Difference between revisions of "Zwangzug"

Latest revision as of 18:01, 2 November 2007

The Rookdom of
Zwangzug

Flag of Zwangzug
National motto: We pawn n00bs
National anthem: Anthem
see below
Region	Starways Congress
Capital	Constantinople (ruins of)
Largest City	Merano
Population	2,100,000,000
Suffrage	humans 16+ that pass an intelligence test
Official Language(s)	English (de facto, includes Algebraic English))
Government Composite Minister	Liberal Democratic Socialists Ember Nickel
settlement modern establishment	approximately 512 CE 1965-67 CE
ISO Nation Code	ZZSC
Currency	check (ZZCH)
Time Zone	-6
• Summer (DST)	-5 (DST is not observed: this is used only as a guideline for international communications)
Internet TLD	.zz
Calling Code	+64
National Symbols  • Sport  • Animal  • Fruit  • Flower	none zebra none morning glory
UN Status	non-member
Info: NationStates NSEconomy Pipian NS Tracker XML

Zwangzug is a Democratic Socialist nation. The founder of Starways Congress, it was formerly in the West Pacific.

Geography

a map of Zwangzug's major cities

Physical

The predominant geographical features of Zwangzug are its mountains. The Rackham Range runs roughly north-south, and is not populated except by a few small religious groups and DU. A certain altitude is known as the "Waste Line" because of the rugged terrain: almost nothing is higher than that. The exception is the training grounds for the national football team.

To the west of these mountains, the land is much warmer, with a lush rainforest included in the World Heritage Sites & Treasures List. The nation's agriculture (rice is a major crop) is grown in this area. The current inhabitants of the rainforests are believed to be the most direct descendants of the country's first humans. While these indigenous peoples have only recently interacted with the more technological citizens, many of their youth are eager to learn English and teach their own language, which shares some etymology with Hindī-Urdū. Contrary to early fears, the rainforest denizens have not been oppressed by later settlers. The ploy of Sameep "chief Dances-with-Zebras" Trier to make such claims in an effort to convince governmental authorities to grant him a casino has been denied by tribal leaders, and only shows that they are as cunningly intellectual as any other Zwangzugian.

Most of the country's landmass, however, lies to the east of the mountains. It is significantly colder here: temperatures average around 8 degrees Celsius (47 Fahrenheit) year-round. The fairly temperate climate features considerable amounts of snow, especially in the north and closer to the mountains. Wind from the Deep Blue Lake also plays havoc with the weather of the Artificial Intelligence University.

The southern border of the nation is the Alai Mountains, to the south of which is Unkerlantum. The eastern border is the Pinaul River, across of which is Modre. "The Pin", as it's known in Unkerlantum, forks in southern Zwangzug giving rise to a shorter river that locals know as the "relative Pin", in contrast with the longer, or "absolute".

Political

Just east of the Rackham Range is Merano, the most populated city of Zwangzug. Though its residents are proud of their city, they're surprisingly apathetic when it comes to national allegiance. Merano borders its twin city of Bangkok, an altogether different sort of city. Though it rivals Merano in size, it's plagued by a seedy reputation (though it's now all but given up and joined everyone else in poking fun at it). To the west of the range is Spenson, one of the newest cities, which grew up around the national spaceport after the space program was recently restarted. Spenson is twinned with Abadia, Cafundéu and El din, Candelaria And Marquez.

Other major cities include 102d (pronounced tenn-tude: a predominantly Algebraic English area), Bassabook (predominantly Descriptive: a home to conservative social views that are radical by the national standards), and Arlington. All of these are with other cities worldwide: 102d with Sokojito Dosi, Unified Capitalizt States; Bassabook with Nordville, Brutland and Norden and Zapata, Candelaria And Marquez; and Arlington with Anyuna, Northern Bettia.

Throughout the nation are the relics of city-states conceived of as independent communities. None are more famous (or infamous) than Noh Weir, a self-proclaimed "micropolis" (current population hovering just under 300) that has been refounded several times throughout history as its original settlers vacated it.

Governmental functions are carried out in the Ziggurat, a structure farther east in the ruins of Constantinople.

Culture

The culture of Zwangzug is diverse: the nation prides itself on being intellectual, which includes respect for the humanities and arts. Information about the arts, language, religion, holidays, media, and sports can be found on the main article for the culture of Zwangzug.

