Freedemia

Some Stats
HDI= 0.878

National Symbols
National flower: The Cantua



National bird: The Quetzal

National nicknames:
 * Tarephia's Beam
 * The Hen of Tarephia

Sketch of General Layout and Topography
names and states are slightly out of date





A Nation of Three Colonies (and Natives)

 * Early 1500s- The Rivagiens were first on the west very early, Castellanese first on the east side (base this on Latina's history), Jhuandan and Mijhong still native
 * Late 1500s- The Ingerish took over the central southern part in a war early in the colony's history from the Franqueterese, gaining control of most of the strait
 * 1600s- The Ingerish expanded partially to the east and northeast, only for the Castellanese to push back. Castellanese retained the northeasternmost areas, expand down the coast to take Jhuandan and begin calling it Juandon due to misunderstanding the pronunciation/spelling
 * Late 1600s and early 1700s- More smaller battles between the colonial governments along the borders led to fatigue and a desire for peace among most colonists, Ingerish push back hard against the Castellanese along the coast and take Jhuandan

Free Reedemia was formed as a result of an uprising from the people undercutting the colonial governments to come together for peace and independence after close to a century of fatigue from the land wars between the Rivagiens, Ingerish, and Castellanese.

Some attributes of the various territories remain today, such as remnants of regional languages in the Franqueterese western region and the large Castellanese northeastern region (home to a native language heavily influenced by Castellanese occupation). However, Freedemian, largely a dialect of Ingerish with influences from Franquese and Castellanese, remains the dominant language.

Etymology
Christic Castellanese made it to the east coast of what is now Freedemia in the early 1500s and called it Tierra Redimida, or "Land of the Redeemed", after they miraculously survived a storm to land along the coast. When the first Ingerish expeditions went out later to scout out the land before others followed to take it into Ingerish posession, Alexander Quentins, the Ingerish explorer that led the 1500s expeditions to West Tarephia, butchered the grammar and the spelling of 'redeemed' in his writing and called the place "Reedemed Land". Quentins died shortly after discovering Freedemia, leaving others to refer to his notes. As such, the colony became known as Ingerish Reedemia, and later just Reedemia. Closer to 1700, writers proposing independence began writing of a "Free Reedemia" in pamplets and writings, which eventually was shortened by many to Freedemia in writing. The "United" portion of the official name refers to the unification of the three colonies into one nation.

The Ingerish-Castellanese front
At a global scale, the Ingerish and Castellanese had agreed to some degree of colonial alliance/truce. There was intermingling across the borders between the Castellanese and Ingerish colonists, and use of Jhuandan as a shared trading hub. However, at the ground level, by 1650 the alliance between Ingerish Reedemia and Castellanese Tierra Redimida had fallen apart. The colonial heads of Ingerish Reedemia had pushed east to take Jhuandan, breaking the truce and creating a series of land wars between the two colonies pushed by the colonial heads and their militaries. Most of the colonists didn't want any fighting, and the fatigue from the growing land wars led by the colonial governors yet opposed by most colonists would lead to many desiring independence from Castellan and Ingerland.

The Free Reedemia Compact, Rivagien Frankelyn Territory
Emboldened by Paroyan revolutionaries' actions around 1729 and realizing that the Ingerish empire had been weakened significantly by the Ingerish Civil War and other ongoing independence battles, many pacifist Christic pro-independence leaders from within Ingerish Reedemia began to develop plans to fight back against the Ingerish for independence. However, it became clear that everyday citizens in Castellanese Tierra Redimida were also in favor of joining the effort, and that the neighboring "enemy" Rivagien Cabelia colonists were equally fatigued.

Having previously lost Paroy to the Ingerish, the Rivagiens still possessed the Frankelyn territory to the west of Quentinsburgh.

