered the entirety of Isla Verde, and his successors who managed to take several other islands on the Archipelago before being turned back in the closing days of the 1st millium DI, and steadily declining throughout the waning days of the High Classical period. The end of the high classical period was marked by constant civil war in the early Verdean Kingdom which slowly imploded and was eventually split into two separate kingdoms, and an independent city state, Corazón del Río, which, in reality had almost no control over their territories.
A major shift in the global climate saw the collapse of classical society throughout most of the Archipelago as the increasing aridity laid waste agriculture in the region, and the severe weakening of early kingdoms on Isla Verde, which proceeded to wage several wars over the still fertile lands near Corazón del Río. As the arid climate shift began to reverse, and as iron was discovered in the mountains of central Isla Verde, conflict shifted from one of attempting to secure farmland to, an attempt to claim access to the limited supplies of iron on Isla Verde. Invaders from the nearby island of Isla Rubí, invaded Corazón del Río in AI 501, taking the city and much of the surrounding land, establishing the Santiago Dynasty on Isla Verde.
Three Families Period & The Formation of the First Verdean Empire
The five hundred years were marked by frequent conflict on Isla Verde, as the Santiago Dynasty attempted to take the entirety of the island. The other two major dynasties at the time, the Isandras and the de Bastilles for the most part joined together to combat what they believed to be the greater threat. As time passed, the Santiago family proved to be unstoppable given their access to the center of the island, and the iron within, and the entirety of Isla Verde was once again reunified in AI 11. A strong queen, Elisa Santiago-Parisus, pushed for the full unification of the main Archipelago and succeeded over the course of a decade. When the Archipelago was successfully subdued Elisa crowned herself Empress of the First Verdean Empire.
The Early Imperial Period
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After forming the First Verdean Empire, Empress Elisa I consolidated power around the city of Corazón del Río, and more importantly, after empowering the Septonate of Regio dela Verde, the church. In this consolidation of power, the notion of "The Mandate of Heaven" was crafted. When Elisa died in AdI 27, a succession crisis nearly tore the Empire apart, a formal succession law was established, codifying Absolute Cognatic lineages. After the end of the crisis, the newly Crowned Emperor promised to spread the Empire further than his predecessor. Though the Verdeans had for at least a few centuries prior to the formation of the First Empire, a healthy trading relationship with the peoples on the Meridonian continent, the Emperor called for settlers to colonize the continent. During this early period of colonization, three colonies would be established, San Lumen, Rosalínea, and Boreales del Norte, however the loss of Boreales del Norte to unknown causes in the early third century AdI, ends this period of colonization, and with it a major unifying influence. The next century was marked by infighting amongst the nobility known as the kin strife.
During the fourth century, the kin strife finally ended in the face of increasingly destructive weapons being utilized in the conflict, most notably projectors of Imperial Fire, and the newly coronated Empress forces a peace in the realm. In AdI 886, a great fire swept through Corazón del Río, leveling much of the city including the Imperial Palace and the Grand Temple of Corazón del Río. The Emperor and Septonate both looked for new places to establish their seats of power. The Septonate chose to establish their Temple on Isla Diamante but was prevented for doing so for nearly two centuries. The Emperor meanwhile, elected to build a new capital sixty kilometers north of Corazón del Río in the shadow of the tallest mountain on Isla Verde. An attempt was made in the mid fifth century AdI by the Empress to seize control of both Church and State after a successful coup, however this was prevented by a countercoup, and permission for the construction of the Grand Temple was given.
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For the next sixty years, the Empire was at peace and technological advances, most notably the invention of print, brought greater prosperity to the Empire. This period of relative prosperity was brought to an end however, when an ascendant noble family seized power in a palace coup triggering a major civil war that weakened the Empire significantly, before the upstarts were removed from power. Though the coming years brought peace, the prosperity of the antebellum period was not achieved again for several centuries. During the middle of the 8th century, the Emperor bankrupted the nation through massive construction projects, and the end of the Early Imperial period was marked by the loss of territory on the mainland Meridonian continent, and small scale civil wars at home, culminating in the fall of Rosalínea at the dawn of the 9th century AdI.
The High Imperial Period
After the fall of Rosalínea, renamed Roslinburg by the Valden conquerers, the Verdean Empire underwent a major period of reorganization, the Emperor was ousted in a palace coup, and the new Empress, Isabella began to consolidate a lot of the power of the noble class into the office of the Empress. A number of nobles, dissatisfied with their loss of power left the Verdean Archipelago to found a new nation on what would become Davidos. Though initially dismissive of this new nation, the rapid growth of its economy attracted the attention of the Verdean Empire, which annexed the island in the mid 9th century AdI. A volcanic eruption devastated this newly created colony, and left instead an impovrished, starving island as those who replaced the earlier wave of wealthier merchants were debtors, and the parched, if rich soil provided little in the way of crops. Davidos, though not formally released until the early 11th century AdI, was effectively left alone shortly after.
As the colony of Davidos failed, the Empress at the time commissioned at great expense the formation of a grand exploration fleet to find new lands to bring newfound wealth to the Verdean Empire. The expedition though costly discovers the Especian continent, and triggers a wave of exploration missions on behalf of the Empire. Though many would fail, Especia was charted fairly effectively within a few decades, and the first colonies were established shortly thereafter, expanding rapidly throughout the continent, enslaving and displacing the Native Especians. The natives began to attack these colonists, spawning a number of localized conflicts between the two groups.
The exploratory period, and the mass migration to Especia ended AdI 1031, after the Emperor's son died in an exploration mission, and the Emperor ended decrees encouraging travel and migration of Verdean peoples. When Diternalist missionaries from Meridon proper attempted to proselytize their faith in the Empire, the Emperor closed down the Empire to foreigners and forbid Verdeans from leaving under pain of death. This period of isolation marked a steady decline in the long held technological edge that the Verdeans had over their Meridonian competitors. Further, as the Empire withdrew from the world, pirates from the failed colony at Davidos began to terrorize the Southern seas of Meridon, and beginning the Golden Age of Meridonian Piracy.
As the Empire turned to focus almost entirely on itself, the turmoil in its remaining overseas colony in Especia grew. The nativist movement pushed for greater rights than the enslavement they had faced nearly two hundred years. Conflict with the natives was settled briefly by a decree outlying slavery. However, it arose again as the native peoples demanded a role in the governance of the continent. When, after nearly twenty years of conflict, this demand too was ceded, the Emperor was nearly ousted by the ruling classes of Especia. His successor similarly reformed the Especian colony gradually granting the Especians full de jure equality to Verdeans in Especia. However, growing dissent at home threatened to destroy the empire, and as the economic viability of the Especian colony began to decline, it too was granted a limited form of independence to allow the Empire to withdraw military forces to quell domestic discontent.
Late Imperial Period
As the Late Imperial Period began, Verdean merchant men find themselves under attack by Davidian pirates, whose frequent attacks draw a massive response from the Verdean Navy, culminating in the "Pirate War", when famous pirate Barbarosa was killed by Navy men during a raid. However, an agricultural blight, as well as an earthquake later on during the age of piracy, cause enormous economic distress, causing many to turn to the black market, sponsored by Davidian pirates to rebuild. As a result, the Emperor turned a blind eye to the works of the less harmful of the pirates, who frequently sold illicit goods from the continent in addition to normal supplies. The black market was supplemented then, by the arrival of a large species of whale to the Verdean sea. This whale specie, which had previously lived exclusively in the deep sea, was pushed out of their habitat by still unknown forces. Whaling, and whale processing became a major part of the Verdean economy in this time, rapidly depopulating pods of the creatures over the span of five decades. As conditions improved at the close of the 12th and start of the 13th century AdI, merchants attempted to bring an end to the period of isolation, finally succeeding in ending the policy in 1225 AdI.
The return of the Verdeans to the international stage upset the delicate balance of power between the Davidian pirates and the nations of Greater Meridon. Initially pirates again raided Verdean shipping, which attracted the attention of the Imperial Navy. The most powerful of the pirate lords Don Hernan Braulio was finally put down in 1228 AdI, ending the Golden Age of Meridonian Piracy, and fostering an era of relative peace and prosperity among the Meridonian nations. For the Verdean Empire, the period between 1228 AdI and 1298 AdI became known as the las great age of the first empire. The influx of new ideas imported from the continent, especially new political theories spurred on desire for free thought and liberty, and saw the foundation of the liberal movement. This period also saw the colonization of Los Cuarzos by modern humans, who rapidly displaced and drove to extinction, the last known pocket of Homo floresiensis, and the last hominid species in Greater Meridon other than modern humans.