Foreign Relations

Claiming uninterest in obeying others' decisions, Zwangzug refuses to join the United Nations. This list of ambassadors is given in the order they were sent.

The country's attitude towards Plutoni is one of general amusement. It is an associate member of the Communist International.

History

History is not held in a very high regard in the country: what is known is often shrouded in legend.

The most popular myth, detailed in the Ashahnemas surrounding the country's history states that shortly before the founding of Zwangzug, a despot somewhere else, for whatever reason, greatly desired inordinate amounts of rice. Peasants, fleeing at his wrath, set up organizational areas for farming. The king realized the error of his ways, and that land went on living in peace. But those who had already settled in what is now Zwangzug stayed there, effectively independent from the monarchy.

It is believed that those original settlers came from the west, settling in the rainforest. Future residents would come from the north. The land (before any concepts of a nation encompassing the area) east of the mountains would become the first place known as "Zwangzug": it provided a haven for many idealists looking to establish small utopias. Often naming their city-states in honor (or, as recent hypotheses posit, parody) of preexisting areas from their homelands, they set up independent communities. These areas would trade with each other, and sometimes grow into each other. These settlers came from many different countries at many different times, and used Descriptive English as a lingua franca. There is little evidence to suggest that any of these groups considered themselves part of the same nation: quite the opposite is much more likely.

But after The War of the Wall that Wasn't, surviving "veterans" developed a sort of national pride, and set out to unite the country. Only by the mid-1960s did the modern state emerge. While it has gone through radical changes in economic and foreign policy, the democratic tradition remains intact, and the country has remained relatively stable since then.

Government

The country is divided into administrative districts: theoretically, there are sixty-four, but the surveyors seem to have been mischievous, fuddled, or lazy. Each has limited power to set its own laws, but their main responsibility is to provide an elected representative to a lawmaking body. Anyone over the age of sixteen and with "sufficient reasoning capacity" (a relatively high standard, as the country is intellectually arrogant) is allowed to vote. National elections are held for a composite minister (currently Ember Nickel), whose function is theoretically to break ties in the Parliament.

The country's pretitle, "Rookdom", may seem odd out of context. While it does not directly refer to a specific person, general attitude believes that it represents the notion of government by the intellectual, while upholding democracy over monarchy. The first leader of the country, preceding organized elections by almost one and a half millennia, is believed to have represented this ideal: legend has it that he was a wise advisor to the tyrant whose refugees founded the country. (Other versions of the legend have it that he was the one responsible for the demand for rice in the first place.)

For more information, see the List of political parties in Zwangzug.

Economy

Recently, the Zwangzug economy has settled into a pattern of alternating two various forms of socialism. In both cases, the government provides a wide variety of resources to all citizens for "free", including utilities, education, health care, and transportation. (Though cars are banned, a vast light rail network connects many major (and plenty of minor) cities, most of which have their own subsidiary system. Foreign travel is made possible by Isolani Airlines.) All such services, of course, are made possible by extreme tax rates. Nevertheless, some elements of private enterprise are currently legal on a small scale, in keeping with the population's innate competitiveness. In the other circumstance, all industry was controlled by the government, leading to an inefficient bureaucratic morass. Every transaction must be logged electronically, depositing and withdrawing from virtual supplies of "checks", the nation's intangible currency.

The system has not met with the full approval of the population. Media outlets such as the Underground Element, a radio station actively critiquing of governmental policies, have always been popular. The Element's "Anti-Government Hour" (64 minutes) features such messages as "Capitalism doesn't kill! Well, most of the time anyhow. And certainly not more than socialism.". Ironically, a government believing in the right of free speech was forced to subsidize such messages when private enterprise was wholly illegal.

National symbols

The flag, motto, and less-than-creatively named Anthem are all holdovers from the Coriolis administration (the very beginning of existence as a united nation). The flag was described as "a pattern [someone] found lying around". The motto is uncharacteristically nationalistic and survives only because a superior alternative has not yet been found: many people who would have to take responsibility for such a project are uninterested in breaking from a tradition that's younger than they are. The anthem is, overall, the best at encapsulating the population's general sentiment. (External reports of the nation's citizens as "fiercely patriotic" has produced humor: that could only be the case when compared to, for example, life in a society such as Unkerlantum's.) Legislation establishing the zebra and morning glory as the national animal and flower (respectively) is generally seen to be some of Kajsa Halladay's most effective accomplishments.