The Authoritative Guide to the Kingdom of Tedoka
Authored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Readers are welcome to help in the Guide's improvement by sending a telegram to the government.
Kingdom of Tedoka
Regnum Tedocae
FlagCoat of Arms
Motto: Amor et pace
(Latin: Love and Peace)
Anthem: Dilectus Patria
(Latin: Beloved Country)
- Capital and Largest City:
- Tedoka
- Official language(s):
- English
- Latin
- Official religion: None
- Demonym: Tedokan
- Government: Elective Monarchy
- King: Valerius Crocetti
- Steward: Paulus Treccus
- Moderator: Lucius Làconi
- Chief Tribune: Virgee Huddleson
- Legislature
- Parliamentum
- Establishment
- Declaration of Quintillus (1796)
- Area
- Total: 55,706 km2
- % water: 12
- Population
- Total: 16,715,146
- Density: 300/km2
- GDP
- Total: $137.46 billion
- Per capita: $8,223.96
- Gini:
- 36.0 (high)
- HDI
- 0.733 (medium)
- PDAS:
- 57th percentile (C-)
- Currency:
- Gold (Ǥ) (TKG)
- National animal:
- Horse
- Date formats:
- mm-dd-yy (AD)
- Drives on the:
- right
- ISO code:
- TDKA
- Internet TLD:
- .tk
- Calling code:
- +835
- WA status:
- Member
- WA Government Category:
- New York Times Democracy
Contents
- I. Geography
II. History
- A. Pre-Quintillan Period ( -1796)
B. Quintillan Period (1796-1812)
C. First Era (1812-1941)
D. The Decimean Folly and Atlyan Interference (1941-1984)
E. Second Era (1984- )
- Ideology
V. Economy
- Income and Wealth
- A. Science and Technology
B. Transportation
C. Energy
D. Education
E. Health
VIII. Demographics
- A. Language
B. Religion
- A. Educational Attainment
B. Literature
C. Cuisine
D. Sport
E. Architecture
Tedoka is an ethnically diverse and multicultural nation, as it readily and prematurely embraced the concept of globalization by its notable policy of perpetual open borders. Of the entire population, 80% is situated in the capital, with hostile climate on the interior as the prime factor.
For many hundreds of years, nomadic natives have inhabited the southeastern portion of the Glary Desert, decendants of citizens of a long-abandoned nation in the region. On July 1796, Quintillus Carideus, a Numurian noble in self-exile, and his European crew rediscovered the old ruins of the city that would be later known as Tedoka. After convincing the natives he met, on September 16, 1796, Quintillus proclaimed the incorporation of the Kingdom of Tedoka. From establishment until well into the 20th century, Tedoka enjoyed peace with the succession of many Kings and Queens.
The Decimean Folly and the resulting Atlyan Interference (1941-1984) broke the peace and wrought much destruction to the country. Its aftermath saw the Kingdom forging a strong friendship with Atlya and disbanding the newly-formed military. Known for its emphasis on education and law enforcement, Tedoka is an economically on the rise with a renewed influx of corporations and small businesses, and increase in trade activity on its ports.
Geography
The Glary Desert in Illustria
The overseas Duchy of Mauria is a large expanse of grassland with sheer cliffs on the north side. Moor Island is a large plateau that slopes gently to lower altitudes as one goes south and east.
History
The name of "Tedoka" can be attested to Quintillus Carideus's records of the natives' oral accounts of the existence of a previous political entity known as "At Sabhar Tedokah Ilmaz" (The Sabharate of Great Tedoka) and their name for the abandoned city that later became the capital: "Riltok Tedokah" (City of Tedoka).
Pre-Quintillan Period ( -1796)
Tedokan natives settled in the current territory of Tedoka at around 563 after the claiming of the previously uninhabited area. The Sabharate of Tedoka was established at 610 by the consolidation of various Tedokan tribes led by Sabhar Antolhir at Ilmaz. The native state expanded and contracted for 800 years and had an advanced architecture and society until its abandonment. Archeologists at Illustria recently discovered large ruins in southern Illustria dated between 1188-1450s that point out to a possible secession from the Sabharate and a resulting civil war. The most widely accepted hypothesis is that the renegade state won but eventually have to be abandoned because of the worsening climate in the region, leaving only a few natives who reverted back to their nomadic way of living before the establishment of the Sabharate.