The last decades of the Imperial period also saw the beginnings of the industrial revolution. This came first with early water powered factories on Isla Plata, which spread throughout the Archipelago in the DI 1270s. Later, when Alejandro Ortega, a prominent inventor created whale oil powered machinery, factories began to spring up in the inland regions, spurring further economic growth. During this time, Alejandro Ortega, who often controlled the factories that built whale oil powered devices, seized control of the whaling industry essentially gaining a monopoly on much of the economy. Further the increasing in demand for whale oil further depopulated the specie to the point where whales became virtually impossible to find near the archipelago.
Economic problems, stemming from a decline in whaling catches, along with famine struck the empire in the last decade of its rule, greatly destabilizing the islands. Simultaneously, a massive plague swept the nation and killed off nearly a third of the Verdean population. Massive unrest in the streets, and the seeming lack of concern of the state and the Emperor, led the Septonate brotherhood to rescind the Mandate of Heaven, which in turn gave the liberal movement the ammunition they needed to launch a rebellion against the Empire. By the end of the AdI 1300, the Empress had abdicated, the Empire had fallen, and the revolutionaries, now in control of much of the archipelago laid the groundwork for the formation of the first Verdean Republic.
The First Republic
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In the first years following the fall of the First Empire, the emphasis of the new republican government was to correct the damage done as a result of the crises that began during the last years of the Empire. The first major conflicts arose when the revolutionary government fractured over the nature of the newly founded republic. A group of highly egalitarian revolutionaries fundamentally disagreed with the liberal direction of the revolution believing that the fall of the Empire was a sign that it was time to push for the total equality of all Verdean citizens. The bulk of the movement believed however, that the liberties won in the revolution needed to be secured against both tyranny and radicalism. This disagreement resulted in the formation of the first major political parties in the newfound Republic. In this early strife, the Cuarzans declared independence facing only token resistance from the Verdeans.
At first the liberal movement maintained almost complete control of the government. However, repeated incidences in factories, most notably the Lasandra incident, led to a much greater and more powerful egalitarian party. In the election of DI 18, the moderates were ousted from power, and the Egalitarians took over all the operations of the national government. They pushed a number of reforms to limit the excesses of the new, capitalist national order. However, as the reforms began to be enacted, the moderate party split further into a liberal party, and an authoritarian party, while the few remaining moderates created a new party. An economic crisis in DI 21, that many now blame on a sabotage operation by the liberals, sees the egalitarians removed from office by the Liberty Party, and much of their reforms repealed.
Initially, the first years of Liberty Party rule saw great prosperity, however, as whaling ships began to see a sharp decline in success rates, the drop in oil production resulted in a massive economic crisis that nearly sparked a civil war, and knocked the Liberty Party out of power. The crisis continued however, and forced inventors to find an alternative power source. As Verdean inventors, most notably Martina Lopez de Elanza, developed machinery to use the power of coal to generate the energy necessary to power the factories, rather than on the oil of nearly extinct whales, a second phase of the industrial revolution began seeing the rapid rise of factories throughout the Republic, to be replicated in Meridon. However, another economic crisis brought about for want of specie at the banks, destabilized the Republic once more.
At the height of the recession, a faction of the formerly moderate party seized control of government, and led by Maximilian Pedro de Robles, enacted a purge of the political order of the Verdean Republic. Hundreds were executed in this purge as the Unity Party, and later the Directorate enacted stricter and stricter laws to maintain power and to "safeguard the republic". The purges became too much however, when de Robles executed several members of the inner circle, prompting the others to stage a coup and overthrow the dictator. They themselves were overthrown however, in another coup led by a charismatic young officer in the Republican Guard by the name of Carlos Parisa. Using a, possibly manufactured, connection to the ancient Parisus dynasty he crowned himself Emperor of the Second Verdean Empire.
Carlosian War Ante-Bellum
As with the first major upheaval of the Verdean Archipelago, the early years of the post-restoration period were spent rebuilding and recovering from the crisis that precipitated the fall of the Republic. The Emperor, upon his coronation, promised to restore the territories lost to the Meridonian mainlanders, and to internal rebellion. To this effect, he backed a number of industrialization projects, and took steps to modernize the the Verdean military. In particular, focus was made on developing a new generation of rifle based upon earlier Isarléan designs, and modernization and expansion of the navy. The vast expenditure made by the Empire brought about a temporary, if convincing economic boost. In secret, a new type of ship, the ironclad, was being constructed towards the end of the DI 50s.
As the DI 50s came to a close, the Verdean Empire also began to more actively make cases for war. In DI 59, the Verdean Empire invaded Los Caurzos, rapidly taking ground, and in the course of the year, they managed to force the Cuarzans to surrender, though the Cuarzan government fled to Trelein. During the early DI 60s, the final motions of the Verdeans toward war were made, with experiences gained from the invasion, new tactics were developed, and the first major mass conscription of the army was made in Greater Meridon. Lastly, the Ironclads were launched and pressed into service, but kept secret in preparation for the invasions of mainland Meridon coming in DI 65.
Carlosian War
Main Article: Carlosian War
The Carlosian War formally began with a surprise Verdean attack against the Treleini Navy. Trelein, which held the oldest of Verde's extra territorial colonies, was also one of the closest in proximity, and one of the nation's most hostile to the Verdeans for their close relationship with their arch-rival, Isarlé. The initial attack proved completely devastating for the Treleinis, as the ironclad's up until then a complete secret, had no answer. The naval invasion was then followed on by a well coordinated naval landing, and over the course of a few months, the Treleinis were forced to cede the province of San Lumen. The Treleinis however began a program with Valden help to modernize their own military in preparation for reigniting the war. The Verdeans meanwhile, began to set up a provisional government in San Lumen, and prepared for their next invasion.
In DI 66, the Verdeans assaulted Roslinburg (formerly Rosalínea), taking the city quickly. The Valdens however were quick with the counterattack, and nearly drove the Verdeans back, before they however were forced to withdraw. Throughout the remainder of the year, Verdean and Valden armies would engage in manuevers areound Roslinburg, and later on in the summer, further to the north as the Verdeans attempted to finally knock Valden out of the war, but much of that progress towards Weissburg, the capital of Valden was undone at the battle of Grunfeld, were a large portion of the Verdean Army was cut down, and the army as a whole was forced to withdraw down the coast, hotly pursued by the Valdens until at the battle of the Ützi heights, the Valdens were repulsed. As the winter ended the Verdeans resumed the offensive, pushing closer to Weissburg, until at the Battle of Nordkaff much of the cream of the Verdean Army was killed assaulting Valden positions when the Valden's own secret weapon the Drehkanon, was revealed, killing nearly 5,000 soldiers in under fiver minutes. At the end of the summer, initiative is regained by the Verdeans and some progress is made before winter brings an end to the campaigning season.
As DI 67 became DI 68, it was increasingly clear that the Treleinis would soon reenter the war. The Verdeans, desperate to avoid a multifront war, and more desperate to have an ally of their own, launched the spring campaign to take Weissburg early. The campaign proved successful in capturing the capital, but lack of food prompts the Verdeans to loot the city in an event known as the Rape of Weissburg. Additionally, the Verdean Army in Roslinburg makes the most of Valden withdrawal from the southern half of the country, and manages to secure all land between Roslinburg and the Wolfbriar Mountains. The Valdens, in spite of losing their capital and most of the southern half of their country refused to surrender. In light of the DI 68 spring campaigns Trelein and Isarlé joined the war on the Valden and Verdean side respectively, starting their own front which proved succesful initially, for the Isarléans, who capture the old Treleini capital. Emperor Carlos XII Parisa also wedded Vanessa de Minuet-Dreyfus of Isarlé as part of the arrangement to secure the alliance between the two states. As the year begins to close, the Verdeans launch their attempt to capture their third lost colony in Sumaväa, however the initial naval engagement proved disastrous for the Verdeans, forcing the invasion plan back for the rest of the year, and causing the Verdean Emperor, in a fit of anger to prepare the largest army the world had ever seen to attack the Sumavians.