As such, around 1732, as the Paroyan war for independence began coming to a close, Ingerish and Castellanese pro-independence leaders reached out to independence leaders in the Rivagien colony. The Free Reedemia Compact was signed in March 1733 after news of Paroyan independence, unofficially unifying the pro-independence colonists under the "Free Reedemia" banner. During the debate over the compact, movement leaders from Ingerish Reedemia and from Tierra Redimida debated about what to call the unified country, but with the Ingerish "Reedemia Colony" occupying most of the land in question, "Free Reedemia" was agreed on over Tierra Redimida. Since the Ingerish had most control over the area at the time of independence, the pacifist Christic pro-independence leaders from the Ingerish territory largely led the peace talks. Some Castellanese-descendants still see this as unfair considering how much of the land was taken from the Castellanese by the Ingerish. Independence was declared shortly after on April 23rd, to which the Ingerish and Castellanese colonial heads responded with a war declaration. The colonists reluctantly put together a ragtag militia.

Colonies Without the Support of their Empires
Ingerland and Castellan were in a tough predicament. Unable to agree on how to address the uprising by the Free Reedemia militias, but largely spread thin, weakened by other independence movements, and desperate to keep the peace with each other, Ingerland and Castellan pulled support from the warring colonies, to the colonial governors' dismay. This sharply changed the balance of the independence war, which the governors had gone into expecting to have the power of two empires behind them. Without this, the colonists were easily able to overwhelm them.

The Rivagien Front, Peace Treaty
The Ingerish and Castellanese colonial heads would retreat around 1735 after giving up on any hope of support from their empires, at which point all focus was turned on the final front with the former Rivagiens, now under control of Rivagien Cabelia after the relative collapse of the Rivagien empire. With some support for the Free Reedemians from within the Frankelyn territory, as well as the full force of the now semi-independent Free Reedemian militia turned on the remaining Rivagien armies, the armies were also largely overwhelmed. The fatigue on both sides would eventually lead to a treaty for peace, allyship, and official independence with all three colonial governments, signed in Quentinsburgh on March 29th, 1735. The original Freedemian monarchical government was put into place in early 1737 after negotiations with chosen king Cholmondeley to put a parliamentary check on his power.

Throughout the independence war, often known among Freedemians as "The War for Peace from War", a sense of unity over the shared fatigue of war and shared desire for peace and unity grew among pro-independence civilians, helping lead to a society somewhat unified in the end.

Flag and Symbolism
The three stars on the n flag refer to the Rivagien, Ingerish, and Castellanese colonies that united to rebel against their colonial governments. The colors (red for Ingerish, blue for Rivagien, and gold for Castellanese) also correspond to the colonies. The omission of native Tarephians from the flag has been a controversial topic in the country, with several counter-proposals for a modified flag with a fourth star and a green bar to represent native communities.

Freedemian Anthem
The Freedemian national hymn, |"In Unity We Stand Redeemed", serves as the national anthem. The hymn, written by Winifred Knowles, originated from the Pacifist Christic church in the Ingerish Reedemia colony, and was popularized during the independence movement as a song of appreciation for the land and a desire for unity and peace. The nickname "Tarephia's Beam" also originated from the hymn's lyrics.

Lyrics
"In unity we stand redeemed, O’er mounts and glistening streams.

From darkest night to morning light, shine as Tarephia’s beam.

As we explore from silver shores Reedemia’s expanse,

Our land esteemed, in God redeemed, in unison advance."

"In unity we stand redeemed, may all our troubles cease,

May we proceed in word and deed in progress and in peace,

May our beloved redeemed land be free from strife and war,

And all our glory be to God now and forevermore!!"

Proposal to replace with "Service Guard March"
The "Service Guard March", written by famous Freedemian march composer Oliver Newcom in 1906 for the Freedemian National Service Guard, includes the full melody of "In Unity We Stand Redeemed" as a bridge near the end of the song. The march is one of the most famous and popular in Freedemia, and many have proposed replacing the original hymn with the "Service Guard March" as a more patriotic sounding song some have argued is more fitting as a national anthem. To date, these movements have been in the minority, with most preferring the lyrics of the original hymn over the instrumental patriotic pomp of the march. Nonetheless, on a nearly annual basis the debate arises yet again.

