Your Nation's Fact of the Week

[Zhouran]

Fighter jets from the Zhouranese People's Army Air Force are known to routinely intercept (and even defeat) Naval Aviation fighters in unexpected mock dogfights, even despite ZPAAF Central Aviation Command trying to put an end to the harassment due to numerous complaints from the Navy.

For the Navy, they feel that there is a strong bias towards the Air Force in terms of providing aerospace resources and as such they argue that the Air Force receives the latest and most-advanced fighter jets while Naval Aviation only receives sophisticated fighter jets later on. For the Air Force on the other hand, they feel that the Navy has the unfair privilege of providing power projection through not only naval means but even aviation means as well, and that the Navy should "stick to maritime duties only". Although ZPAAF and ZPAN both have highly-talented highly-skilled fighter pilots with both services producing supersonic fighter-jet ace pilots, at the same time however the Navy believes that ZPAAF aces receive more attention than Naval Aviation aces simply because ZPAAF is fully-dedicated to aviation roles, has more pilots in general than Naval Aviation, and has the resources to focus solely on aviation-related duties, as well as the fact that ZPAAF aces tend to score higher on average than Naval Aviation aces.

[Voxija]

Voxi is the name of our language, not Voxijan. The Voxi Wikipedia is the fourth largest Wikipedia, with 2.2 million articles, after the Swedish Wikipedia and ahead of the German Wikipedia. These articles aren't made by bots, and Voxi Wikipedia has a very dedicated community that makes articles about every Voxijan thing.

[New Juan Carlos Land]

New Juan Carlos Land has its own spider called. The Red New Juan Carlos Lander Spider, it is notable for being the spider that could kill 2 mosquitos and is the sixth most venous spider, the reason they kill 2 mosquitos is that so they will live longer

[Aikoland]

More than a quarter of the population of Aikoland lives in the Ville d'Aiko urban area.

[Zhouran]

The Spiritual Mandate (indigenous religion of the Kangyuli people created somewhere in 3,270 BC) has always been a secular religion from the very beginning. Characterized by features of shamanism, animism, totemism, polytheism and ancestor worship, the Spiritual Mandate differs from other religions such as Christianity due to the fact that all religious activities would be organized and carried out on local levels by members of a local community who also have secular full-time social functions and positions. There are no class of priests/priestesses who work as full-time religious leaders, instead the spiritual chieftains (priests and priestesses) work part-time and take care of different religious tasks alongside their secular non-religious occupation. Apart from the spiritual chieftains there are part-time volunteers called spiritual servants who are responsible for assisting the spiritual chieftains and attending to supporting tasks. As a result, religious authority has always been harnessed to local secular authority while the religion itself is organized along decentralized autonomous lines by local communities with the spiritual chieftains and spiritual servants themselves being members of their local communities. Due to its secular nature, the Spiritual Mandate is interpreted metaphorically & figuratively rather than literally & verbatim while religious activities are purely cultural & psychological practices. Within the pantheon of the Spiritual Mandate, the deities themselves are not only abstractions, ideas and concepts, but also people in a metaphorical sense, with various tales serving as allegories & analogies.

While practitioners of the Spiritual Mandate can revere the deities of the pantheon as real or supernatural beings, other practitioners can instead embrace the interpretations of the deities in a more-humanistic approach. In general, the worldview within the Spiritual Mandate is interpreted and embraced through a philosophical & poetic perspective. Because of its secular and humanistic approaches, esoteric and mythological subjects within the Spiritual Mandate can be handled in a scientific & appreciative manner.

Although a religion, the Spiritual Mandate does not obstruct science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and instead promotes them. Due to Zhouran's nomadic origins and several-millennia long history of golden ages characterized by scientific growth and dark violent ages characterized by violent conflicts, both craftsmanship and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are considered to be extremely-important in the growth of the Zhouranese Kangyuli civilization. Science, technology, engineering and mathematics in Zhouran strongly play an important role in Zhouranese culture, society and identity, having a long history in Zhouran since ancient times and producing numerous significant developments and discoveries in various scientific disciplines. The Zhouranese strongly focus on various fields of science and technology such as physics, mathematics, engineering, chemistry, biology, medical science, astronomy, aeronautics, astronautics, geology, military science, and geography, as well as other disciplines such as mechanical engineering, aerospace, shipbuilding, civil engineering, agronomy, physiology, theoretical nuclear physics, electrical engineering, computer engineering, nuclear technology, military technology, software engineering, mechanics, weapons engineering, mechatronic engineering, communications engineering, photonics, electronic engineering, computer science, materials science and engineering, information systems, information technology, chemical engineering, space engineering, telecommunications, and electro-optics. With science, engineering and mathematics strongly emphasized academically, the Zhouranese produce important researches, developments and contributions to numerous disciplines.