In DI 69, the fronts in Valden and Treleini saw numerous back and forth battles that reduced them to bloody stalemates, while the main focus sifted north. The Verdeans attacked Sumaväa with a force of over three million soldiers, moving deeper into Sumavian territory in an attempt to force a battle with the Sumavians. They however, constantly withdraw burning villages, crops, and granaries, as well as destroying rail lines. Towards the end of the campaigning season however a battle is forced near the Sumavian capital of Viime Satama, wherein the Sumavians were forced to withdraw at heavy cost to both sides. The Sumavians however, burned down the city to prevent the Verdeans from taking shelter for the winter. The Verdeans were forced to withdraw at the beginning of winter back to their staging areas in Nordland, with their enemies pursuing them the whole way. Less than ten percent of those who started the campaign returned to Nordland alive, with most dying in the winter cold. It was during this withdrawal, that war weariness began to show in the Verdean Archipelago, as the Verdeans who had long put up with difficult working conditions, and nearly the entire able-bodied male population being shipped off to the war, is shocked by a major loss such as the Sumavian campaigns. The first labor walkouts since the start of the war wracked the Verdean economy causing many production targets to fall short.
DI 70 and DI 71 saw the undoing of the gains made by the Verdeans over the previous years. A massive Treleini offensive at winter's end forced the Verdeans to pull reserves from Valden, and even still, saw the gains the Isarléans had made in the previous years completely reversed, and Isarlé fighting on its own soil. The sorely depleted Verdean Army in Valden was pushed back during the middle months of DI 70, being forced to withdraw to Roslinburg. The years poor fortunes and high losses see even worse discontent at home, resulting in a promised withdrawal from the continent in the following year as plans are drawn up to withdraw all ethnic Verdeans from the captured territories still left. In the early part of the DI 71, the Iasarléans signed an armistice with the Valdens, Treleinis, and throughout the year the freed reserves of those nations force the Verdeans off the continent. San Lumen faced the worst of these campaigns having been subject to the Rape of San Lumen. In the last months of the year, resolve of the Verdeans steeled, as the Valdens, Sumavians and Treleinis prepare to attack the Verdean Archipelago, and the Emperor himself assumed personal command of the army as the Treleini-led forces pushed to retake Los Cuarzos. The Emperor was killed at the Battle of Matanzas, and the Verdeans withdrew to the home islands where a few campaigns were fought at the will of the Empress-Dowager of Verde, and featuring the first major deployment of female soldiers in modern Meridonian history. However, it became clear for the Verdeans that the war was lost, and peace overtures were made culminating in the Treaty of Corazón del Río in DI 72.
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Carlosian War Post-Bellum
At the conclusion of the Carlosian War, the Verdean Empire was sorely weakened, having lost over six million people, and run the economy into the ground to support the war. To many it seemed that after the war's conclusion, that the Empire would implode in another civil war. However, the Empress-Dowager took steps to keep the Empire together, expending what was left of the treasury on rebuilding the economy, and, taking a great risk established a parliamentary system, abolishing much of the power that she held. Though the economy remained weak, parliamentary reforms did much to reduce dissent on the other islands of the Verdean Empire. However, the advancement of the rights and power of women, who had taken over many important functions of state and society as a result of the war, caused many Diternalists in the Empire, and some members of the Septonate. Though the Regio practitioners were made to back down, the Diternalists pressed their claim and an international crisis nearly sparked another continental war until the Valdens stepped in, and brokered a peace deal wherein some of Isla Zafiro was ceded to the Diternalist Tereleini nation.
A decade after the Carlosian War, the Verdean Empire began to rebuild its military, and reassert power abroad, as was demonstrated with the Verdean's, admittedly minimal, involvement in Isarlé's reclamation of its territory from Tallnonius. As the Verdean Empire was regaining strength, Mariana Ortega began writing a number of works establishing a new political philosophy, based loosely on earlier egalitarian sentiments from the First Republic, and more radical ministrations from the Regio de Verde. This new Ortegan socialism promised an egalitarian society built from the ground up with community and the working class in mind. Orteganism finds a significant following on Isla Verde, and in many other highly industrialized regions of Greater Meridon. The Post-Bellum is widely considered to have ended when Empress-Dowager Vanessa turned over power in the Verdean Empire to her son who had recently come of age in DI 93.
Collapse and Colonization
The latter decades of the 1st century DI brought significant civil strife to the Verdean Empire, as the Ortegan socialist movement grew in strength, a number of laws were passed by the throne to prevent them from taking power. Socialist parties were banned, labor unions were broken up, and companies given much more power to remove agitating workers. This reactionary swing fueled the socialist movement however, and with it republican sentiment. Class conflict, most notably riots and bombings increased in tempo, resulting in increasingly strict measures to combat them. After a number of peaceful work walkouts were put down with lethal force however, public opinion turned against the monarchy, and even the Septonate actively took anti-monarchist action. With the assassination of Emperor Juan Parisa, and his daughter's deal with the republican Orteguistas, the Second Empire fell in DI 119. The installation of the Second Republic would trigger a brief renaissance of the Verdean economy, and of Verdean culture. That however would end with the beginning of the Valden War.
Verdean involvement in the Valden War began with the destruction of the La Salvación by Valden agents posing as Capisarians. Though Verdean involvement in the conflict was comparatively limited, it proved devastating to the home islands. Roughly three million Verdeans served in the Valden War, nearly half of which died or were permanently injured as a result of being utilized primarily as cannon fodder for the Valdens. As the war progressed, order became increasingly difficult to maintain, especially when it was revealed that the bombing of La Salvación was a false flag operation. Mass rioting broke out, and proved impossible for the Verdean police to contain resulting in the military being directly called in to restore order. At the conclusion of the Valden War, the Verdean Republic collapsed into a patchwork of feuding military commanders and independent city states. Over the course of the DI 130s, powerful warlords and republican loyalists did eventually manage to seize some more unified control. However, each island effectively became independent, and the fall of the Second Verdean Republic made permanent.
During the DI 140s, the Federal Republic of Capisaria, which already had a foothold in the area, began to annex the weakened and fractious individual nations of the Archipelago. As they were also involved with the Second Valden War, at the time, their conquests were frequently stalled off as troops were shuffled from Valden to the Verdean Archipelago and back. When the Capisarians came for Isla Verde in DI 147, the Verdeans staunchly resisted, in a campaign lasting through several months of hard fighting, in the end though they were eventually defeated, being one of the last Verdean islands to fall into Capisarian hands.
As the Federal Republic took an increasing measure of control over Isla Verde, several Verdean companies were seized and redistributed to Capisarian corporations. For Verde however, the impact was less severe, as Isla Verde itself was still held by a civil government, which proved sympathetic to the Verdeans, and somewhat unwilling to enact the Capisarianization protocols mandated by the Federal Republic. However, over time, the Isla Verde would be converted from a functioning society to a mass producer of cash crops and cheap goods for the Capisarian marketplace. When a crop failure in Capisaria, and a major earthquake and tsunami devastate the Verdean economy, the first major resistance groups begin to form throughout the Archipelago.
Revolution, Independence, and Reconstruction
Starting in the DI 160s, resistance movements began to form on Isla Verde, in oposition to the Capisarian government. Isla Verde was still held by a civil government, and still largely was policed by a public police force, in contrast to the other islands in the archipelago, which saw the major abuses of power at the hands of the Seraph Security Corporation. As a result these initially took the form of small, reformist organizations. However, during the DI 160s crises, support for these movements grew dramatically, especially when the Capisarian colonial authorities mishandled the responses to them. Some support was lost however, when the Doradan resistance, the El Frente Verdiano Popular Nacional (FVPN), engages in terrorist activities on Isla Dorado, prompting a massive crackdown on revolutionary activity throughout the Archipelago. However, as the colonial government was weakened due privatization intitiavtives, support for a revolutionary movement grew once more, leading to a group of young revolutionaries led by Mariana Parisa and Roberto Chávez forming the El Frente Orteguista Liberación Democrática (FOLD) in DI 173. This organization, organized around the theories of nationalism and Ortegan socialism, began to build revolutionary networks in Verde, the Archipelago, and Capisaria itself leading to it becoming a founding member of the Pan-Capisarian Front.
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Religious leaders in the Regio dela Verde, openly back the Liberation Doctrine, and in turn are supported by the FOLD, fostering a certain sense of sacred legitimacy for the revolutionary movement, and simultaneously triggering a revival of the faith. However in DI 176, the FOLD suffered a major setback when Mariana Parisa, the ideological head of the organization was captured by Seraph, and placed in a private blacksite, Outer Heaven, which was later infamous for its brutality. While the Verdean movement for independence languished somewhat, the Doradans continued their campaign of terrorisim against the Capisarians. However, in DI 181, the FOLD regained its footing when a number of actions were successfully conducted against Seraph, including the liberation of Parisa, and the destruction of Outer Heaven. When the Capisarian Revolution began in earnest, the Doradans made the most of the situtation driving out the Capisarians and establishing their own independent republic. As Capisaria began to quiet back down briefly, after the defeat of the revolutionaries in Leeds, the Capisarian army attacked the Doradans.