Jhuandan- the most disputed city in Reedemian history
Due to its strategic location along the narrow part of the Strait of Lyc between Freedemia and AN119, Jhuandan has been one of the most contended pieces of land in Reedemia. After being a major native port, it was taken by the Castellanese in the mid 1500s, then taken by the Ingerish in the late 1600s.

Strategic Internationalism
Due to the strategic position along the Strait of Lyc, Freedemia is theoretically a ripe target for attack. As such, Freedemia has a fairly large and strong defense-oriented military, but does not use it as an exploratory military.

The typical foreign policy stance is that Freedemia would only go to war when attacked or at very imminent threat of being attacked, and as an anti-interventionalist nation never to initiate an attack. However, Freedemia will fight back whenever and wherever it is attacked. Freedemia isn't truly neutral, but it will generally assist nations it aligns with using internationalist methods- monetary assistance, diplomatic assistance, and in select cases weapons and assistance. It will not take militaristic action against another country or in favor of another nation unless put directly at risk.

Pacifist Christics- driving the independence movement within the Ingerish colonies
Creed: "Harm not a brother who hast not wronged thee, and do not lash out in anger"

Pacifist Christics made up a large part of the population of the Ingerish colonies and had a lot of influence. This potentially is a large part of why the Ingerish initiate the unity and independence talks among the three colonies.

Pacifist Christicism would have a large impact on the culture of Freedemia over the years- even as the particular religious sect faded into obscurity, many of the pacifist tendencies stuck around.

Nudism culture: Franqueterese body acceptance meets Pacifist Christic rejection of sexual immorality
The Franqueterese influence from the west was already very open about the nude body. It was common in artworks, statues, and even plays and performances, which was also true for Frankelyn and the Franqueterese portion of western Freedemia. Meanwhile, the Pacifist Christics in the Ingerish colony held strong beliefs about respect for women and for others in general, and also strongly denounced sexual immorality and open sexual acts. Over time, these influences met. Rather than clashing, in many ways they largely merged. The body acceptance of the Franqueterese fit well with the respect for women pushed by the Pacifist Christics, and with the body being seen as completely normal and commonplace and the harsh attitude towards sexual actions and content, nudity never gained a sexual connotation in most of Freedemian society. Some exceptions could be seen in the Castellanese regions, which were less directly affected by the Franqueterese body acceptance, but the region still has a loose attitude on nudity.

Women in early Freedemia
Women were more respected as equals with a role to play within Pacifist Christicism than in other religious sects, so within the Ingerish colony especially, women had a bit more of a say than might be expected for the time. In addition, the men across all of the colonies were usually the ones doing most of the hard labor, leaving the women to themselves. This led to a sort of informal politics among the women of the colonies, sometimes known as "washboard politics" or "reading room politics", where they tended to be informed of everything going on and to be some of the more vocal voices while most men besides local and religious leaders focused on the labor and logistics and tended to be informed on politics and current events by their wives. As such, as early as the push for the first post-monarchy constitution, women were pushing for more enumerated rights, and they would get many of their requests, including the right to vote, run for office, and not be barred from workplaces, granted in the 1811 constitution.

At Independence: The Weak Monarchy Era 1736-1809
Free Reedemia would initially begin with a very weak monarchy under king and queen Benjamin and Chloe Cholmondeley, modeled slightly after the Ingerish monarchy, but with significantly less power due to the strong parliament existing alongside that was created to keep the monarchy in check. Benjamin had been a central figure in uniting the colonies into Free Reedemia, and thus had near-unanimous support when choosing a king. However, even establishing as a monarchy, there was a strong anti-monarch movement growing within Free Reedemia. While seen as relatively benevolent rulers compared to many around the world, Benjamin and Chloe fought anti-monarchy sentiments, seeing their granting of a parliamentary check on their leadership as enough of a compromise.

