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OOC: This factbook is currently incomplete and undergoing major reconstruction. Please forgive me for its terrible appearance.
The Soodean Imperium
Flag
Motto: Strength in Unity, Faith in Authority
Anthem: Our Homeland's Mountains and Rivers
Map
Population: 2,420,381,094 (December 2014 Census)
-Density:
Capital: Su'Cheng
Largest City: Sunglai (pop. 20,297,805)
Official Language: Su'komun
Other National Languages: Russian, Turkish, Japanese
Demonym: Soodean
Government
- Emperor: Su Dou
- Vice Emperor: Wan Feng
- Director of Diplomacy: Wen Hong
- Politburo Chairman: Grigory Poshulkin
Legislature:
- Upper House: National Bureaucracy
-Lower House: Politburo
Establishment: from Democratic People's Republic of Menghe
Independence: 21 December 1987
Government Formed: 5 March 1988
Military:
Active: ~7 million
Reserves: ~17 million
Land Area: mile²
km²
Water Area: km²
Water %:
Elevation
Highest Point: 4,523 meters (Tai Shuan)
Lowest Point: 0m (coastline)
GDP (nominal): $35.536 trillion (2014 USD)
GDP (PPP) per capita: $14,682 (2014 USD)
Human Development Index: .682
Currency: Ching (Ч)
Time Zone: UTC +8
Drives on the: Right
OOC: If you want to see how this factbook should look, go to the later pages; the earlier ones are desperately in need of revision.
Overview:
Geography:
The Imperium is located on the southeastern portion of the continent of Tethys, located in the eastern portion of Panelysium. It borders four other countries on land: Firmador, Maverica, [unknown?], and New Mombasa 8. It also shares a "maritime border" with the Imazunese Federation (Oaledonia). The climate is generally temperate, though it grows progressively more arid toward the north and west, and the country is crossed by several mountain ranges in the east and south.
Government:
The Soodean Imperium is currently led by a transitional Military-Civilian administration. Original plans held that the military, having seized power in the 1987 coup, would gradually relinquish power to a civilian government, but concerns about external threats and demands for improved national self-defense have reinforced and in some ways expanded the military's hold on power since 2005. The resulting State is highly authoritarian and centralized, with most political power resting in the hands of the current Emperor, Su Dou. Even so, it remains openly meritocratic, with promotion based on administrative skill and leadership ability and relatively low levels of corruption. Popular approval of the Soodean regime is remarkably high, though recent years have seen the emergence of several libertarian-aligned dissident groups.
Technically speaking, one of the Soodean Imperium's defining features is a State Socialist economy. The political leadership exercises a great degree of control over the economy, and all productive enterprises above a certain size are administered by the State. Even so, the Imperium rarely applies this reasoning to its alignment in foreign policy, or at least does not do so to the same extent as the preceding DPR-Menghe regime. That is to say, while the Soodean government has taken some drastic measures to restrain the influences of corporate globalization on its own soil, it does not see itself as a vanguard of the revolutionary proletariat around the world.
Economy and Development:
The Soodean Imperium is best described as a second-world economy, in between poverty and prosperity. Public goods such as medical care, education, and physical infrastructure are all surprisingly advanced, basic needs like food and housing are sold at low prices by the State, and income equality is fairly high. The consumer-goods sector, however, is very small, and luxury goods ranging from televisions to cars are hard to come by. Soodeans are largely content with their quality of life, as the national culture encourages people to shun frivolous materialism in favor of simplicity and social interaction.
Military:
As in its economics, the Soodean Imperium is a "second-world" military power; while lacking the resources to field large numbers of drones, 5th-gen stealth aircraft, and EMP blasts, it is not so poor that it has to rely on second-rate tanks and re-purposed pickup trucks. The Soodean Military is a largely defensive force; its planners have recognized that in their highly militarized international context, the Soodean Imperium is unable to project force on a unilateral basis. The presence of this highly militarized context, however, has led many in the militarist "Hawk Faction" to grow fearful about the risk of an attack and order substantial expansions of the country's military capabilities.
The last ten years have seen a major effort to qualitatively and quantitatively improve the Soodean military, with major shipbuilding programs, a new MBT family, and a substantial revision of military doctrine. Curiously, as per a constitutional mandate introduced in 1992, the Soodean Imperium has surrendered its nuclear arsenal; the question of whether to revive the national nuclear arms programme is a matter of great contention between military and civilian officials.
History:
It is generally agreed that the history of today's Soodean Imperium began around 180 BCE, when Han Chinese settlers arrived on the coast and began setting up independent villages. Prior to that point, the area had been occupied by wandering tribes of Caucasians, whose descendants make up a majority in several outlying Soodean provinces. For most of early history, today's Soodean land was occupied primarily by the "Three Civilizations:" Esfahad to the west, Regia in the center, and Donghua to the east.
By the end of the 19th century, Esfahad had faded, Regia had collapsed, and Donghua was slipping into a period of decline. Desperate to avoid annexation by encroaching border powers, the surviving administrations unified into the Greater Menghe Republic, by land area the largest country on the continent of Tethys. Emboldened by its success in reconstruction and modernization, Menghe began to act out on more aggressive motives, hoping to extend its benevolent authoritarian rule to more people. This led to its defeat in the Great Conquest and the installation of an Occupation regime.
In 1964, acting in response to the horrific crimes of the Occupation, a major Socialist revolution flared up. Acting with Soviet support, the rebels managed to seize control of the country by 1967, quickly routing the despised Occupation. In its place, they founded the Democratic People's Republic of Menghe, which restored the country's military capability and supported Socialist movements across the local region. By the early '80s, however, the DPRM had entered a distinct period of decline, plagued by corruption and inequality. This set in action a series of events that developed into the 1987 Decembrist Revolution, which tore down the corrupt regime and installed today's Soodean government.
Table of Contents:
(OOC: Links will be added later)
- Government and Politics
- Military
- History