During the latter half of the DI 180s, the growing instability of the Capisarian government enabled the FOLD to gain ground, especially after the failure of the Capisarian Army to recapture Dorado, and the increasing rebellions at home. Strikes and walkouts wracked the economy on the Verdean Archipelago, and the violent crackdowns by Seraph after the fact, fueled an increasingly powerful revolutionary movement. In DI 189, Los Cuarzos, and Isla Diamante broke away from Capisaria, and went relatively uncontested. In DI 190, the revolution came to a head as the FOLD launched major offensives throughout the Archipelago, breaking down Capisarian authority. Functionally speaking, by years end, Isla Verde was independent of Capisaria, though the Verdeans did not formally declare independence until the following year. In DI 91, the provisional government began to lay out how the independent Verdean government would function, though legally speaking, a multiparty republic, the new government coalesced heavily around the personality of Mariana Parisa, and the ideology of Ortegan Socialism.
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During the DI 190s, a heavy emphasis of the newly founded Republic of Verde, was placed upon rebuilding the economy of Isla Verde. Under the guidance of Mariana Parisa, the economy did make a substantial recovery, mostly around the restored shipwright industry, and the shipyards of Corazón del Río; as well as cultural exports, primarily film, as the Verdean film industry rapidly became the largest and most prominent in Greater Meridon. By the end of the DI 190s, living conditions on Isla Verde had improved dramatically, and the Republic began to turn outward, in an attempt to do for the entire Verdean Archipelago, and Verdean cultural sphere, what had happened on Isla Verde. This new policy objective, guided the Republic during the later years of the Parisan chancellery. When Mariana Parisa died in DI 206, the reconstruction movement weakened dramatically, and the new Chancellor Enrico Palenque, though promising a continuation of the Parisan agenda, spent much of his early chancellery dealing with increasingly dangerous tensions with Isla Dorado.
Doradan War Period
After the death of Mariana Parisa, the new administration under Chancellor Enrico Palenque, promised to continue the Parisa agenda. However, the Doradan government became increasingly hostile to the Republic of Verde as they became staunchly ethnonationalist, and the Verdeans had increasingly friendly relations with the Postrevolutionary Capisarian regime. A number of incidents caused Palenque to invest heavily in the military, and take an increasingly hostile stance towards the Doradan Democratic Republic. Things came to a head, when, in DI 212, the Doradans who had been developing a nuclear program, launched a massive surprise missile attack against Verde. The initial conventional strikes proved devastatingly effective, destroying much of the east coast's shipping infrastructure. The following nuclear attack, failed almost completely, though a single low-yield nuclear weapon detonated in the city of Bastille. The death toll on that day is estimated to be roughly 75,000. Within hours, the Verdean government declared war on Isla Dorado.
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The Verdean military, with the backing of several other Verdean nations invaded Isla Dorado. Initially progress was swift, as the Verdeans had prepared for the invasion with constant destruction of Doradan assets. However, as the Doradans were pushed into their largest cities, the Verdeans found themselves increasingly bogged down as the Doradan military made full use of the urban environment to cause heavy casualties amongst the invaders. Over the course of a year and a half, after destroying much of the coastal urban area of Isla Dorado, the Doradans were beaten back into the interior, for the most part. Over the course of a few more months, the Doradan government was made to surrender. However, a number of Doradan ethnonationalists fled to the hills vowing to continue the fight.
Since the conclusion of open war, the Republic of Verde has been involved on Isla Dorado, dealing with government instability, and an insurgency. Involvement in the conflict, has largely dominated the recent history of the Republic of Verde. Though economic recovery has continued since the beginning of the Doradan War, especially focusing on the reconstruction of Bastille, it has slowed dramatically from DI 213 to DI 217. Fatigue of the Doradan conflict has led increasingly to electoral defeats for the Ortegan Party. However, the insurgency has become increasingly weakened from the years of conflict, and many hope that it will end soon.
Geography
Main Article: Verdean Geography
The Republic of Isla Verde contains a land area of 1,286,513 square miles (or 496,725 square kilometers). Isla Verde is the sole nationstate on Isla Verde, possessing, the entire island as its territory. While Isla Verde could be described as a functional continent, however, most geographers consider Isla Verde to be simply an island. The coasts of Isla Verde are mostly flat, becoming more mountainous as on travels inland. However, in the centermost region of Isla Verde, there is a large central valley dominated by the river La Culebra, which is one of the longest in Greater Meridon, and the Bayo Serpiente, a massive freshwater bay that serves as the source of La Culebra. A smaller valley surrounds the Lago del Toro, near the main central valley. Though the Republic of Verde is in possession of two neighboring islands, they are both uninhabited a nature preserves rather than meaningful parts of the nation.
Climate
Isla Verde straddles the tropical and temperate climate zones, resulting in multiple climate regions. The northern coast is humid tropical, with the areas closer to the mountains becoming more semi-humid or semi-arid as one moves closer to the mountains, and the rain shadow. In west central Verde, most of the land is arid with the areas closer to the mountains being outright hot deserts in nature, and the coastal regions being more humid as a result of some precipitation directly from the coast. The east central part of the island is relatively humid with sub-tropical and warm temperate climate being common, though the far interior is less humid than the coast. In the far south the properly temperate trade winds mean that the the west is more humid than the east, though the lack of mountains results in a generally humid climate. In the central valley and along La Culebra there is little precipitation, but frequent fogs coming off the mountains results in a semi-humid or semi-arid hot or warm summer climate rather than a properly arid one.
Mountains and Rivers
The Republic of Verde is a fairly mountainous nation, with its center dominated by a pair of central mountain ranges. These are the Montañas Real, and the Montañas Humeante. In between the two is the Castillian Plateau, and the tallest mountain on Isla Verde, El Toro, which reaches a height of 6,298 meters. Several rivers exist in Verde, fed by snowmelt from the central Verdean mountains, most prominently this occurs near the central plateau region, however, a number of rivers near the Northern and Southern extremities of the mountains are disconnected from the central river system. The longest, and widest river in the Republic of Verde is La Culebra which stretches from the Bayo Serpiente to the Verdean Sea.
Environment
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The Republic of Verde possesses a high level of biodiversity, though not enough to be considered Megadiverse, containing many thousands of species, namely 5,676 species of animals and vascular plants. Currently, the government of Isla Verde possesses directly 15% of the land in the Republic. Though nearly 30% has indirect protections from the Verdean government strictly regulating its use. The national bird is the Sun Hawk (H. solaris), a common sight in the Verdean Archipelago. The national animal is the Oil Whale (B. nobleza). The national flower is the Julian Eye ( R. juliana), which is often tended by citizens as an act of patriotism. The national tree is the Verdean Mahogany (S. Mahagoni).
Environmental issues have proven to a major defining element of the Post-Revoutionary Verdean state. Several decades of occupation by Capisarian authorities had been the cause of much environmental degradation. Further, it had become, effectively, a clean slate on the infrastructure of Isla Verde. The Verdean government, especially in the first decade of independence, exerted an extraordinary amount of energy reconstructing Verde's energy profile around a more sustainable method, and by DI 202 was almost entirely run on sustainable power sources. Similarly large tracts of land under the Verdean government's control were set aside as natural conservancies. However, since the beginning of the Doradan War, more and more national resources have been committed to the conflict, and less emphasis has been placed on environmental protection, resulting in some slippage in environmental protection.
Demographics
Main Article: Verdean Demography
According to the most recent Verdean census (in DI 215), the Republic of Verde has a population of 224,470,159. The population of Isla Verde has increased slightly (about 2%) since the beginning of the decade, largely as a result of immigration from the Meridonian mainland and from other Verdean islands. The population is projected to grow by .12 percent in the coming year. The Verdean Republic is among the most diverse nation in Greater Meridon, with 7 major ancestry groups represented in Verde, of these, most of the newcomers are first or second generation immigrants with a large and growing population of mixed ethnic peoples. The rate of population growth is expected to remain similar or decline over the coming years. According to the census, roughly 3% of the population identified as LGBT in DI 215.