[Pernacyvokya]

There is a Small Political Party In Peridicm Known as the Pernacyvokyan Conservative-Nationalist Party, which are known to be one of the Most Corrupt Organisations in Pernacyvokyan History. They Have Undermined Pernocian Democracy Twice by Successfully Rigging Elections through Previous Loopholes in the Law. 3 Major Attempts have Been Made So Far: 1916, 1962, and a Failed Attempt in 2017. Their Party Did Physically "Win" the Election For the First 2 times in 1916 and 1962.

The Election in 1916 actually Caused a Short but Bloody Millitary Coup to Happen, which is Ironic since WWI Also was Underway in 1916 and The Pernacyvokyan Was Also fighting the Imperial Germans (Which were Attempting to Colonise Western Parts of Pernacyvokya).

The Next Election in 1962 Caused a Large Recession of the Average Sized Economy that had been Steadily Growing Since the End of WWI. This, Again Caused More Civil Unrest... Thankfully The President in Charge Was Arrested Properly in 1964 after The Juditionary Legislative (Higher Parliament) Passed a Law Preventing any Such Rigging Of Elections Again. The Economy Managed to Grow Back to It's Original Position By 1968. However, in 2017...

After a Previous Candidate Running the ARUSU (Largest Political Party In Peridicm) Had Left because his 2 Terms Allowed Had been Used, An Internal Election for a New Presidential Candidate had Begun inside the Party. However, Unknown to the Party, there Was a PCNP "Spy" of sorts running for the Candidate Position, Him, along with the Party Attempted to Rig the Elections inside that Party, however, they Failed as they Only came 2nd to the (Now) Current President Running in office. The Candidate as well as Party Members Involved Were Swiftly Detained.

The Only Reasoning Behind the PCNP Existing nowadays is Because of the Constitution Protecting Political Freedom and Expression. They Are Also One of only 5 Parties in Pernacyvokyan History that Are Mainly alligned Towards the Right-Wing, and have had Seats in Parliament The Only Other Party Running Currently That is Right Wing and has Seats in Parliament is the (Smaller) Republicanist Party.

[Gandoor]

The best-selling computer in Gandoorese history is the GNE Master II. The GNE Master II was developed and manufactured by Genki Electronics and was released in early 1984 in the Democratic Republic for an introductory price of 399.99 GDY (equivalent to 763.73 GDY/US$1463.13 in 2025). The system featured a Zilog Z80 CPU clocked at 3.8 MHz and featured 64 KB of RAM, which was expandable to 256 KB.

By the time Genki Electronics discontinued the GNE Master II in 1992, it had sold 6.2 million units nationwide and it continues to be a popular system with enthusiasts, who continue to produce homebrew software to this day, with over 30 new programs released for it in 2024 alone.

In addition, due to the continued popularity of the computer, Genki Electronics has sold an official clone of the system known as the GNE Master II Returns since 2019. Retailing for 39.95 GDY, the GNE Master II Returns is a replica of the original 1980s system that is nigh identical in size and shape to the original 1980s computer (only featuring a micro-SD card slot, an HDMI port, a USB-C port for the power cable, and three USB-A ports for controllers) and includes a replica of the Challenge Master Joypad controller. The GNE Master II Returns utilizes emulation to recreate the original system's software. It comes preloaded with 52 games, but also features the ability to add new games and software via micro-SD card or USB flash drive, with Genki Electronics claiming 99.9% compatibility with all GNE Master II programs.

As of December 2024, over 2.1 million GNE Master II Returns have been sold, demonstrating the continued popularity of the GNE Master II over 40 years since release.

[The Cosmic Mainframe]

Might as well post here all of the facts I use on the F7 thread.

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About 10% of the Mainframe's sentient population consists of artificial intelligence. The vast majority of these artificial intelligence have no mobility of their own, and are effectively prisoners within their own computer towers, instead interacting with the real world through multiple drones and other remotely controlled devices, and occasionally manifesting in virtual reality. There are also androids and uploaded consciousnesses, but because they are far more costly to produce than basic computers, there are only a few hundred thousand of each in comparison to the trillions of other AI.