Benjamin and Chloe would give birth to a son named Riley in 1752. Riley was never as convinced that his family was rightfully in power, had no interest in becoming king, and generally sympathized with the anti-monarchy movement, but was frequently critiqued and punished by his parents for speaking in favor of the anti-monarchy movement. However, King Benjamin would pass away in 1789, allowing prince Riley to rise to power as the only rightful heir. King Riley struggled heavily to fill his father's shoes, and saw both a sharp increase in anti-monarch sentiments and a large decrease in support. After queen Chloe's passing in 1809, Riley decided to step down from power and work with the parliament towards crafting a new constitution that would transform Freedemia into a parliamentary republic.

The Constitutional Parliamentary Republic Era- 1811-1894
During this era, executive leaders of Freedemia were known as premiers and vice premiers, and the govermental system operated very similar to parliamentary monarchies of the time, but without a monarch. Most power was given to the premier and the leaders of the minority governing coalitions.

However, there wasn't a very strong checks and balances system during this era. While people did get to vote for governing coalitions (which fairly quickly evolved (devolved?) into a partisan system), they had no direct say in the leaders of said governing coalitions, and in some cases didn't even have a say in who filled a seat in a region. Coalition leaders and premiers were appointed by the majority coalition/party and were not required to be elected officials from said party. Coalition leaders had no term limits, and had the power to overrule any decision made by the governing coalition, and similarly, the premier had the power to overrule any decision made by parliament at large, though he or she could be overruled by a supermajority vote. Thus, the parliament mostly acted as a lower level extension of the executive branch.

This would become a serious issue and lead to the proposal and ratification of a third constitution that addressed the issues with a clearer checks and balances system, a system that included taking votes directly to the people (this is why the House of Referenda, Freedemia's third legislative house, exists), and a more direct voting system that attempted to decouple candidates from parties so voters could vote based on individual politicians and their platforms.

Presidents, Vice Presidents, Executive Whips and Vice Executive Whips
Freedemian presidential elections are split into a primary election and a runoff election.

The Primary Ballot
Presidents and vice presidents run together on the same ticket, with the primary election having between 5 and 25 major candidate pairs. Originally during the parliamentary era and early partisan era, these pairs would be put forward by political parties, either through appointment or via election, but since parties were eliminated in the mid-1950s, all candidates are independent and get on the ballot through support and signatures, as well as publically funded platform mailings to explain their platform and qualifications briefly and gain support. Incumbent presidents, vice presidents, and whips running again are assured a place on the ballot and current lower-level politicians are given priority, but the bar is set low (other than strict deadlines and a background check) to ensure other voices can make it onto the ballot.

The Primary Election
The 5 to 25 candidate pairs that make it onto the final ballot go up against each other in the primary election. This eliminates all but the top two candidate pairs.

The Runoff Election, Executive Whips
After the primary vote is finalized, the top two tickets have a runoff election. The runner up candidate and running mate become Executive Whip and Vice Executive Whip, positions within the administration where they play an advisory role to the president and try to work with them on certain ideas. The Executive Whip is also the 3rd in line for the presidency behind the Vice President, with the Vice Executive Whip 4th in line.

The idea behind the Executive Whips is to ensure that candidates with reasonably different ideas are made to work together on a solution that's more problem-solution focused than strictly partisan or ideological, and that candidates coming from different perspectives can help ensure that problems the President and Vice President may not see are brought to light.

House of Poplators

 * Poplators distributed by population
 * Leyshire and Jhelesie each have 2
 * Margo, Edinshire, Pell, Windross, and Cholmondeley each have 3
 * Gaviera and Tierra Redimida each have 4
 * Frankelyn and Lawrence each have 5
 * Quentins and Jhuandan each have 6


 * total of 49 Poplators

House of Equal Representation

 * each state gets 35 Representatives, 30 by district and 5 at-large
 * total of 455 Representatives

House of Referenda

 * Two Referenda Councilmen per state + One at-large (total of 27)
 * decide whether legislative-introduced bills need to be approved by the public by referendum to become law
 * oversee referenda initiated by the public and get them to ballot or vote them down