The primary ethnic group of the Republic of Verde are ethnic Verdeans, who comprise slightly under half of the population. The second largest group is comprised of Mixed ethnic Verdean-Capisarians, and Verdean-Especians, who comprise 30% of the population, but are for the most part considered ethnic Verdean by the general populace. The three primary Capisarian ethnic groups, Isarléan, Treleini, and Valdens make up most of the minorities of the Republic of Verde, though various Especian ethnicities are also present. Other Meridonian ethnic groups represent small minorities in the Verdean population.
Nearly 70% of the Verdean population lives in urban areas, with 35% living in the twenty largest urban centers. 35% of the population lives in cities with over one million inhabitants, with nearly 13% of the population living in the two largest cities alone. There are forty seven cities with over one 100,000 residents, seventeen cities in Verde with a population of over one million, fourteen with over two million, and seven with over five million. Roughly one third of the population lives in the Central Verdean Castille to Ll Llava Megalopolis which extends from Castille in the north down to the Bayo Serpiente and La Culebra to the sea. The population is urbanizing rapidly, with many citizens moving into Corazón del Río to seek job opportunities at the shipyards present there or the Verdean film industry, and this has largely been the driving force behind urbanization of Isla Verde.
Largest cities or towns in Verde
2015 Census | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | District | Pop. | Rank | District | Pop. | ||||
 Corazón del Río  La Llava |
1 | Corazón del Río | Centro Verde | 15,650,124 | 11 | Esclusas Altas | Las Llavas | 2,856,224 |  Castille  Bastille |
| 2 | La Llava | Las Llavas | 12,765,432 | 12 | Baja Isarlé | Del Marva | 2,567,489 | ||
| 3 | Castille | Centro Verde | 6,250,650 | 13 | Trono del Verde | Centro Verde | 2,256,522 | ||
| 4 | Bastille | Viejo Este Verde | 5,052,750 | 14 | Escalones | Salvación | 2,000,672 | ||
| 5 | Pinar del Sur | Sur Península | 5,034,859 | 15 | Urbe de La Victoria | Salvación | 1,578,986 | ||
| 6 | San Mariana | Salvación | 5,022,276 | 16 | Los Angeles de Julia | Salvación | 1,250,666 | ||
| 7 | Gran Toledo | Viejo Oeste Verde | 5,000,485 | 17 | Colombia | Viejo Oeste Verde | 1,000,765 | ||
| 8 | Puerto del Norte | Del Marva | 4,123,867 | 18 | Puerto del Este | Viejo Este Verde | 965,999 | ||
| 9 | Cutio | Viejo Oeste Verde | 3,043,989 | 19 | Whitecliff | Del Marva | 870,888 | ||
| 10 | Concepción | Viejo Oeste Verde | 3,023,081 | 20 | Tema Central | Centro Verde | 575,421 | ||
Language
The Republic of Verde does have an official language Classical Verdean. This language has been influential in the Archipelago, and is the language spoken by the vast majority of ethnic Verdeans, and most mixed-Verdean peoples. The Republic also recognizes Vulgar Verdean, a simplified form of Classical Verdean utilized by many of the ethnic minorities on Verde, in the wider archipelago, and more generally as a major international language of commerce. Minorities in the Verdean Republic, especially the Capisarian minorities tend to speak their own languages, and as a result one can hear Treleini, Isarléan, and Valdens in many Verdean cities, and in some localities these are locally recognized languages. The Verdean government, though strongly encouraging use of the official language or the recognized, does have a robust language education program, and it is expected that most citizens will speak at least one language other than Classical or Vulgar Verdean,
Religion
The Republic of Verde formally recognizes Regio dela Verde as its official religion. However, the constitution strictly forbids prohibitions on the free excercise of religion or areligion. Though the early period after the fall of the Second Verdean Empire was marked by a decline in religious practice, the revolutionary and postrevolutionary period saw a massive religious resurgence, particularly for the Regio. Most religious practioners are of the Regio, though there are a few sizable minority faiths practiced in the republic. According to the DI 215 census, fully 86% of the population practices Regio dela Verde, with 5% practicing various sects of Diternalism, 2% Rascumpare, and 7% reporting as not following a religion. For the people roughly 70% report religion being a major influence in their daily lives.
Government
Main Article: Government and politics in the Republic of Isla Verde
The Republic of Verde is a unitary semi-presidential republic and a representative democracy. The nation is governed by those elected by the people with minority rights protected by the constitution. The powers of the three primary branches of government are mostly regulated by the other branches of government to prevent rampant abuse of power. The Verdean Constitution is the supreme legal document of the land and forms the basis of Verdean law. Under the Verdean legal system, there are three levels of government, national, district, and local. As a unitary republic, the national government is the most powerful, followed by local governments, and then district governments which are the weakest. The national government is represented by a proportional system, while local governments have election systems designed at their own discretion. District governments, which serve minimal legislative presence are appointed by the national government. There are three branches of government at the national level:
Legislative: The legislature is a 300 seat unicameral parliament, which is elected directly by the people. The legislative branch has the power to vote for laws, ratify treaties, and maintains power of purse. Parliament also has the ability to recall the Chancellor with a vote of no confidence. The head of the Parliament is the Chancellor who is also head of state, and is generally appointed by the governing party.
Executive: There are two executives. The Chancellor serves as the Head of Government, and the Chief diplomat for the Verdean Republic, and is substantially more powerful than the President, who is primarily the Commander in Chief of the Verdean Armed Forces. The Chancellor is selected by the parliament whereas, the President is directly elected, though the list of candidates is limited to those that the heads of the armed forces deem qualified. Assisting the Chancellor are various ministers representing important government agencies.
Judiciary: The judiciary is comprised of a Verdean National Court, which is appointed for ten year terms of office by the Chancellor. The judiciary is responsible for reviewing laws to ensure that they do not conflict with the constitution, as well as having the power to impeach a President for criminal activity, misconduct, or dereliction of duty. Members of the court can be removed by the Parliament in the event that they have engaged illegal activities, or serious miscreancy befitting the office of National Justice.
The Constitution enumerates the power of the national government, and its interactions with more local governments. The constitution also enumerates with its first article, the rights of Verdean citizens and residents granting, among other things habeaus corpus, freedoms of speech, association, press, of and from religion. Laws passed by the legislature are subject to review by the Judiciary upon passage of the law, and those deemed unconstitutional are voided.
Parties and Elections
The general election is held on a five year basis, with all citizens over the age of 18, who are not deemed to have shirked from their national service requirements, given the right of suffrage. A proportional system is used wherein each third of one percent of the vote translates to a single seat in parliament. Each party is expected to maintain a roster of party members ready to serve in parliament if called up to do so. The parliament is then responsible for selecting a Chancellor, who is often the top billed person of the governing party. The President is elected through a different process, by which each prospective president is to submit an application for vetting by the chiefs of the armed forces. The vetted candidates are then run in a national popular vote with the candidate attaining the most votes being elected president.
Though technically and legally, a multiparty republic, the Ortegan National Party has consistently held position of governing party, and with the exception of the DI 207 elections, and the DI 217 elections, has been able to form a government without a coalition. However, since the revolution, the Ortegan National Party has demonstrated a significant downward trend in performance, and may soon be forced out of government. The other two major national parties are the Verdean Liberal Party, and the Verdean People's Party, which have seen major gains in the more recent elections. There are, outside these three major parties, a few more special interest parties, which are generally small and perform poorly in general elections. Currently the Ortegan National party rules in coalition with the Verdean People's Party.
National Service
Legally speaking, all citizens are expected to perform a period of national service, and this is a major aspect of Verdean political life. Verdean citizens from the ages of 18-26 are expected to spend two years within that period either in service to the military, the Pan-Verdean Restoration Corps, the National Guards (A civil defense agency), or in service to local government or religious authorities. Immigrants must also perform this service as part of the naturalization process. Those who have reached an age of thirty, who have not completed service, or are currently enrolled in service are legally classified as shirkers, and are denied right of suffrage and the ability to serve in the government.
Foreign Policy
The Republic of Verde maintains a foreign policy orientated around the restoration of Isla Verde, and the Verdean Archipelago more broadly to their former glory, and is head of the pan-national organization the Verdean Union. The Verdean government also has a presence in the Meridonian Union, and is a member of the Meridonian Economic Community, and uses the Meridonian Unit as its primary form of currency.