---

It's actually a somewhat common problem in the Cosmic Mainframe to become trapped in a simulation. The Mental Enhancement Units most of the population uses allow them to enter a virtual world, and they sometimes malfunction and make it impossible to exit the virtual world. For example, if the MEU believes that the body is completely paralyzed, it automatically places the person's consciousness in virtual reality to reduce the adverse effects locked-in syndrome can have on the mind, but this failsafe can be triggered by a malfunction in the brain-computer interface. Another issue may be that the system for "waking up" from virtual reality is failing due to a misconfiguration. Thankfully, the MEU can usually be repaired within hours, preventing someone from staying in the virtual world for too long. Sometimes, however, a severe malfunction can cause one to become trapped in virtual reality for days, months, or, in one case, 281 years. People who are trapped for this long tend to develop delusions that the physical world is a simulation within the virtual world, and they often confuse physical and virtual reality.

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The Cosmic Mainframe has assimilated several primitive planets with no understanding of technology. It has been found to be more efficient to ease people in to the idea of becoming processing power for a computer the size of a quarter of a galaxy, rather than explaining all of it at once, so usually the Mainframe poses as a god to these societies, using religion and "magic" to bring their population into submission. Pieces of technology are disguised as religious artifacts; brain implants are usually installed along with religious adornments; telescopes are monuments to the gods. Afterwards, the population is introduced to how the "magic" actually works. This is a gradual process, so as not to disturb loyalty to the Mainframe, but not too gradual either, as efficiency is very important to the Mainframe.

---

The Mental Enhancement Units given to organic life under the Cosmic Mainframe use the brain to contribute to computational tasks like calculating high prime numbers or running simulations. The majority of intelligent beings carry one, and on most planets it is either mandatory or it requires a very high Efficiency Score (similar to a Chinese social credit score) to avoid getting one. People using these devices often report having very strange dreams at night, usually involving fixations on specific numbers, and during the day they have unusual logical and mathematical skill.

[Keltegistan]

Back in 2005, Kelteg authorities launched a raid on one of oil tycoon Oraq Šagalbayev's mansions in Western Keltegistan, on the Caspian Sea coast. Aside from around a million dollars' worth of laundered money and more than a few black market weapons, the authorities found a secret room in Šagalbayev's basement filled with his secret collection of Flamin' Hot Cheetos memorabilia, including several of the first known Flamin' Hot Cheetos ever produced. To make the story even more strange, authorities found a secret door in that room leading to another, smaller room holding a total of 62 waifu body pillows, the largest collection outside of Japan.

[Gylthas]

What the Russians call "Guard" units (i.e. elite units), the Gylthan Armed Forces call "Auxiliary Guard".

[Frisia Magna]

In addition to their guard force, levies and knights errant, most landlords in Frisia also have their own retinue. The largest of these retinues belongs to the Duke of Holland who also happens to be the richest.

[Voxija]

NationStates in Voxija's universe exists, but it is slightly different from the NationStates you love. The most important difference is that the World Assembly is called the United Nations. That is because when the UN was formed, a Voxijan delegate suggested changing the name to the World Assembly, because "United Nations" was too much like the failed League of Nations. Thus were the two names switched. Of course, in Voxija's universe, the NS nation Voxija was one that joined in antiquity and CTE'd after about a year, but a nation called Grand Voxija became Delegate of One Big Island.

[An Islamic World]

All non-Muslims in our nation are given two choices: convert to Islam or execution.

We used to allow them to leave our nation but this choice was removed when we came to the realization that, if we're going to conquer and Islamize the entire world, they'd have to make the choice to convert or die eventually.

[Alfbading Levant]

The City of Medina is the only place in the world that has any Muslims in it. The reason for this is that after Muhammad kicked the bucket, Ali was elected his successor and his god-tier statesmanship threw the Caliphate into seventeen civil wars during his 5 years-long reign, at the end of which the Islamic Caliphate was shattered and the rest of Arabia reverted to Paganism. The majority of Arabs now adhere to the Solarian or Mazdaian faiths, with a small minority worshiping their native gods (and 115 people worshiping Allah alone)

[Diarcesia]

Even though Diarcesia is represented in the gaming industry, it's not as popular as people thought it might be.