Quintillan Period (1796-1812)
Quintillus Carideus, a disinherited royal from Numuria, set out in an expedition to find his fortune, bringing with him a crew of 350 Europeans: 200 men and 150 women. They discovered the city of Tedoka on July 1796, already nearly abandoned and at the time home to around 50 nomads.
On September 16, 1796, Quintillus proclamed his Declaration, establishing the Kingdom of Tedoka, which initially just comprised the abandoned city. Despite initial suspicion between the natives and Quintillus and his crew, Quintillus's negotiation and diplomacy helped successfully integrate the natives in Tedoka. Quintillus spent the entirety of his reign setting up the Kingdom, formulating its laws, and rebuilding the city of Tedoka. Quintillus died in his sleep on January 3, 1812.
First Era (1812-1941)
Quintillus's son and successor Varius Carideus expanded the Kingdom, initially comprised only the city of Tedoka. Exploratory parties discovered the area of Mons Clavum and Illustria and claimed it in the name of the King.
Known for being situated in very harsh terrain, the Kingdom resorted to trading with various neighboring nations to gain access to needed resources and wealth.
For more than a hundred years Tedoka, ruled mostly by even-handed kings and queens, never entered war and never had an army of its own, relying solely on the mountains and the desert at its borders and the voluntary Militia for its defense. The Militia never encountered anything more violent than the occasional bandit raids and pirate attacks.
The Decimean Folly and the Atlyan Interference (1941-1984)
Ruined church after the Battle of Tedoka
Being technologically advanced at the time and having amassed money from mercantile operations, the newly-formed military crossed the Mountains of Tedoka in 1981 to initiate aggressive expansion and win land for the kingdom. Two years later, escaped dissident leader Valerius Crocetti pleaded to the Atlyan government to do something about the situation. Atlya initially declined the request, but soon changed its decision when Valerius revealed he acquired at great cost Tedokan plans to invade Celanthul, which is under the protection of Atlya. Atlyan forces launched a preemptive attack on Decimus’s forces. Within a year, they were driven back to Tedoka proper and found themselves surrounded in Tedoka City with the Atlyan army on one side, its navy on the Lonegate Sea, and the local rebels on the other side.
The Battle of Tedoka in 1984 is the last and bloodiest battle in the Atlyan Interference. Strategically located on the coast, the city’s defenses were beefed up further with various fortifications built around the city. The battle ended with the death of King Decimus and the recognition of Valerius as the future King of Tedoka. Immense damage was inflicted to most of Tedoka City after the war, priceless archeological finds and artifacts were gone forever, as well as the entire Old City.
Second Era (1984- )
The Kingdom after 1984 was focused on returning to its old ways. Valerius was formally elected King, his first act is a treaty of friendship with Atlya; the military was disbanded to the joy of many of the surviving Tedokan soldiers, and focus was pointed towards restoring peace and order.
King Valerius expanded Tedoka's territory with the Luziycan discovery of Slavia in 1996, establishing the Duchy of Mauria the following year and Lignia in 2003. Lignia's territory was diminished as Tedoka ceded most of it to the Holy Windmill Empire in 2006 with the signing of the Treaty of Silvis Superior. However, Lignia was eventually lost when Valerius finally revoked Tedoka's claim on the enclave. Lignia subsequently became a client state of Ralkovia.
Government and Politics
The Parliamentum
The Tedokan government is composed of three separate branches:
- Legislative: The Parliamentum (Parliament), makes national law, approves treaties, and has the power of vote of no-confidence, by which it can remove sitting members of the government. It is headed by the Moderator.
- Executive: The Monarch can veto legislative bills before they become law and appoints ministers (subject to Parliament approval) and other officers, who administer and enforce laws and policies.
