Nolophon Caletica
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| State Motto | |||||
| • Ingliz | |||||
| State Anthem | none | ||||
| • Ingliz | {{{nation_anthem_ingliz}}} | ||||
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| Official language | West Heloan | ||||
| Founding Date | 2068 | ||||
| Government • Type • Major General |
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| Capital | Astanthos | ||||
| Administrative Divisions | 361 cities, towns, districts, and associations | ||||
| Largest City | Thescancium | ||||
| Area • Total • % water |
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| Population • Total • Growth Rate • Density |
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| GDP • Total • GDP/capita • Growth Rate |
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| Currency |
Ette (e) | ||||
| Time Zones | Miotan Standard Time (AMT -3) | ||||
| Trigraph | NCA | ||||
| Calling Code | +77 | ||||
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This nation is a Non-player country (NPC), the article is played by nobody in particular but it is open to people to add information. |
Nolophon Caletica is a Minarchy located in west-central Miotus.
Contents |
History
Heloan history is a succession of modest states, small conflicts, and for the most part, brief dynasties. Nolophon Caletica fits this pattern. Two of its predecessor nations were of note - in the middle 1600s, the Sytaesien Kingdom was a strong trading power in and beyond the Topal Sea. And the 1885 - 1931 Republic of Southern Taimonea was instrumental in passing Persii groups throughout the center of Miotus. When Western Taimonea fell to the Persii General Ismaini in 1908, further conquest could have brought much of Miotus under Persii direct rule. Instead, the ruler of Southern Taimonea treated the Persii as migrants, and encouraged their passage south and east. The subsequent dispersal of the Persii into small bands who settled among the Heloans defused what would almost certainly have been a string of outright military victories.
Southern Taimonea stretched somewhat westward of the current Nolophon Caletica. When its government faltered in a constitutional crisis in 1931, the western provinces sought to join the adjacent Trabesian Federation. The cabal which brought the crisis to a head dismissed the loss as inconsequential. Today, Nolophon Caletica dearly wishes the ranch lands and modest oil field thus lost were still joined.
The Ueniktaphon Federation which immediately preceded the brief Republican phase of Nolophon was not drastically more organized or cohesive than is today's minarchy. It faced considerable economic pressure from the states to the north, and coalescence into a sort of unified parliamentary republic seemed to be the solution. That didn't work, giving the several trade aggressors a single target instead of many. The Nolophon Republic lasted but seven years, from 2068 to 2075, but the present nation counts that as a part of its own duration. It dissolved with little bloodshed but much lost profit opportunity into today's constitutional minarchy. Its citizens "enjoy" the absolute minimum government needed to hold onto its borders and stave off the aggressive Sinoptiks to the south.
Governance
Few officials have national influence. The person selected as Spokesperson for the loosely-organized array of cities, towns, and rural associations has little legal power, but much political influence. Currently the Spokesman is Tycho Aeoleus. Politics in the minarchy are a zoo of differing parties, families, and corporate interests.
Also counted as national officials are the head of the military and the Coordinator-Communicator. Major General Danartes is generally counted as the head of government in Nolophon Caletica, whereas Spokesman Aeoleus is the equivalent of head of state. Coordinator-Communicator Chrysilla Neomos is a sort of parliamentarian and internal diplomat -- arbitrator might be a fair translation. Her focus is inward, among the many polities, where the Spokesman's focus is outward.
When foreign diplomats are received, they meet with the Spokesman. Only he even claims to speak for the whole of Nolophon. So only he accredits ambassadors to be sent abroad. Most external diplomats are drawn from a company formed to retain a monopoly over such dealings, the Deppeperins (in rough transliteration, the Diplomatic Corps).
Subdivisions
There are multitudes of subdivisions of the nation, as one might expect in a minarchy. Towns, cities, rural associations, collectives, company holdings, ranches, and cooperatives all have political standing. In lieu of taxation, all of those exact some measure of fees for services rendered. <div style="clear:left"/></div>
Geography and Climate
Elevations in Nolophon Caletica range from sea level along the Topal Sea coast to over 3,000 meters in the country's eastern Ansteppikos Mountains. Winters range from mild along the coast to severe in the inland mountains. Summers are generally mild across the entire territory.
