Azores Islands
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| Flag of Azores Islands | |
| Motto: "Antes morrer livres que em paz sujeitos" | |
| Region | Europe |
|---|---|
| Capital | Ponta Delgada |
| Official Language(s) | Azorean, Portuguese, Latin |
| Leader | Proconsul Arantes Barbosa |
| Population | 4 billion |
| Currency | Azorean Franc |
| NS Sunset XML | |
The República Açoreana (Azorean Republic) is an economically powerful nation, ruled by an authoritarian, meritocratic and devote regime.
Government
The Azorean Republic deviates from classical Fascism, founding its own stream of neofascism. It is a nation based on capitalist, catholic and meritocratic values.
Ruling Party: Partido Nacional-Republicano (National Republican Party), only legal political organisation and major corporation, investing in fields such as the pharmaceutical and petrochemical industries
Head of State: Proconsul Arantes Barbosa
Head of Government: Proconsul Arantes Barbosa
Executive Branch: Conselho Nacional, composed by the fifteen Rectors and the Proconsul
Legislative Branch: Senado Republicano, composed of two hundred Tribunes
Judicial Branch: Supremo Tribunal, whose Supreme Judge is appointed by the Proconsul
Administrative Divisions: Five: Ponta Delgada (Capital), Vila Franca, Mercoburg, Anglovictoria and Nova Angola
International Politics
The Azorean Republic has established itself as a paladin of justice and fairness in Europe. Defying established powers and defending the opressed, the Azores are known for their not so politically correct stances in cases where International Law is ignored.
Formal Allies: Nosterra, Gunnlandia, Kheion, Qantrix, Eiffelland, Wazistan.
International Membership: Free Market States, Pact of Steel, European Union, Organisation for a Nationalist Europe and many other minor organisations.
Close Relations: Hugoland, Twente, Medolai, Erlangen-Ansbach, Helvetic Confederation.
Economy
The Republic is based on a free-market, capitalist economy where the State assumes the role of a Police State, i.e., only intervenes indirectly, creating laws without which the market would not be able to function correctly. The Azores house some of the largest corporate groups in Europe, notably the Sociedade Faria e Castro, McBonifacius, the PNR and the Commercial Bank of Ponta Delgada. A notable characteristic of the Azorean free-market economy is the excellent public education system, which guarantees that every Azorean gets the same opportunities in life. This is the very basic principle of Azorean meritocracy.
GDP per capita: $52,000
Major Industries: Banking, Insurance, Pharmaceutics, Petrochemistry, Nuclear energy.
Major Trading Partners: Nosterra, Gunnlandia, Kheion, Qantrix, Great Brittania.
The Azorean Church
The Azorean Church is headed by His Eminence Pontifex Maximus Bonifacius XII. It is part of the Twentish Catholic Church and the Pontifex is a loyal servant of His Holiness Patriarch Nicodemus.
There are five Archdioceses in the Azores: Ponta Delgada, Vila Franca, Mercoburg, Anglovictoria and Nova Angola, each ruled by an Archbishop.
Azoreans are widely regarded as one of the most devote peoples in Europe. National church attendance ratings usually hit 70%.
History
The earliest records of human presence in the Azores date back to the 12th century BC, when the first Celtic settlers arrived from the South, probably of Gunnish origin. After a rather prosperous Iron and Bronze Age, the wonders of civilisation were brought by the Roman Republic. During the Republican and, later, Imperial rule, the Azores quickly assumed a relevant importance as a trade outpost and a beacon of civilisation in the barbaric Northern borders of the Empire. After its fall, the Azores, thanks to geographic factors, managed to remain quite isolated from the collapsing outer world, and thus maintaining most of the Roman culture and traditions.
Isolation was broken in the 8th century, when the last Roman Consul, Titus V, fell upon the might of Otto I, a Knight of Franconian origin. Immediately assuming the title of Duke of Mercoburg, the Franconian dynasty would rule for 521 years, until Duke Bonifacius VI succumbed to the peasant revolts in the farmlands, in 1234. For 400 years, the Azores would be composed of a series of city-states, struggling for domination over the outlying islands. They were, however, de facto ruled by the Northern Sea Oligarchy - a League of Merchant Guilds with an enormous political and economical influence.
In 1643, Bonifacius V, a forgotten noble from Ponta Delgada, claimed to be the heir to the Azorean Ducal throne. After a series of wars, which lasted until 1647, Bonifacius V emerged victorious, blessed by the Twentish Cardinal, and thus earning the title of "Holy Emperor of the Azores and the Northern Sea". It was during the Empire that the Azores would acquire a vast and prosperous colonial trade empire. In 1789, HE William II died with no heirs. The Church quickly managed to seize power, starting an era of cultural richness, but industrial and economical stagnation. The Papal rule would be enforced until 1885, when the Glorious Republican Revolution took place.
Although a period of prosperity, the First Republic marked nonetheless an era of political chaos and turmoil. In 1898, the Second Republic was implemented, hoping to solve many of the First Republic's flaws. In most ways, it did, aiding the Azores to surpass the early 20th century wars and depressions. In 1955, the short-lived Marxist Republic of the Azores would be proclaimed from Vila Franca, being hastily smashed by foreign intervention. The Fourth Republic would be an almost exact copy of the Second.
In 2001, Prime Minister Faria e Castro resigned from his position, handing power to his right arm: the conservative José do Canto. José do Canto cunningly used the Neoliberal majority in the Parliament to alter the Constitution, transforming the Azores in a Benevolent and Liberal Dictatorship - the Fifth Republic.