The Central Power Paradox
Freedemia is in a unique spot in balancing federal and local power. Compared to nations like the Federal States, Freedemia has a strong central government. Most logistical things including licenses and IDs, public housing, healthcare, intercity transit, and public higher ed are done mostly at the federal level, not by individual states, and often ensures that states and local municipalities are covering the bases in certain areas like housing and healthcare that are regulated at the federal level. Yet, local municipalities have a lot of say on the details and a lot of power to address their own unique issues free from federal interference. The state acts largely as a go-between. Since the federal has the funding, states have say to an extent on how that funding gets used. States present local priorities to the federal and help set their own local priorities in tandem with the federal.

Overall, Freedemia's system could perhaps be most accurately described as a strong central government in tandem with strong local governments and weak state governments. However, state governments do still have a lot of agency in decision making.

Split over Alliances, Trade, and the Open Economy
Moves like joining the TCC and taking a liberal approach on trade and immigration beginning in the ~1970s made a large impact on Freedemia's rise. The new approach helped Freedemian businesses in tech, fast food, retail, and other major sectors expand and succeed internationally, attracted the best from around the world to its universities and technology/engineering firms, and allowed tourism and entertainment to flourish. These in turn directly helped most cities like Quentinsburgh, Frankelyn, Vandoveur, and Jhuandan thrive and grow. In addition, new direct rail ferry trade routes from Cabelia and Aerágny to the Vandoveur shore helped Frankelyn and Vandoveur thrive as trade-centered port cities on top of their already growing entertainment industry.

However, in contrast, increased trade and patronage of goods and industry from other TCC nations like Aerágny, Paroy, and Tigeria directly hurt Freedemian heavy industry, as other nations, especially Aerágny, had the edge on manufacturing ability and cost. Lawrence and Lenseter, home to much of said industry, were hit extremely hard and went into a state of stagnation and decline. Many industry jobs have actually returned in recent years in the form of Cabelia-owned companies opening factories in cities like Lawrence. However, for some conservatives with the strongest "Freedemia First" beliefs, losing ownership of the factories was still a major loss even when the jobs were retained.

This has led to a major political split within Freedemia, where most of the country is strongly in favor of globalization and an open economy but the Lawrence-Lenseter metro is fiercely in opposition. Lawrence State is known to strongly favor protectionism and to vote heavily against globalization/free trade/TCC alliances and those that support it, while metros like Quentinsburgh, Frankelyn/Vandoveur, and Jhuandan that thrive on it overwhelmingly outvote them.

Neglect and Exploitation of Northern Interior
In many ways the natural resource exploitation of the northern interior is part of what allows Freedemia to function as a somewhat wealthy regional power, but the region's low population leaves its residents with little voting power, and many of the area's unique issues are largely taken for granted or ignored by the populated and wealthier coastal population.

The rural areas of the northern interior are home to the highest levels of poverty in the nation, with most living conditions ranging from rundown mining towns full of trailer parks to villages of tiny shed homes with unreliable electricity, outhouses and water basins. Fotja Rejt, the largest city in the interior, has slightly better conditions, but is still one of the poorest cities in the nation. The region also sees heavy environmental exploitation, as the location where most of Freedemia's natural/mineral resources are mined. These dirty industries tend to be the largest employers in the north and are notorious for terrible working conditions and insufficient protections for employees and for those living in the area. Pollution and contamination of towns and villages throughout the Northern Interior is common, and the region has the highest rates of cancer and other health issues in the country.

The northern interior also has the highest concentration of Native Tarephian population, partially due to many natives having moved inland during the colonial era to flee the encroachment of the colonies along the coast. In contrast to most other parts of the country where assimilation and erasure of native cultures was emphasized, Budrian culture and language are still strong in the communities of the northern interior.