The Republic of Verde maintains strong ties with all members of the Verdean Union, as well as generally positive relations with Meridonian Union members. In particular, the work of Mariana Parisa and Chelsea Donovan has done much to repair relations with the post-revolutionary Capisarian state, and the Orteguista government has largely worked to build an alliance among the various socialist governments of Greater Meridon. The Republic of Verde maintains relatively cordial, if chilly relations with the United Nations of Finorskia; attempting to maintain the peace in spite of the ongoing Finorsk-Davidian conflict.
Foreign policy in recent years has however, been more or less dicatated by the occupation of Isla Dorado, as well as the ongoing Verdean-Capisarian efforts to eliminate Capisarian federal holdouts. These largely military efforts have caused a major drain of the Verdean purse as well as hindering foreign relations with several nations in Greater Meridon.
Economy
Main Article: Verdean Economy
Economic Indicators
| Monetary Unit: Meridonian Unit (μ), Billeta Verdista (βV)
Conversion Rate: μ1 = $1.7733 NSD Fiscal Year: 15 de Mesjula-14 de Mesjula Nominal GDP: $3,561,025,047,500 NSD GDP per Capita: $15,850 NSD Labor Force: 134,802,210 Unemployment: 9,621,555 (7.14%) |
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The economy of Isla Verde operates on market socialist, largely syndicalist principles as theorized by Mariana Ortega. For the most part, the Verdean economy runs both a large import and export market with many common quality of life appliances imported while the island exports mostly the products of heavy industry, as well as cultural exports such as film, television, and music. The Verdean economy operates on selectively protectionist model where certain countries that the Verdean government wishes to favor are allowed to sell their products without tariffs, but others are given often substantial tariffs. The economy runs on a largely industrial to post-industrial model with the shipping, ship construction, and maritime equipment manufacturing providing the most jobs of any single industry. A smaller, but more valuable industry exists in the cultural products market, primarily the Verdean film industry which accounts for nearly 10% of the Verdean GDP. The Republic of Verde also has a modest but substantial tourism sector, with agriculture and light manufacturing coming closely behind. The nationally accepted currencies are the Meridonian Unit (μ), as well as the Billeta Verdista (βV).
The labor force consists of 134,802,210 persons, or roughly 60% of the population. The leading source of employment in the Republic of Verde is the state which provides 21,568,354 jobs or roughly 16% of the jobs in Verde. The next largest employer is the non-state maritime manufacturing sector which provides 19,141,914 or 14.2% jobs. This is followed by the agricultural sector with 12,267,001 (9.1%), tourism with 9,436,155 (7%), medical with 8,357,737 (6.2%), and (entertainment with 5,392,088 (4.2%) jobs respectively. All workers are either employed directly by the state, or within worker's syndicates with the exception of a small number of self-employed persons or families. Legally, employees are provided with at least two weeks of paid vacation, often more, and paid family leave.
Unemployment and Poverty
Despite the elimination of poverty being a primary goal of the Orteguista government, outside the major urban centers in the center of the country, poverty remains a major problem. The reconstruction of the nation has largely been within the center, while the outer regions of the Verdean republic of seen minimal improvement; with nearly six percent of the population or 13,480,221 people living under the Verdean poverty line, and 43,586,047 people or nearly 20% living under the Merdionian Union poverty line. However, the policies of the government have done much to alleviate the conditions the impoverished are living under with state run medical clinics and schools dramatically improving quality of life. Unemployment remains a concern, especially in non-central cities, with it being the primary cause of poverty in Verde. Nearly ten million members of the workforce are unemployed, mostly in these cities are responsible for three quarters of the Verdean poverty rate.
Infrastructure
The Republic of Verde is a developed nation regarding its infrastructure, and a well developed one when talking about the core of the nation. Development and maintenance of the infrastructure is operated by the government. Corazón del Río and the core of the nation are by by far and away the most developed infrastructurally, nearly operating at standards equivalent to the wealthy nations on Meridon, while the eastern and northern parts of the island tend to be the least developed, tending to be poorer as a result. Efforts do continue however, to build up the infrastructure of the fringe territories of Isla Verde.
Transport, especially over distance is done primarily by rail, sea, or air. Given the lack of development during the peak use of automobiles, the road network is relatively small and undeveloped, and little work has been put into developing this network outside of small urban areas. For the average Verdean, transport is public, and often provided by means of light rail, bus, ferry, or airline. Airports are directly owned, and the transport and security aspects managed directly by the state. Cargo is typically transported by sea or air to the island, and by means of heavy gauge rail overland.
Energy in Verde is primarily provided by means of renewable sources. Hydroelectric power sources provide the largest centrally operated power source in Verde. However, at the behest of the Verdean government, there has been enormous value placed into decentralizing power, and many localities operate smaller solar and wind power sources. Additionally, there has been a program to encourage private citizens to acquire their own power generators to operate in the event of power failure. This goes double for those living in rural areas where those power failures are more likely.
Information technology has, in recent years been dominated by the internet, with access points becoming more and more common. Wealthier citizens especially have increasingly adopted the use of smartphones and tablets. However, unlike wealthier nations in Greater Meridon there is still a significant presence of traditional media, with radio and cinema being especially popular sources for mass information and entertainment.
Government Finance
The government primarily maintains solvency through taxation, though import tariffs, and export of products built by the government also make up a significant proportion of the national government budget. Taxes are levied at the national and local level. All sources of government funding take up a total of 48% of the economy, with the majority of government income going to the national budget. The national government also funds the district governments, but not normally to the local governments who raise their own taxes. The taxation of the Verdean Republic is progressive with the top income earners paying 75% of their income to the government. The top quintile of income earners pay 42.3% of their income in taxes, the second pays 35.6%, the third 28.8%, the fourth 15.5%, the lowest quintile pays an average of 4.4% of their income in taxes. The constitutions and laws delineate where the responsibilities of each level of government lie, which are as follows:
National: social welfare, the national health system, the national park system, national defense, scientific grants, the aeronautics administration, cultural export management, maritime administration, the national armaments system, the space program, foreign aid
District: long distance public transport, the power grid, the National Guards, universities
Local: police offices, intracity public transport, primary and secondary education
The aggregate public budget is roughly $1,709,292,022,800.
Military
Main Article: Verdean Armed Forces
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The armed forces of the Republic of Verde are under the command of the War Ministry, and the President of the Republic. The military of the republic is divided into four branches of service, the Navy, the Naval Infantry, the Army, and the Air Force. The senior branch of the military is the navy, which is also the best funded and one of the largest; the largest branch is the army. The Verdean military receives its funding from the state entirely, and receives most of its recruits through the national service program. The army especially relies heavily upon those performing their two years of service to the Republic, and its entire enlisted reserve is comprised of conscripts, and ex-conscripts. The exception to this rule are the Naval Infantry which are a strictly professional organization which draws its manpower from former conscripts, who had completed their service requirement, who wish to pursue a military career in the Naval Infantry. The military receives a budget of $124,635,876,700 NSD, roughly 3.5% of the GDP of the republic, most of which goes to the Verdean Navy and Marines.
The Verdean Navy is the senior service of the Republic of Verde, and not only one of the largest branches in the Verdean military, but also the largest navy in Greater Meridon. The Navy maintains a strong blue water capability, capable of projecting power throughout Greater Meridon. The Republic Verde consists of six aircraft carrier fleets, four coastal defense fleets, a submarine group, and several support fleets. These fleets are staffed by a total 200,786 personnel, 5,009 of which are nonmilitary attachés, and 145,614 of which are serving as part of the National Service program. The Navy operates no ballistic missile submarines, and has no intentions of doing so in the future. The Navy receives 40% of the total military budget as its funding.
The Verdean Naval Infantry (often referred to as marines) are widely considered to be the second most important service in the Verdean Armed forces, and is also its most professional. The Verdean Marines operate as the primary expeditionary element of the armed forces, and operates in close conjunction with the navy to act as the primary power projection element of the Verdean Republic. The Naval Infantry primarily operates as a light infantry and air assault force, and is divided into six brigades, organized into three expeditionary groups, as well as a number of independent battalions that are folded into the expeditionary groups and attached to the main combat brigades as required, and lastly a Chancellor's Guard battalion which guards the chancellor and the Republican Guard which more generally protects the republican government. The Naval Infantry are staffed by 176,890 personnel, 4,942 of which are civilians, and none of which are conscripts, due the strictly professional nature of the naval infantry. Currently, the Verdean Naval Infantry receives generally speaking 20% of the total military budget for funding.