- Judicial: The Supreme Tribunal and lower tribunals, whose judicial tribunes are appointed by the Monarch with Parliament approval, interpret laws and overturn those they find unconstitutional.
The Parliamentum currently has 100 seats, half of which is reserved to the duchies. Ducal seats are apportioned among duchies by population every tenth year. The other half is reserved to 'special' legislators, who choose at most one of the three competing economic, political, and civil 'ideologies' to be part of (Capitalist vs. Communist, Conservative vs. Liberal, Authoritarian vs. Libertarian, and Economic/Political/Civil Moderate ).
Ideologies in the Tedokan Parliament context is different from political parties as different legislators may not be allies and yet share the same ideology. The monarch is elected by instant-runoff voting, just like all other elected officials, and serves for life or until abdication with good behavior. The Supreme Tribunal, led by the Chief Tribune of Tedoka, has nine members, who serve for life. All citizens of legal age are eligible to vote in a completely voluntary basis. A voter who did not vote during an election is considered to have abstained.
Lonegate Palace in Tedoka City, the
Monarch's residence
Ideology
- Pacifism: The government cannot support or endorse violence in any form.
- Cosmopolitanism: The government and the citizenry acknowledge the differences between peoples and that they must welcome them without any gender, national, or ethnic discrimination.
- Civic duty: Citizens have the responsibility to understand and support the government, constructively criticize them, and choose the best people to govern the land.
- Opposition to factionalism
- Democracy: The government is answerable to citizens, who may change the representatives through elections.
- Equality before the law: The laws should attach no special privilege to any citizen. Government officials are subject to the law just as others are.
- Freedom of speech: The government cannot restrict through law or action the personal, non-deceptive, and non-violent speech of a citizen; a marketplace of ideas.
Foreign Relations
The Foreign Ministry of Tedoka is the office charged with state-to-state diplomacy, although the Monarch has ultimate authority over foreign policy; that policy includes defining the national interest, as well as the strategies chosen both to safeguard that and to achieve its policy goals. The current Ministress of Foreign Affairs is Fulvia Tessarus. The officially stated goal of the foreign policy of Tedoka is "to foster a peaceful and cooperative world for the benefit of the People of Tedoka and the international community."
Tedoka has traditionally and currently maintained a continuous stance of political neutrality and a commitment to maintain any military force in its history, refusing to join international blocs and regions aside from the World Assembly. Tedoka currently has official relations with over 40 countries.
Economy
The Tedokan economy employs a tightly regulated capitalist system with a number of checks and balances to curb abuse. Within the bounds prescribed by law, the private sector is granted great economic freedom in choosing economic decisions. Today, Tedoka is home to an expanding middle and upper class intelligentsia. A large public economy is also present, accounting for majority of total economic activity. The Kingdom runs a large public education and infrastructure system and gives out some subsidies to industries. It is also a shareholder in many of the local private companies, representing collective ownership of the citizenry.
Innovation and research and development has driven Tedokan economy for much of its history. The Kingdom's emphasis in education and consequently science and technology has helped bring the spark of industrialization in the 1870s and oversaw the export of ideas to other countries and improvements of existing technology that entered Tedoka.
The Kingdom is rich in mineral resources, particularly in the Mons Clavum region where substantial amounts of metals and minerals are extracted. Uranium is currently the most valuable mineral mined in the area, and fuels much of the Kingdom's nuclear plants. Port cities still remain the dominant mode of private economic activity, where vibrant exchange of goods take place.
Strong government regulation in the Tedokan economy has its roots in the 1820s, to curb widespread unscrupulous practices and fraud.
After a 1983 default, the Kingdom exercises utmost financial prudence in spending, taking debts at a minimum and emphasizes effective tax collection. Total debt owned by all Tedokan entities lies at 14% of the country's GDP.
The Tedokan government has always encouraged trade with other countries throughout its history. The borders are open to all countries who wish to trade with the Kingdom. However, the local currency, the Gold, is mostly confined with the locals. The Universal Standard Dollar (US$) is widely used in international transactions.
Tedoka is somewhat dependent on imports to gain access to many commodities is and therefore vulnerable to price fluctuations of the producers. But exports are large enough to give the Kingdom a stable trade difference. Tedokan exports amount to $11 billion and imports a total $12 billion worth of goods, resulting in a $1 billion trade deficit.
Income and Wealth
The median pretax income of Tedokan households is about $16,000 per month. This figure has been steadily climbing by 5% per 10 years, roughly equal to the decade-on-decade inflation levels. The average Tedokan household has 40 square meters of residential space in urban areas and 65 square meters in rural areas. This has more to do with space-limiting and height-restricting restrictions in place in many urban areas within the Kingdom. Ownership rates of gadgets and amenities are relatively high compared to other countries with similar household income levels, due to a relatively lower cost of commodities brought by a 9% blanket subsidy in most goods which results to larger disposable income.
Income mobility is also emphasized in the Kingdom, especially of the kind that puts households out of the poverty line. The bottom quintile of the population is given employment opportunities in the government and given free education to increase their likelihood of moving to a higher income group.
Infrastructure
Science and Technology
Tedoka has been a leader in scientific research and technological innovation since the late 19th century. Developing notable inventions such as electric motors, light bulbs, and automobiles independently, and improved many others that arrived in the Kingdom.
Transportation
Personal transportation is dominated by mass transit, with an extensive rail network. Trains and buses are the predominant mode of mass transit. Rail transportation is mostly freight-based due to population concentration in the capital. Light rail development in the cities is abundant, however.
The airline industry is composed of two competing airlines, the private but government-commissioned Tedokan Airlines and Vertical Airlines.
Energy
At least 70% of electricity production in Tedoka comes from nuclear plants, 20% from solar, and the rest from coal, natural gas, and other renewables. Nuclear power production has surged with the discovery of local uranium deposits in 1998. Today, the Kingdom seeks to reduce fission power dependence and has started plans to increase the share of renewable energy with the development of sandstorm-proof wind turbines, construction of more solar plants in Illustria, and conducting research on fusion power.
Education
Tedokan public education is operated by ducal and royal governments, regulated by the Ministry of Education. Children are expected to attain 15 years of education in Tedoka. About 20% of children are enrolled in parochial or nonsectarian private schools. Just over 2% of children are homeschooled.
Tedoka has many competitive private and public institutions of higher education. There are also local community colleges with generally more open admission policies, shorter academic programs, and lower tuition. Of Tedokans twenty-five and older, 93% graduated from high school, 84% attended some college, 62% earned a bachelor's degree, and 21% earned graduate degrees. The basic literacy rate is more than 99%. Tedoka has an Education Index of 0.96.
Health
The life expectancy of an average Tedokan is 63 years at birth. Cancer is the leading illness-related cause of death in the country. Infant mortality rate lies at 4.3 per 1,000 places.
The Tedokan government spends approximately 7% of GDP on healthcare. Health care coverage in Tedoka is a combination of public and private efforts, and is not universal as in all other developed countries. However, a nationwide medical insurance system is in place.
Crime and Law Enforcement
Civil Guards
Violent and property crimes are mostly unknown in Tedoka despite widespread weapon ownership (mainly melee). Incarceration rates are very low, mostly confined to arrests on possession of prohibited objects. Imposing heavy fines in petty rule infractions is favored in the Kingdom.
Capital punishment has never included as a form of punishment outside of war crimes and espionage.
Demographics
The estimated population of Tedoka is 16 million with a positive growth, driven by expatriates seeking residency in the country. Tedoka's open borders policy given the country a very diverse population. European Latins, the ethnic group of Quintillus Carideus's exploration party, remains the largest racial group. Other Europeans constitute 20% of the population. The Tedokan natives are the nation's largest racial minority at 3 million. The Slavian natives in Mauria and Lignia is the other major group of natives, but their combined population is 30,000.
The decrease of the Europeans' share in the population is the major demographic trend throughout Tedoka's history. It has been steadily and consistently declining from 88% in 1796 to about 40% today.