The Andemos River forms the southeastern border of Nolophon; the Tiphos and Bovios form parts of its western edge. The spiny ridge of the Ansteppikos range is Nolophon's eastern limit, with the highest peak there being Tiostukryto, on the border, at 3204m.
Agriculture
Olives are grown for export both whole and as oil. Many grapes are grown, of unfortunately poor quality - Nolophon's wines are reviled by connoisseurs around the Talos Sea. No one would bother shipping them further, except perhaps as industrial cleaners. Persimmons, cherries, apricots, plums, apples are all widely grown.
Barely enough wheat and corn are grown for local use. Cattle used to be produced widely, but diseases attributed to industrial pollution have lately decimated the herds, and Nolophon must import meat. Some tributary streams provide edible fish, but not the main rivers, which reek of mine leachings, paper mill effluent, and other industrial and human waste. A sizeable Topal Sea fleet does bring in fish enough to provide some protein for Nolophon citizens.
Economy
Nolophon Caletica's political system may be a Minarchy, but its economy is pure Dahnist. Aurorawide both proponents of and opponents of free trade point to the Nolophon example.
Without a central mint or legal tender, one is free to accept or reject whatever medium of exchange one desires. In practice, the currencies of all the adjoining nations are accepted, at discounts relating to how hard it is to exchange for silver. Barter is just as common as in neighboring Sinoptikon, though for different reasons. Of course no central records are kept, and even estimates are murky of such typical metrics as GDP. The best economists can say is that Caletican commerce is robust, and the people generally prosperous.
Businesses tend to be small, except in the coal and wood products sectors. No truly large manufacturing is done, though licensed copies of (decade-old) some car manufacturer automobiles are built. Motorcycles are more common than cars anyway, and boast three local builders.
Coal is widely mined, and is both exported and used as fuel for electricity and industry. Coke is produced from it for Nolophon's minor steel industry and for export to <territory 8>, which has similar iron deposits but no coal. Much silver and a little gold are mined. The location of the Ansteppikon Mountains' best gold deposits beneath tiny neighboring Nolopherae is at once a source of tension and the source of finances for that minor Kingdom to remain independent. Even with no conservation laws, the nation's forests are expanding, albeit as plantation stands of fast-growing woods. Ironically, the Heloan nation with perhaps the lowest amount of government paperwork provides much of the paper which other Heloan governments use by the ton. Small shops producing wood products tend to cluster right around the forests, since transport is problematic in much of the nation.
Demographics
Ethnically, the Nolophons are almost all Heloan. A significant influx from Sinoptikon to the south, and from other Heloan nations is slowly raising the population, countered by afflent Nolophons emigrating to less troubled nations. The Nolophon component of the Heloan minority in Sam'thuma is perhaps one in ten.
Culture
Military
Major General Soterios Danarktes commands a reasonably capable military. It is unified in that there are no separate naval nor air branches, but it is hampered by the legacy of disorganization. Danarktes is slowly reworking the Army into a corporate model, with its members literally stockholders. With the constant actions against both Sinoptik factions and the internal Nolocommunalist Revolutionary Cadre, there is plenty of opportunity for capture of goods and personnel. Both can actually profit the corporate Army, since the captives either become employees (non stockholding - call them prison labor) or are ransomed back to where they came. Loot of course has been loot for armies since time immemorial.
Current Issues
The domestic insurgency and the dispute with Sinoptikon are equally significant problems for Nolophon Caletica. The fighting and the military spending are a drag on the economy, and the need for a common response is a constant stress to the naturally-minimal minarchal form of government.
Lack of any meaningful regulation upon industrial activities in the minarchy is reaping a harvest of environmental ruin. If it makes some money, few seem to care. The decimation of cattle herds in the 2090's could have been a warning call, but it has been largely ignored.