The Verdean Army is the largest branch of service in the armed forces. The army primarily is intended doctrinally to defend the Verdean homeland from foreign aggression rather than to project power overseas, and due to less of a need to operate from ships operates far more heavy equipment than the Naval Infantry. The Verdean army is composed four corps, three of which are in the reserves, twelve divisions, and thirty six maneuver brigades as well as a number of independent battalions, as well as a significant logistical and transport infrastructure. The Army is staffed by 752,542 personnel, 44,852 civilians, and 521,761 National Service members. The overwhelming majority of these personnel are reservists. The Army currently receives 21% of the defense budget.
The Verdean Air Force is the junior branch of service in the armed forces. It operates primarily in a defensive capacity, however, much of the air force has become more inclined to operate abroad, particularly in the immediate area. The Verdean Air Force operates mostly light aircraft, particularly light multirole fighters as its striking arm. The air force is divided into five regional air commands, and roughly twenty regular air squadrons. Additionally, there are five regional ground based air defense groups, and an aerobatic squadron the "Lanceros". The air force is staffed currently by 62,764 personnel, 36,450 of which are conscripted persons, and 2,373 of which are civilians. Currently the air force recieves 19% of the budget.
Law Enforcement
Law enforcement is primarily provided at the district and local level, with local police departments providing most of the groundwork. The largest element is local law enforcement, which provides local law enforcement, traffic enforcement, and investigative capacities on a local level. The second largest element of law enforcement is the Verdean Gendarmerie which is administered at the district level, and guards important buildings, acts in high intensity situations, and counter-terrorist operations, and lastly guards important members of the national government when they travel within the jurisdiction of the district. The last major law enforcement organization is the Republican Investigative Bureau, which investigates major cases, and assists local investigate departments with more specialized skilled personnel as required. All members of law enforcement are persons who have completed their National Service within the military. Currently there are roughly 1,852,000 law enforcement personnel with most being local police. The government at all levels gives $35,610,250,475 NSD to law enforcement agencies or roughly 1% of the GDP.
Human Development
The Republic of Verde is a developed nation, and is the second most developed nation in the Verdean Archipelago (barring Isla Diamante). The Verdean government is constantly attempting to improve conditions for its people. There is however a remaining significant disparity between the conditions of those living in the center to those living on the fringes. Living standards have improved on the fringes, though the Doradan conflict has drained resources from the reconstruction project. This has resulted in a slowing of progress towards ensuring a better standard of living for the Verdean citizens.
Education
The educational system is free through the secondary level for all Verdean citizens, and for those who complete their national service, and are going into particular fields, university is free to the student as well. Primary and secondary education are mandatory for all citizens, and private schooling is forbidden, as is home schooling in all but rare extenuating circumstances. University is optional, though commonly attended by citizens. Currently the education system is a significant priority for the Verdean government, receiving 10% of the government budget.
Primary education operates at the local level and consists primarily of small institutions that teach students of the pre-scholarly level to the fifth year of education or from the sixth year to the ninth year. Primary schools are referred to as Escuelas Fundamentales or Fundaments Schools, or as Escuelas Completadas or Finishing Schools. In the beginning of primary education, at fundaments schools, students learn the basic elements of academia; literacy, basic arithmetic, and reasoning. Students are also given basic education in history and civics with a strong emphasis on promoting good citizenship, as well as receiving a basic grounding in more cultural studies, primarily music, but other forms as well. In the latter part of their early education, students are introduced to the basics of engineering as well. In the second part of primary education, students will continue their earlier studies with algebra, literature, and public speaking being introduced, as well as the scientific method, and experimental science. At the end of the primary levels students are expected to have a basic working understanding of these topics as well as beginning to study a second language as well.
Secondary education is more centralized, though often at the municipal level if possible, and teaching tenth through twelfth year students. Secondary schools are known as Colegias or Colleges. At this level, students are expected to grasp the fundaments that they began learning in their primary educations and gain a proficiency in them. Students are also expected to attain at least a basic working fluency in at least one language other than their native. The twelfth year is primarily focused on good citizenship and preparation for national service, and it is at this point in a person's education that they begin to properly specialize in a field that they intend to pursue as a working adult.
University education is offered and operated at the district level, and is for those who have completed their secondary education. Schools are the university level are referred to as Universidades or Universities. University is often a specialized affair with students pursuing a major field of education, often with a minor side study or more rarely a second major. University does generally cost a student money at point of access, but for those citizens who have completed their national service and are pursuing a degree in a field that the Verdean republic has need of can get an education without cost to themselves.
Healthcare
The healthcare system is a major source of pride for the Verdean people, and is, compared to the rest of the country, well developed. The healthcare system is state operated, and receives 16% of the national budget, and cares for all citizens of Verde. The system is primarily administrated at the national, and the local level. In almost every locality one can find a clinic, and the Verdean government has strongly encouraged people to take up medicine as a career path, and has overseen the dramatic expansion of hospitals, clinics, and doctor's offices. As with many other governmental projects, the healthcare system has however, seen a decrease in funding since the start of the Doradan War.
Daily Life
Daily life in the Republic of Verde has changed significantly since the revolution. As the recovery of the nation has continued apace, the Verdean people have seen a few new trends intruding upon their daily lives. A number of trends have taken hold in the Republic since its attainment of independence, and more importantly since the inception of the information age. In rural areas however, the pace of change has been somewhat slower in comparison to the major cities.
Since the rise of the internet, information technology has become a significant element of the daily lives of many citizens. Access to the internet has proliferated substantially even among rural areas. This has come to the point where every citizen has at least some access, though most urban citizens have much greater ease of access to the internet. Unlike more modernized states on mainland Meridon commerce remains largely based upon physical trade, rather than trade over networks, and many of the more advanced networked devices remain out of reach of the average citizen.
Most Verdean citizens work at industrial or agricultural jobs, though there is a sizable and growing number of workers in the service sector, the medical sector, and in the cultural exports sector. The average worker, generally works for thirty to forty hours a week, in generally acceptable conditions. Working hours are generally split into two with a morning work period punctuated by the noontime meal and a brief siesta, and then the second working period before the workers return home for the day. As technology continues to be imported into, or constructed in the republic, more processes are automated, and many workers are seeing the amount of hours that they work on the decline. Automation however, is beginning to see negative impacts on the labor force as a number of positions have been eliminated as a result of automation.
Verdeans generally speaking, enjoy a higher quality of life than those of other nations in the Archipelago. In spite of the comparatively high poverty rate, malnutrition, poor health, and lack of education are uncommon phenomena. This is due in large part due the efforts of the state, the ministry of the Regio dela Verde and of citizens participating in their national service. Many of the gains in quality of life can in fact be attributed in large part due to the effort to foster a greater sense of community spirt, and involvement, moreso than traditional economic development.
Culture
Main Article: Verdean Culture
Verdean culture has been shaped by several millennia of shared experience, as well as more recent influences brought in by the recent immigrants. While as a result, a less "pure" expression of Verdean culture than other Verdean nations, the Republic of Verde is a major exporter of Verdean culture, being the seat of the Greater Meridonian film industry. This control of a major aspect of Meridonian culture has enabled the Verdeans a great influence on regional culture.
Religion
Main Article: Regio dela Verde
The Verdean populace almost exclusively practices Regio de Verde, which is a world religion that originates in, and is largely exclusively practiced in the Verdean Archipelago. Religion plays a major part in the lives of most people, and religious figures are frequently seen participating in cultural events.
Cinema
The Verdean film industry is the pride of the Republic of Verde, and is perhaps the most significant cultural outreach Verdeans have when dealing with the rest of Greater Meridon. The Verdean film industry is regulated and supported by the Verdean Ministry of Film, which funds significant and culturally valuable works, as well as in some cases, acting as a censor to prevent the production of works that are deemed offensive, or damaging. As the film industry has become more organized and stabilized however, the Ministry of Film has taken a less active role in the industry. This has allowed for a greater variety of films to be produced under the likes of Pedro Ruíz Garza, Inés Belen Robles, and Radaman Fisk dela Culebra.
Culturally significant films that the Republic of Verde has produced include Los Caballeros Finales, Paloma Enjaulada, Eschuché Sobre Sus Madres, Milagros y Tragedias, and Le Triunfo de Fe. Verdean filmmakers seemingly prefer works of historical fiction, or contemporary commentary. Though not as prominent as other forms of film, Verdean documentarians have made several films with the most prominent being El Día de Occupación: La historia de Soldados en Dorado.
