The Most Serene Republic of Eleutherosophia

The Most Serene Republic of Eleutherosophia

---

Eleutherosophia is a moderately sided island-based country withe seven large islands, twelve medium islands, and a hundred small islands. Located at 10°05'42.5"N 174°20'24.7"W in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Eleutherosophia shares water borders with the Marshall Islands, the Hawaiian Islands, and Kiribati. It is also the only place where the rare alloy rhodinium if found, and the malpha fruit grows. The most populous and capital city is Sophopolis, located on the edge of Sophiameros.

The Eleutherosophian archipelago was first colonized by Polynesians around 3000 BC, though it was quickly abandoned for reasons still not fully understood. In 1832, the explorer Sir Harrison Cook came with his fleet of thirty ships to these islands, having the left the United States because of disagreements on the US's policy on slavery and woman's suffrage. After the 1835 nearly casualitiless War of Words, Eleutherosophia was recognized by the United States, and soon other world powers. Eleutherosophia's population is mostly based in emigration and has adopted a policy of neutrality, except in the Second World War, where it barely survived a Japanese invasion. Though the Soviet Union beat the Eleutherosophia to space, the United States to the moon, Eleutherosophia was the first to establish a permanent colony on the Moon and the first to send a human to Mars.

Eleutherosophia is a federal republican democracy. It is a founding member of the United Nations, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund, the Pacific Treaty Organization, as well as a few others. It maintains strong relations with most countries in the world, though its relationship with China is growing weaker on account of China's territorial ambitions.

A rather small but highly developed country, Eleutherosophia has one of the highest GDP per capita in this world. Eleutherosophia has high-income equalities, average wages, median incomes, median wealth, human development. Eleutherosophia consistently ranks as having the best schools in the world and is known for having the largest number of Nobel Prize Laureates per ten million people, with forty-three Nobel prize laureates.

Etymology

---

The name Eleutherosophia comes from the Greek words ἐλευθερός ("free") and σοφία ("wise"). It is first documented in a letter written by Harrison Cook to his mother back home, recounting how the colony he had founded was doing. He attributes the name to Sir Ulysseus Reading, which Ulysseus's memoirs corroborate. The full name "the Most Serene Republic of Eleutherosophia" is first published in Eleutherosophia's constitution and is attributed to the Sir Marco Romano.

A citizen of Eleutherosophia is called an "Eleutherosophian", and the adjectival form is "Eleutherosophian". Occasionally, the shortened form "Sophian" is seen, but only in informal writing.

History

---

Pre-1836
Eleutherosophia was first colonized around 3000 years ago, by Polynesians from the nearby Islands of Kiribati. Those settlers left an intriguing but scant archeological record, mostly statuary and tools. A few hut remains are found along the shores of Choirinos, but otherwise, no permanent structures are found. It appears that within a few decades of first colonizing the islands, the Polynesians left. Most scientists, including Sir Julis Trippol, believe they left out of fear of some local phenomenon, given the richness of resources in the archipelago, while a few, such as Sir Triloc Uppoc, believe a plague wiped out the settlers, and no one resettled afterward. Neither theory has definite proof.

In the spring of 1832, Sir Harrison Cook landed on the shores of Sophiameros with thirty ships, filled with a group of scientist, philosophers, and priests who had grown distasteful of the culture of the United States, and decided to found a new country on the outskirts of the world known to him. He sailed until he found land. By a quick decision of the crew, they looked no further and founded the city of Sophopolis. The Capitol Building was built from the hulls of three of the ships, and the rest were kept for trade and communication. The first acts of Sir Harrison Cook and his lieutenants were the formation of local government, public schools, and the establishment of communal farms. In the spring of 1833, some settlers left with a few volumes of letters and papers written by some of the community members of the summer and winters of 1832. When they came back in the late summer with news from the mainland, they brought back ten ships worth of new settlers, inspired by the successes of the community. With these new recruits, they formed smaller settlements on some of the other islands. As the community had grown larger, both in space and in people, the community leaders decided to form a federal republic, similar to the United States. The constitutional convention was held from June 1, 1834, until February 7, 1836. The convention was briefly interrupted from July 3 to 23, 1835, during which time the United States Pacific Fleet, at the time a rather small force of twelve warships blockaded the Sophopolis harbor. This period is so-called the War of Words, as the United States was trying to claim Eleutherosophia as its territory, attempting to project its power into the Pacific. The conflict was resolved by a twenty-day discussion between Sir Cook and Commodore Matthew Perry. Eventually, the issue was resolved, and after the constitution was finalized, the United States recognized Eleutherosophia by Commodore's Perry recommendation. The first elections under this new regime were held on March 1, 1836, with Sir Cook winning the Presidency and Sir Bismark winning the Vice Presidency.