Many theorize that subconscious racism and prejudice against non-assimilated native Tarephians is the true reason for the geographical neglect and heavy exploitation, similar to deliberate disinvestment in areas de-facto segregated in other nations. However, this is often difficult to prove due to the population and geography factors. The northern interior has by far the lowest and least concentrated population in the nation and a difficult mountainous jungle-filled terrain. Because of this provision of services and infrastructure to the most isolated communities is difficult, and many leaders from the higher populated coasts claim that the investments being asked for are not financially feasible for such a large area with such low population density.

National Stability and Avoiding War as Number One Priority
It's been said that the easiest way to get Freedemians to turn on an ally is to make them fear that their partnership puts them at risk of war. This tends to stand true.

Outside of regions like Lawrence state that have been hit hard by regional competition, support for involvement in the TCC, open trade alliances, and other various global partnerships tends to be fairly high across the board. That support, however, though strong, is extremely fragile. For most Freedemians, regardless of what other beliefs they hold or what stances they have on controversial issues, the number one priority is domestic stability and avoiding war/international conflict. While it hasn't come to be in recent decades, polling has consistently shown that the overwhelming majority of Freedemians would swing heavily in favor of isolationism and disengaging from regional partners in the name of national security and peace.

In many ways, it is the prolonged peace itself that Freedemia has experienced that has allowed the pro-cooperation culture and attitude to thrive in Freedemian government and society. While initially met with skepticism in the 60s and 70s, the idea that a country could have close international relationships and lasting peace/good relations simultaneously is somewhat taken for granted in Freedemian society today. However, polling shows risk of war is the one area where fearmongering is very effective on Freedemians. Unlike concerns of loss of industry or changes in culture, Freedemians tend to be legitimately horrified of the risk of being drawn into international conflicts, and such fears have at times been exploited to rile up a very strong protectionist "Freedemia First" anti-collaboration sentiment among much of the population.

Debates Over Strict Approaches to Alcohol, Smoking, Drugs
Freedemia has fairly strict laws banning the sale of alcohol or tobacco products within the country, as well as public intoxication and public smoking. While possession itself and even private use of alcohol or tobacco products are not illegal, any form of sales or public use is fully prohibited. Freedemians generally cite the damage both can have on others (drunk individuals being more of a risk for drunk driving, domestic violence, etc; secondhand smoke causing damage to bystanders and others) as justification.

Rather than being punished with jail time, there has been an attempt in the past decades to turn sentencing towards rehabilitation. Public intoxication, possession of hard drugs, and crimes (especially domestic violence) committed under the influence of alcohol or drugs come with mandatory rehab sentencing. In addition, voluntary rehab is offered at no risk to those who come forward if they have not committed a crime by these standards.

In recent years, there have been debates over whether this approach is too harsh, with some critics advocating for a more libertarian approach, especially to alcohol. Many cite several other countries where alcohol use is fully legal that don't see rampant drinking-related offenses, as well as have a strong economic benefit from breweries and alcohol-serving restaurants and groups. Some also argue that the banning of safe regulated alcohol has led to many turning to even more dangerous moonshines or to mouthwashes and other products with alcohol content. While similar arguments have been made for smoking and drugs, the understanding of the effects of secondhand smoke and some of the more direct effects of hard drugs have prevented them from gaining any traction. In contrast, the debate on alcohol has continued to grow, though the vast majority still currently support the ban.

As it stands currently, Freedemia has a thriving and somewhat unrivaled mocktail industry, with nonalcoholic mocktail bars and pubs thriving in the place of their alcoholic counterparts (partially because of a lack of competition from them). The industry has seemed split on proposals for less strict alcohol policies, with some wanting to be able to expand offerings and others fearing competition. Some pro-alcohol-policy-reform groups have claimed "Big Mocktail" has lobbied to keep alcohol illegal to help their own industry.

The current leading proposal by pro-legalization groups is to legalize but with strict limits on amount purchased at any one establishment and limits on alcohol content in all sold alcohol.

List of States

 * FR- Frankelyn
 * Frankelyn, FR


 * MG- Margo
 * Sainte-Margo, MG


 * QT- Quentins


 * