Napatare

Napatare

Flag of Napatare
Motto: Long Live Caterpillars
No Map Available
Region	DEAD
Capital	Napatare City
Official Language(s)	No Dominant language, a number of regional languages spoken
Leader	Lead Council Member Nigel Krushka
Population	108,000,000
Currency	Napatare Monie
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The Nomadic Peoples of Napatare is a tropical country. Napatare has been inhabited for more than 42,000 years by the local Napatareans. Despite sporadic visits by fishermen from the north and by European explorers and merchants starting in the 17th century, Napatare was never settled by any foreign power.
On 1 January 2002, twelve tribes became a loose confederation, and the Nomadic Peoples of Napatare was formed. With confederation, Napatare has formed a liberal democratic political system based loosely on traditional tribal government. The capital city is Napatare City, located in the nations South East. The population of 108 million is primarily nomadic moving between small regional centers meeting the agricultural sectors need for a seasonal workforce.

History

Archaeological evidence suggests people have inhabited the lands of Napatare for well over 40,000 years. Despite the existence of religious texts dating back many thousands of years the earliest historical records date back only to around the first century AD.

Prehistory(40,000BC - 0AD)

The prehistory of Napatare can be considered as being the period between about 40,000BC to 0AD or the period between the first settlement of Napatare and the beginning of the historical record. Evidence suggests that the first Napatareans were a primitive stone-age, hunter-gatherer society. It is clear from ancient pottery and some scrolls that Napatare had a literate well developed culture as long ago as 500BC, although as all documents from this time are purely religious texts little is known about the culture of this time.

Matriarchal Napatare(0AD - 350AD)

The historical record appears to have begun during a period of great technological progress and social change, during this period most Napatarean tribes had strict gender roles with men and women having very specific roles, allthough men held many important leadership roles the bulk of law and government was strictly in the hands of women, hence it can be said that at this stage a broadly matriarchal society.

This period was defined by relative inter-tribal peace, widespread literacy and the development of many new technologies, including the development of more effective and longer lasting fishing nets and boats and a better understanding of the reproduction of fruit producing trees. According to Jamie FitzBarron's "Napatare: A Definitive History" the increased efficiency of food collection left ample free time for other pursuits. The period also saw a large increase in inter-tribal trade, a traditionally male pursuit.

Towards the end of this period there was a definitive shift as the most influential merchants gained increasing political power, leading into the formation of a new system of chiefdoms.

Tribal Warfare(350AD - 527AD)

The earliest historical writings tell a tale of many rival chiefdoms continuously expanding their influence. A number of small conflicts led to many decades of mistrust and the forming and dissolution of alliances until the break out of tribal war in about 150AD, it is believed war between all tribes was nearly continuous for 200 years ending in 527AD.

Great Tribal Conference and Increased Cooperation(527AD - 1950AD)

The end of war led to the famous Great Tribal Conference which laid out inter-tribal laws for the removal of trade restrictions, inter-marriage bans and the outlawing of power-hungry Big Men gaining too much influence.

The end of the war led to a period of great peace and prosperity for all the tribes of Napatare and of greater inter-tribal cooperation with many Napatare wide organisations formed. With this background many historians see the joining together of the tribes into one nation as an historical inevitability. And indeed in 2002 when the new confederate national government was formalised much of the bureaucracy was already in place.

Modern Era(1950AD - Present)

Politics

Napatare is a loose confederacy of traditional tribal units, with varying levels of governmental organisation, having come together under a central government only recently. The new national government follows traditional patterns of governance with a legislative body known as the Tribal Conference, elected by proportional representation every 5 years. Executive and judicial power are vested in a Council of Elders appointed and/or dismissed by the Tribal Conference.

As most Tribal Conference members are also heavily involved in the governance of their own local tribe the Conference meets only rarely forcing the majority of government business to be dealt with by the Council of Elders which since it's formation has been dominated by Lead Council Member Nigel Krushka. Some commentators have expressed concern at the apparent defacto concentration of power into the hands of one man although Krushka's popularity, coupled with the frequent use of referenda in controversial legislation, has prevented this becoming a major issue within the electorate.

Tribes

Geography

Flora and Fauna

Economy

Culture and Religion

Despite Napatare's linguistic diversity (at least 25 languages spoken including 12 with more than 5 million speakers) the nation is surprisingly culturally homogeneous with only one significant minority group of militant separatist Buddhist goat-herders. Until recent times the majority of people in Napatare have been traditional hunter-gatherers living on a traditional diet of fruit, yams and fish from the nations many rivers and lakes. Today the nomadic nature of the people is retained as the majority of the workforce are involved in seasonal agricultural work in orchards and on the many new fish farming operations, the modern Napatarean diet has changed little from that of their ancestors.

Although Napatare is a secular state the majority religion, followed by more than 90% of the population, has no traditional name but has been referred to by prominent anthropologist Jamie FitzBarron as "Lilacta", a local word which roughly translates as "Truth", although the word has much different connotations locally and more often refers to scientific knowledge. The religion is based around the exploits of a Napatarean Elder, Jak, and his interactions with a number of caterpillar gods, the most wise of which was All-High Kalaka. It was Kalaka who taught the Napatarean alphabet to Jak and handed down the Cardinal Truths, the specific truths vary between the various sects but usually include;

- Caterpillars are the most mighty and wise of all creatures

- Wisdom comes only with sacrifice, for their wisdom caterpillars pay the ultimate sacrifice of becoming a nauseatingly colourful butterfly

- Truth is absolute and can be discovered through observing the world

- The divinity of caterpillars is the only truth that cannot be proven

In total there are twelve Holy Books each detailing the lessons of a different caterpillar god.

It is the Mythical figures Jak and All-High Kalaka that are depicted on the Napatarean flag.