Music and Dance
Verdean music is orientated heavily around community events,and is seen as a way for the community to come together for a shared experience. Though it was, until recently, extremely unusual, if outright distasteful, for a person to engage in a private listening experience, many younger citizens, embracing some cultural aspects of Meridon have begun to listen to music individually. Most Verdean music is meant to be danced to, often in large group settings. Most notable dances in the Republic of Verde are based around the tradition of La Culebra. In more modern days, Capisarian electronic music has begun to surge in popularity with Darkwave, Deep house, and Progressive house being the popular imports; and a local homegrown variant, Bastille beat becoming prominent in the Verdean music scene.
Literature
The Verdean literary canon can be argued to have begun with the inception of the printing press during the Early Imperial Period. The earliest literary works were primarily religious texts describing various miracles performed by holy figures in Regio theology. As time progressed however, more civilly minded writings began to be penned by citizens. The Literary Golden Age for the Verdean people can be traced to the Late Imperial period with early enlightenment works such as Don Cervantes, Cientos Viajes a los países Capisarianos, and Paradiso. During the Republican and Carlosian eras, the constant instability led to a brief lapse in literature, though more political works such as La Ceniza, Somos Constriuiremos un Mundo Nuevo and Porque nos Rebelamos. Enlightenment works, and more revolutionary ones of the early Post-Imperial Period would form the foundation of Literary thought in Verde, and set the stage for deeply political works, such as those penned by Mariana Ortega. In the modern era, most works follow this pattern of revolutionary sentiment in the context of rebuilding Verdean society.
Art and Architecture
Much of the artistic and architectural traditions of Verde have remained relatively unchanged since the earliest days of the Empire. This is especially reflected in architecture, as most buildings in Verde are legacy structures from the early DI 100s or earlier. For the most part, the architectural styling reflects Classical, and Neoclassical styles, though there are a significant number of structures, constructed during the Capisarian occupation that follow Minimalist traditions. Since the revolution, the Verdean people, in an attempt to appear more modern have adopted, foreign, Post-Modernist architectural style.
In the world of visual art, the Verdeans have a long pedigree of classical painting, and was one of the early adopters of Realism, with the first examples of Verdean Realist art appearing in the final years of the First Verdean Empire. As social order began to break down in the waning years of the First Republic, artists reflected this change with a shift away from staunchly realistic depictions towards Neo-Classicism and the lionization of earlier Verdean figures. As the Second Empire formed, Pre-Absurdist artists became more prominent gradually pushing further away from realistic depictions of life towards a more surreal aesthetic, evolving into Absurdist art in the DI 120s. Art has strictly regulated by the Capisarians during their occupation, and pushed underground as the art world evolved in the middle of the century, and the nationalist revival movement in the later half of the century has rejected Absurdism, in favor of Ortegan Realism, which has remained the dominant art form in the Republic.
Cuisine
Cuisine in the Republic of Verde is regionally based, with the specifics of diet relegated to the regional tastes of the people. Several things remain common however. Rice and bean dishes are without a doubt the most common basis for Verdean cuisine. Lastly, there is a strong emphasis on the family meal, with Festín and Cena almost always a family affair. Generally speaking, the largest change location has on the meal is in the selection of meats, vegetables, and fruits available for consumption and regional favorites are as follows:
Northern Verde favors light meals consisting of seafood and fruits especially for the early and evening meals.
East Verde favors dry meals consisting of largely drought resistant vegetables, with sheep and goat meat as the animal protein with occasional fish being common in coastal regions.
West Verde favors watery vegetables, noodles, and soups with less focus on meats and more on grains and vegetables.
Southern Verde is known for its heavy use of meat, particularly beef, in its cuisine, meals here are often hot, meat based, and commonly stews.
Central Verde is renowned for its bakeries, and its high cuisine with more intricate dishes being common among the wealthier peoples, and meat pies being more common among the working class.
Verdeans typically eat three meals a day; Albamaizena, Festín, and Cena. Albamaizena is the morning meal, which is often relatively light, intended to get the eater up and ready for the day. It is usually served cold, though in southern reaches it can be served hot. Festín is the largest meal of the day, intend as the main family meal of the day wherein people return home for family time whilst having the meal, and for the, traditionally, two hour siesta afterwards. Cena is also a large meal, though usually not so much as the Festín, and generally also a family experience as people return home for the day.
Sport
Sport has long played a major role in Verdean culture with the ritual of physical exercise taking on an almost religious aspect. This is most notable with the traditional sport of the Bull Fight, wherein, the bull and a human counterpart engage in ritual combat, usually to the death. This ceremony, though originally, strictly religious, and a major part of the Regio, has become more of a civil, spectator sport in the modern era, though the rules of the fight are still drawn along very strict religious lines. Another major sport that has gained traction in Verde as well as Meridon more generally, is association football, which includes the international known as the Meridonian Cup. Other sports include Lacrosse, and Cross country sport. The Republic of Verde has very little in the way of a professional sporting infrastructure, managing only barely to assemble a national team to compete in the Meridonian Cup, and other international events, relaying mostly on amature or semi-professional leagues instead of professional ones.
Public Holidays
The Verdean government has instituted several state Holidays which are expected to be nonworking days. This means that those who are not considered essential employees (emergency services, active military, government officials) are not expected to be at work, and those who are working are expected to receive double pay. Often during these days (many are religious in nature), one can find most Verdean citizens participating in religious rituals and ceremonies. Days are plotted on the Verdean Calander; they are as follows:
| Date | Name (Verdean) | Public holiday | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 de Mesjula | New Year's Day (Dia del Año Nuevo) |
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First day of the year in the Verdean Calendar (coincides with New Years Day in the International Calendar). |
| 26 de Mesjula | Feast of the Jade Queen (Banquete dela Verde) |
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A religious feast celebrating the head of the Verdean Pantheon, the Jade Queen. |
| 23 de Mesorge | Champion's Feast (Banquete dele Plato) |
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A religious holiday celebrating the Verdean divine Champion. |
| 47 de Mesorge | Liberation Day (Dia de Liberación) |
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Commemorates the liberation of Isla Verde from the Capisarian occupation of the Archipelago. |
| 18 de Mesjandra | Mariana Parisa Day (El Cumpleaño de Mariana Parisa) |
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Commemorates the birthday of Revolutionary Herione and first Chancellor of the liberated Verdean Republic, Marina Parisa. |
| 27 de Mesjandra | Day of the Caballeros Finales (Dia deles Caballeros Finales) |
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Commemorates the Last Stand of the Caballeros Finales in the Carlosian War. |
| 30 de Mesjandra | Maester's Festival (Banquete dela Dorada) |
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A religious feast celebrating the Verdean deity known as the Golden Maester. |
| 31 de Mesjandra | Constitution Day (Dia de la Constitución) |
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Commemorates the ratification of the Verdean constitution. |
| 46 de Mestor | Feast of the Diamond Priest (Banquete dele Diamante) |
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A religious feast celebrating a deity of the Verdean pantheon, the Diamond Priest. |
| 47 de Mestor | Feast of the Saints (Banquete delos Sanctos) |
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A religious feast celebrating the sanctified persons of Regio dela Verde. |
| 1 de Meseva | Verdean Worker's Day (Dia delos Trabajadores Verdistas) |
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A civil holiday celebrating the achievements of the Verdean worker and promoting further labor action. |
| 15 de Meseva | Festival of the Seneshal (Banqueta dela Rubí) |
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A religious feast celebrating a deity of the Verdean Pantheon, the Ruby Seneshal. |
| 8 de Mesisa | Republic Day (Dia dela Republica) |
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Commemorates the establishment of the First Verdean Republic. Also known as Unification Day (Commemorating the unification of the Archipelago at the end of the Classical Period). Also used as election day in the Republic of Verde. |
| 45 de Mesisa | Festival of the Cupbearer (Banquete dela Zafira) |
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A religious feast celebrating a deity of the Verdean pantheon, the Sapphire Cup-bearer. |
| 1 de Mesvacío | Independence Day (Dia de Independencía) |
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Commemorates the Verdean formal Declaration of Independence from Capisaria. |
| 14 de Mesvacío | Festival of the Jester (Banquete del Bufón) |
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A religious feast celebrating a deity of the Verdean pantheon, the Lapis Jester. |
| Last three days of year | The Year's End El Fin del Año |
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A three day, religious and civil festival broken into three parts. The first day, a feast to celebrate a year gone by. The second, a Day of atonement and reflection to pay penance for the year's past misdeeds. The third, a day celebrating the granting of mercy, and the granting of a clean slate to begin the coming new year. |