1832-1929

From 1836 - 1898, Eleutherosophia focused on improving its universities and attracting new immigrants. The Mexican-American War opened up the state of California for American Settlers, which helped American sail from the West Coast to Eleutherosophia, which many did, especially during the rather bloody Civil War. The opening of Japan and China to Western exploitation also increased immigration to Eleutherosophia from Asia. European Immigration to Eleutherosophia was lower in this part of the century, though there was some secondary immigration from the United States and European Colonies such as Australia, French Indo-China, British Raj, and Dutch East Indies. immigration from South America and Africa was minimal during this period. During the tenure of Sir Isaac Isilodus, the second Eleutherosophian university was established in the town of Megaloneria on Elkethros, the University of Megaloneria, in the year 1849. Within the next 49 years, twelve more universities were established throughout the archipelago.

In 1898, the balance of power was finally cemented in favor of the United States with the Spanish-American War. Eleutherosophia benefited greatly from this change, as its ports were the most developed between California and the Philippines. The increase in trade and people helped augment the nation's GDP and population, defining Eleutherosophia as one of the most important players in the Pacific Region.

WWI only helped to improve Eleutherosophia's position in the Pacific, as the increased supply demands across the Pacific led to more trade flowing through Eleutherosophian ports. Eleutherosophia remained officially neutral throughout the war, though it did provide some secret aid to the United States and the Entente, as was finally confirmed after the end of the Cold War. The Spanish Flu barely touched Eleutherosophia, as it instituted strict quarantine during the plague, and its doctors were on the front lines of establishing a cure. The war-time boom continued to improve the Eleutherosophian economy throughout the Roaring Twenties.

1929-1945

As throughout the rest of the world, Eleutherosophia was not immune to the effects of the Great Depression. Due to increased government stimulus packages and an advantageous geographic position, these effects were not as strong as in the United States and Europe, but the decrease in trade brought a lull to the Eleutherosophian economy. Sir Lucille Treffil led Eleutherosophia from 1924 to 1948, the longest tenure in Eleutherosophian history and stimulated the economy in a variety of ways, including improving National Park infrastructure in the Sophomeron mountains, working on updating dock infrastructure, and increasing education funding and rhodinium and malpha fruit exports. One of her largest projects was the Intra-island Railroad on Sophiameros, which goes underneath the mountains. During this time, Mount Bounophotias erupted, which surprisingly helped rather than harmed the Eleutherosophian economy. Sir Treffil increased disaster aid, and the rebuilding projects helped revitalize the construction sector.

The rise of fascism throughout the world helped the Eleutherosophian economy as well, as many scientists, philosophers, and artists flocked to the world-famous universities, including Sir Thomas Mann and Sir Albert Einstein. However, WWII greatly weakened Eleutherosophia's position in the world, for bombing programs and attempted invasions by the Japanese damaged or destroyed much of its infrastructure. Eleutherosophia managed to avoid Japenese invasion on account of a hastily built drone army, built by Executive Order of Sir Treffil after the rather small navy they had beforehand was bombed during the attacks on Pacific Naval basis on December Seventh. The drone army defeated the Japanese mostly on account of volume rather than anything else, acting basically as a wall that shoots back. In 1945, Sir Treffil attended signed and helped write the UN charter, as well as the Declaration of Human Rights. At the end of the war, Eleutherosophia emerged almost as a vassal state to the United States, following the will of the larger and more untouched power in most of its foreign policy decisions.
1945-1973
However, over the next two decades, Eleutherosophia developed intensely as an independent state. Given the fact that most of the cities were leveled to the ground, Eleutherosophia rebuilt its country from the foundations, modernizing its public transportation systems, its communication systems, and its universities. From 1948 to 1972, the political situation in Eleutherosophia was volatile, with no president lasting more than a term. The first president elected was Sir Han Peng, who orchestrated the rebuilding of Eleutherosophia's communication and transportation system, in addition to some of the other more fundamental infrastructure in cities like Sophopolis and Megaloneria. Next came Sir Mutasim al-Mussa in the year 1952, who focused on rebuilding Eleutherosophia's universities, while helping rebuild some of the more rural communities. Then, Sir Marin Starling was elected in 1956. He declared that he was planning on increasing Eleutherosophia's art collections and attracting more scientists, philosophers, and artists to the community. Unfortunately, he died in a transportation accident within the first three months of his term. His vice-president, Sir al-Mussa, took over operations after his death and fulfilled Sir Starling's mandate, as well as continuing his previous program of sending aid to rural communities. In 1960, Sir Theodor Griesling was elected, with the mandate of improving Eleutherosophia's relations with Pacific Rim countries, and thus bringing in more tourists. He was rather successful, creating the Pacific Rim Treaty Organization, a collection of democratically-minded nations around the Pacific Rim, including most prominently the recently created South Korea, Japan, Philippines, Papa New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States. Tourism was also increased by 24.3%. He also created a joint US and Eleutherosophia space program with President John F. Kennedy. Next, Sir Okami Rau was elected in 1964 intending to modernize public schools. She was met with stiff opposition by the legislature, but was able to increase teacher's pay by 12.5%, and increased graduation rates to nearly 100%. She lost the 1968 election to Sir Trevor Hannover, who turned Eleutherosophia's military from a sewn-together drone army to a sleek and modern force, as well as being President when Neil Armstrong and Sir Ian Saelices. The voters while fond of the initiative voted him out of office, and voted in Sir Rosalia Cammarano in 1972, the first president to be elected to a second term since Sir Lucille Treffil.