About 82% of Tedokans live in urban areas (including suburbs); almost all of those reside in Tedoka City.
Language
Initially, Latin is the only official language in the Kingdom. It is also the most used with the Tedokan language at a close second. The prevalence of English around the world at the end of the 19th century saw the kingdom overhauling its educational system by proclaiming English as a new official language and encouraging it to be taught in schools. English gained wide acceptance among the populace, although Latin is still more likely to be spoken as a first language at home. The Italian language gained a presence within the Kingdom with the influx of immigrants from the European realms.
Religion
Religion in Tedoka is characterized by both a wide diversity in religious beliefs and practices, and by a high adherence level. Many faiths have flourished in the Kingdom, including both later imports spanning the country's multicultural heritage; these have led Tedoka to be a religiously diverse country The majority of Tedokans (73%) identify themselves as Christians, roughly equally divided to Catholics and Protestants. Islam, the largest non-Christian religion, comprise 12% of the population. Other religions make up around 8% of the population. The remaining 7% is identified as having no religious affiliation, though they are not necessarily atheists.
Religion is very important to the people of Tedoka. 89% of those who are affiliated to any religion say that their faith helps them lead good lives free of vice and violence, which can be a factor on the absence of crime in the nation.
Even though the Tedokan society is divided religiously among ethnic lines, religious tolerance is a widely respected right. The Kingdom has no officially-endorsed religion.
Culture
Tedoka is a multicultural nation, home to a wide variety of ethnic groups, traditions, and values. Aside from the small native populations, nearly all Tedokans or their ancestors immigrated within the past five centuries. Mainstream Tedokan culture is a mix of European and native Tedokan culture largely derived from the intermingling of the first immigrants of Tedoka and the natives. The small, but steady influx of people from other countries makes a cultural mix that has been described as both a homogenizing melting pot, and a heterogeneous salad bowl in which immigrants and their descendants retain distinctive cultural characteristics.
Educational Attainment
Education is the prime driver of Tedokan culture, which values meritocracy. The state provides the greatest allotment in its budget for the advancement of education, research, and science. The Tedokan people see literacy and finishing university as a rite of passage, where failure to do so would virtually make the person unable to advance in society. Government posts require college education on the position's related field. The quality of college degrees are often determinant towards attaining positions of power.
Literature
Poetry, orations, and epics are the focus of Tedokan literature, where the various elements and inflections of the language are utilized to the greatest effect. Perhaps the most renowned of Tedokan poets is Horatia Agresta, considered by some to have skill in oration and poesy equal to that of Cicero.
Historical writings written by Tedokan authors figure prominently throughout the world. Aureliana Riva's Historia Tedocae and Sabaharides set the standards on how Latin historical commentaries should be written.
Cuisine
Tedokan cuisine is diverse, owing to the interaction with many other people in trading. Dishes mainly involve seafood caught off the coast, date palms and other ingredients from the desert, or meat from the forest east of Tedoka City and brought from the nomads. Other dishes that involve vegetables, fruits and rice are also present but are less common. Tedokans tend to eat light and healthy foods to build their resistances to weather elements.
Sport
Fencing is popular among Tedokan people, who consider fighting with melee weapons "a most dignified and civilized way of solving conflicts if diplomacy is no longer an option, not to mention good looking". The Gilda Gladiatores (Gladiators Guild) is the foremost authority in melee combat, producing Tedoka's finest athletes. Every year the Gladiators League is held in the Arena, where fencers fight using any kind and combination of arms and armor of their choice ranging from cane-swords to katanas to double-swords.
Architecture
Tedokans generally make buildings with the brick-based architecture of the already built ones. One can determine the age of a district in the city of Tedoka by knowing its architectural type, where laws are present to preserve existing architecture by building new ones according to the style of the older buildings. Tedoka City's buildings exhibit much of the native architecture present in the pre-Quintillan buildings that once stood.
Houses and buildings in recently established cities tend to follow a post-modern architectural direction, with glass and steel as its primary materials.