[Zhouran]

Since the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Zhouranese People's Army has military forces deployed overseas in more than 150 countries around the world. Apart from deploying military attachés and providing security for every Zhouranese embassies and consulates worldwide, the highly-experienced battle-hardened ZPA also conducts various military expeditionary operations abroad and overseas military-operations-other-than-war (MOOTW) every year. As of 2020, around 172,400 active personnel and 115,800 reserve personnel are stationed outside Zhouran with around 50,000 or so being assigned to classified missions, clandestine activities and covert operations in overseas locations the Zhouranese government refuses to disclose. The ZPA is a large operator of military bases abroad, with around 36 overseas bases having active and reserve personnel stationed there. Zhouranese overseas military bases are found in Southeast Asia, Latin America, Middle East, Africa and Southern & Eastern Europe, with Southeast Asia and Latin America having the highest concentration of Zhouranese troops. Thanks to its advanced and sophisticated equipment, as well as its massive blue-water navy and significant aviation capability, Zhouran has significant force projection capabilities. This element is very crucial to the nation's power, diplomatic credibility and national interests.

Numerically large and technologically advanced, the Zhouranese People's Army is highly-experienced and battle-hardened, conducting various military expeditionary operations abroad and overseas military-operations-other-than-war (MOOTW) every year. The ZPA's numerous assortment of powerful highly-advanced weapons and cutting-edge technology along with its highly-significant capabilities in both defense and power projection due to a large military budget as well as constant overseas deployment of troops has resulted in a large well-armed battle-experienced military force fully-capable of widespread deployment of force and firepower around the world.

[Republica Federal de Catalunya]

Our country received 468 Us$ million as Marshall plan aid (232 in 48/49 166 in 49/50 and 70 in 50/51 total 468) to recover from ww2 and the Civil war 1944-1947.
Anyway our country had recovered it's prewar industrial and agricole production by 1948's end but not it didn't recover it's prewar exports and employment levels untill 1951. That was key for the defeat of Communist Party PSUC at 1949 general election. They had 33% of seats and 30% of votes in 1947 and only 15% of seats and 17% of vote at 1949.
The postwar boom called the golden years that lasted untill the oil crash in 1973.

[S-Hertogenbosch]

Die vij. Martii 1627, in die festo S. Thomae Aquinatis

We would like to let you know that one of the little-known facts about 's-Hertogenbosch is, that Count Floris V of Holland was knighted in the cathedral church in the year 1277, by Duke Jan I of Brabant. This is recounted by Melis Stoke in his "Hollandsche rijmkroniek" (Holland's Rhyme Chronicle):

Middle Dutch

English translation

Op een stont wert die Here Te Rade doe in enen kere Dat hi Ridders name ontfinc, Ten Bussce gheschiede dese dinc, Met bliscepen ende met eren, Als men schreef die jaere ons Heren Twaelfhondert 't' seventich ende sevene Ontfinc die Here in jonghen levene T s Hertogenbussce Ridders name Na derthien daghe als 't hem betaemde Tener tornoy daer die Hertoghe Jan was, die Prince hooghe...

At that hour, his Lordship Did what he thought was right When he accepted the name of knight In 's-Hertogenbosch this thing happened: With gladness and with honour, When they wrote "the year of the Lord Twelve hundred and seventy-seven" His Lordship accepted in his young life In 's-Hertogenbosch the name of knight After thirteen days as he was wont At a tournament where the Duke Jan was, the high Prince...

It is rather unfortunate that not many people know this story. It shows the connection between the Catholic Duchy of Brabant and the (at the present day unfortunately Protestant) County of Holland.

Kind regards,
Joannes Hermans
Decanus Ecclesiae Cathedralis Sylvaeducensis

[Ostsee Empire]

Those who oppose government aid (in welfare, healthcare, etc.) are forced to pay more in taxes, but are exempt from government services.

[Fen]

Despite Fen being in Europe, the nation is Buddhist.

[Wochaystein]

Wochaytein is currently embroiled in what appears to be a massive corruption scandal surrounding the appointment of a local politician as Attorney General.

[Zhouran]