1973-Present
In 1973, the first extraterrestrial ship crash-landed in the Sophiameron Islands. The confrontation between them and the locals was brief, with only one local stunned and one of the extraterrestrial's legs being broken. After the police were called in, a tense standoff occurred, until linguist Sir Vikentiy Kozhukhov and Sir Rosalia Cammarano arrived. Thanks to Sir Kozhukhov's immense linguistic skills and Sir Treffil's diplomatic ability, the standoff was ended. Sir Cammarano and the extraterrestrials soon engaged in technology exchange, and seventy-three of the extraterrestrials decided to stay after their craft was fixed, citing the relative peace and natural beauty of the island chain. Their host planet offered protection to Earth, which given the technological condition of the planet, the United Nations accepted. Over the next decades, a small stream of extraterrestrials came to earth.

In 1975, a coalition of constructs, Laumeians, and extraterrestrials demanded they be offered citizenship rights, first meeting with Sir Cammarano in March. Sir Cammarano agreed and with some members of the House of Representatives, wrote the 1975 Citizenship Rights Act, offering citizenship to anyone who passed the sentient being test. Over the next five years, Sir Cammarano continued to increase progressive programs, including instituting rank choice voting and increasing business regulations.

In 1988, Sir Cammarano stepped down and her vice president, Sir Iglesias Sevilla was voted into office. Most of his term was spent attempting to repair US and USSR relations and was generally unsuccessful, but he did manage to defuse a border dispute with the United States. He also improved Eleutherosophia's disaster readiness, just in time for Hurricane Oscar in 1990. In the 1992 election, Sir Henry Drusselman became president. His tenure mostly focused on increasing the reputation of Eleutherosophian schools throughout the world and was directly responsible for the creation of the Pacific Rim University Association. Following Sir Drusselman was Sir Olyian Friskork in 1996. Sir Friskork's favorite project was an interisland undersea rail system. She also was instrumental in the acquisition of management of the nearby Howland and Baker Islands from the United States.

In 2000, Sir Attenborough became the president until the present day. His next terms were followed by years of promotion of the arts and sciences, including the completion of the Academy of Philosophy on Choruphalon, the start of the National Novelist Fellowship, and a Modernization of the Library of Congress's physical location. Some of his most starling accomplishments include the Pacific Rim Trade Partnership, which helped increase Eleutherosophia's exports of rhodinium and malpha fruit to the rest of the world and ensure copyright protection for Eleutherosophia's works and the Paris Accords to help battle climate change, a pressing concern for the island nation. Attenborough also extensively modernized and increased the size of Eleutherosophia's drone armies. Attenborough also was instrumental in the recovery effort after Hurricane Trevor and the eruption of Mount Bounophotias. Also, during his tenure, in the year 2003, the first Artificial Intelligence was granted citizenship.

Demographics

---

Population

In 2018, the population of Eleutherosophia was estimated to be at 1,109,367. The population breakdown was 73.2% human, 20.8% nonhuman sentient terrestrials, 6.7% constructs, 0.3% extraterrestrial, .02% artificial intelligence. Roughly a fifth of the population immigrated into the Eleutherosophia, most citing the excellent schools. Most of the population is centered around Eleutherosophia's coastlines, with significant clusters at Eleutherosophia's ports: Sophopolis, Boreiosophia, Terrodos, Prasinophalon, Megaloneria, Mystirio, and Epipeda. There are 21 people born for every 1000 people, and 64.7 migrants for every 1000 people. Including the .03% death rate, the Eleutherosophian population growth rate is 8.54%.

Religion

Eleutherosophia is mostly Roman Catholic, with 67.1% of the population following the pope. Other major world religions include the Baha'i faith followed by 6.1% and Buddhism followed by 1.9%.

However, 22.8% of the population follows the Terravitian faith, characterized by a worship of the incarnation of God as a turtle, daily rituals performed at the rising of the sun, and strict environmental regulations. There is some discrimination against Terravitians by the general populace, but for the most part, they are an accepted part of society.

