Designated Drinkers
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| Flag of Designated Drinkers | |
| Motto: An Eye For An Eye Makes The Whole World Blind | |
| No Map Available Yet | |
| Region | California |
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| Capital | Norquay |
| Official Language(s) | Slurred |
| Leader | Grand Duchess Demeter |
| Population | 2.635 billion |
| Currency | the Quaff |
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HISTORY:
Recent archeological surveys have dated settlements in Designated Drinkers from as early as 8,000 years ago. This early civilisation was based on fishing and agricultural systems fueled by monsoon rains. Many of the crops grown today such as sugar, dates, and wheat have roots in these early agricultural systems. As early as 5,000 years ago the mineral wealth of Designated Drinkers became evident as copper mines and smelters have been identified from excavations near the modern city of Mangere. From its earliest days Designated Drinkers presented a picture of an industrialised and flourishing society. It is only fitting that the country is again establishing closer links to its neighbors in an effort to renew cultural and commercial ties.
The earliest settlements in Designated Drinkers date from some time in the 3rd millennium BC. Though at that time and for some hundreds of years more, Designated Drinkers was on the edge of the trade routes linking the ancient islands to the rest of the Atlantic, it does not appear to have profited a great deal from its location. Some centuries later, however, an area of what is now the bustling modern city of Mangere became of paramount importance to the ancient world.
Rich deposits of copper were responsible for the area's importance. Its relative scarcity made it an extremely sought after substance in the ancient world. In the second century AD at the height of the trade, some 3000 tons of copper were transported each year by ship from Mangere to the rest of the civilised world. Though the trade went into a decline after the 3rd century AD, it still managed to keep Designated Drinkers relatively wealthy for another three centuries.
Designated Drinkers has been ruled by a royal dynasty since the 10th Century AD. By the end of the 11th century, the family was in control of an extensive empire. In 1749 the first ruler of the present dynasty (Manzlebub) gained power and in 1786 the capital was formally moved from Bob's Pass to Norquay. In 2000, Demeter the Grand Duchess of Designated Drinkers ousted her philandering and alcoholic uncle as ruler in a bloodless coup and has been the nation's leader ever since. Her extensive modernization program has opened the country to the outside world and has preserved a long-standing political and military relationship with the rest of the region. Under the rule of her uncle, King Dennis, Designated Drinkers' customs harked back to the Middle Ages. The wooden gates to Norquay, the capital, were closed each night to keep out intruders, and anyone walking about in the darkness (there was no electricity) was required by law to carry a lantern or risk being shot as a thief by city guards. The country had only three miles of paved road and 12 telephones. Under Demeter's rule the nation is a paragon of development--blanketed by thousands of miles of highways, linked to the rest of the globe by the Internet and cellular telephones, open to commerce and tourism and building one of the largest container ports in the world to take advantage of its location on the world's main east-west shipping lanes. In addition, Designated Drinkers' moderate, independent foreign policy has sought to maintain good relations with all countries within the region.