Since the 1970s, the Zhouranese People's Army generally conducts long-range ballistic missile exercises in which ICBMs such as the already-decommissioned Xing Jian-1 silo-launched two-stage liquid-propellant ICBM, the highly-powerful Xing Jian-5 silo-launched two-stage liquid-propellant heavy ICBM, the threat-survivable Hong Jian-1 three-stage solid-propellant road-mobile ICBM, the strategically-robust Yue Jian-4 three-stage solid-propellant road-mobile ICBM, the doomsday-apocalyptic Leiting Jian-3-100 silo-launched two-stage liquid-propellant superheavy ICBM, the sophisticated Hong Jian-1-100 three-stage solid-propellant road-mobile ICBM, and the highly-lethal Yue Jian-9 three-stage solid-propellant road-mobile ICBM, as well as IRBMs such as the Fengbao Jian-3 three-stage solid-propellant road-mobile IRBM and Type 10 three-stage solid-propellant road-mobile IRBM, are fired from the Zhouranese archipelago or overseas territories towards the open ocean of the Southeastern Pacific several thousand-kilometers away. Missiles would be armed with dummy warheads that would be later recovered by the ZPA Navy in the ocean. During these exercises, the ZPA Navy deploys a combat naval group of various warships & support ships in order to recover dummy warheads from an open-ocean impact-zone as well as monitor & observe the exercise and collect missile-instrumentation & telemetry data. Apart from the regular long-range ballistic missile exercises, the ZPA also conducts special exercises as responses to various foreign military actions such as North Korea's ballistic missile program or the United States' anti-ballistic missile program.

[Waisnor]

There is a team called "Atom" that is playing Waisnor Major League (football). Interesting about this team is it's sponsor - CW. The thing is that colors of team (dark blue and red) and it's name perfectly match one of the heroes of "Legends of Tomorrow", Ray Palmer/The Atom. So, in 2016, when "Legends" started broadcasting, CW concluded a sponsorship agreement with "Atom". Support has paid off - in 2016/17 season team won their 2nd Cup, and in 2017/18 season "Atom" won WML trophy for the first time ever. Also sometimes the team captain, Mikhail Skvortsov, watches "Legends of Tomorrow" and annual CW crossovers.

[Silver Commonwealth]

Ministry of Education

Fact time!

''If compared to most of the other industries, gaming industry in SC is still relatively not nationalized, and a lot of the game developers are private groups. In comparison, the AAA game model hasn't really taken off, and a significant portion of the games would still be classified as ''indie''. However, the reason why game industry has been left alone from extensive nationalization is more because the old generation and bureaucrats still don't fully understand the potential of the gaming industry (And a lot of government organizations or branches are still using older versions of the Temple OS, provided by extended support package by OS provider), despite the fact, that videos about gaming reach a lot of views in SC's internet (For SC's standards), and a some form of streaming sites have already started to appear, along with gamer conventions. Once the private gaming companies start growing bigger and start earning more money, it is likely that the government would intervene with collectivization in full force, and take control of most of the gaming industry. In fact, gaming industry isn't like full wild west either - SCPS is already monitoring developer published games for possible ''anti-patriotic'' content, and there have been cases of SC's Communication Ministries shutting down some of those games. It is also rumored, that SC's state internet provider have consultants from younger generation too, which monitor the internet in an attempt to understand, what are the interests of the younger generation, and how it could possibly be channeled in raising the support for SC's governments. (However, according to unconfirmed info, the younger generation consultants have advised to not be ''too political'' and don't clamp down too much, unless really needed, in order to not turn away them''. That might be also one of the reasons why SC's governments haven't started cracking down or controlling the gaming industry much, for now. In case of government nationalization, it is likely that they would pay the developer or their team (mostly indie) for ordered games, but in lack of private market, government orders or public organization orders would be one of the few ways of how developer could earn money. (A bit inspiration from this thread).''

''(The favorite type of games in SC are things like Real Time Strategy (Rise of Nations, Hearts of Iron IV), first person shooters, flash games, or games such as minesweeper, or solitare. For SC's Rise of Nations, however, there are either weekly or monthly scenarios - developers add a new scenario, and the person who beats it the fastest will earn a place in ''world record'' table. In case if level has a time limit, the badge will be earned by player who manages to complete the scenario with either the most points, or least casualties. One of the most popular scenarios is ''Surprise Attack'' preset (Defense scenario). In those levels, you usually defend a small town in the middle of harsh terrain (Desert, tundra, etc), but the town is rich with rare resources like oil or uranium. However, there are bandits which desire the resources, and you have to hold off their attacks for a set amount of time. Although raiders attack in less waves than in IRL counterpart, their attacks also aren't as disorganized, and are more numerous. So, if the player doesn't invest enough in their military units, they might get overrun early on, or in the last, biggest wave. Post apocalypse or corporate capitalist dystopias are an another popular theme in SC's gaming too.'')

[Voxija]

Armchair historians often think they can compare Voxija to Japan, because they are both islands with cycles in their history. This is actually a valid academic theory, except these armchair historians think they can predict Voxija's future based on Japan's past. Eh, no.