Government

---

The government is mostly devolved, with the local islands governing most of the parks, universities, and social programs. The government runs the University at Sophopolis and smaller ones on most of the smaller islands. The federal government is based on the United States government, with three branches, an executive, legislative, and judicial branch.

The executive branch is rather strong, focusing mostly on ensuring the upkeep of public transportation and social welfare programs. It also runs some major fellowships. It is divided into eight branches, Foreign Affairs, Social Services, Environment, Education, Industry, Philosophy, Science, Justice, and Arts. The current cabinet members are Secretary of Foreign Affairs Krukxox Thuror, Secretary of Social Services Sir Laban Guengerich, Secretary of Environment Tommaso Fioravanti, Secretary of Education Sir Giorgos Mellidis, Secretary of Industry Amelia Beata, Secretary of Philosophy Sir Pelagia Lupei, Secretary of Science Ted Simons, Secretary of Justice Gulnara Genov, and Secretary of Arts Nathalia Cline.

The legislative branch is divided into two houses, the Senate House, made up of two delegates from each Island, and the House of Representatives, where each Island is proportioned delegates based on population. Currently, the House of Representatives has forty seats, fifteen for Sophiameros, six for Chorinos, six for Enodos, six for Peristas, five for Elkethros, one each for Choruphalon and Sir Cook Island. The legislative branch has authority over the budget and most of what the executive branch can do. It also votes on the confirmation of all department and secretary heads for the executive branch, all federal judge positions.

The judicial branch is made up of a series of hierarchal courts, culminating in a Supreme Court made up of seven judges Sir Hieronymus Jonas, Kettil Möller, Sir Pridoni Paredes, Krister Stendahl, Sir Eva Stasiuk, Shantelle Abbadelli, and Sir Wenceslas Jacques. The court system tries a variety of cases, from constitutional, civil, and criminal. The judges are nominated by the president or for most lower judgeships, a member of the Justice Department, and then confirmed by the legislature.

Foreign Relations

Eleutherosophia maintains positive foreign relations with most nations in the world. It is a founding member of the Pacific Rim Treaty Organization, Pacific Rim University Association, and the Pacific Rim Trade Partnership, with which it maintains strong alliances with most nations around the Pacific Rim, except for North Korea, China, and Russia. North Korea has threatened to attack Eleutherosophia with nuclear weapons but has yet to act on it. China has claimed several Eleutherosophian Islands but has yet to make a move. Russia and Eleutherosophia are on generally good terms, but there have been a few minor trade wars, normally concessions are given to Eleutherosophia.

Eleutherosophia's greatest ally has been the United States, excluding the War of Words and the support Eleutherosophia gave the US during the Spanish American Wars. Occasionally, they have been disputes, such as territorial disputes in 1989 and 2009, a trade disagreement in 2005, and a jurisdiction dispute over suspected terrorists in 2002 and a suspected murder in 1993, but otherwise, relations have been strong, including Eleutherosophian military aid in the Vietnam, Persian Gulf, and Afghanistan Wars.

Eleutherosophia provides foreign aid to many countries throughout the world, especially the surrounding South Pacific nations. Roughly fifty percent of foreign aid goes to these countries, mostly towards education. Most secondary and primary students throughout Oceania are educated by Eleutherosophian trained teachers. Otherwise, their economies are boosted by the trade and tourism that comes through Eleutherosophia, especially malpha fruit and rhodinium exports.

Economy

---

Eleutherosophia's economy is mostly buoyed by Book Publishing and Education but also receives significant contributions from Information Technology, Tourism, and local craft exports. Given that Eleutherosophia has banned access to the World Wide Web, the strength of Information Technology is very surprising.

Eleutherosophia contains the three largest book publishers in the world, Eleutherosophia National Press, Free Wisdom Press, and Islands of the Sun Press. Each Eleutherosophian university also runs its own publishing house, the largest of which is the University of Sophopolis Press.

Tourism Industry is also very strong, made up mostly of small individual hotels and tourist attractions, as well as the larger nation-run parks. Tourists also come to visit the Universities, as well as some of the stunning architectural sites, such as the Statue of Wisdom in the harbor of Sophopolis.

Information Technology is mostly buoyed by Eleutherosophian Universities, who have made groundbreaking advances in the areas of linguistics, statistics, computing, and natural language processing. The first quantum computer was designed and built at the University of Mystirio in 2019.

Eleutherosophia's local arts and crafts industry is mostly driven by universities and tourism. A large part of the market comes from amulets and magical charms produced by Eleutherosophia's magicians, who are world-renowned for their art and skill.

Template by Soleanna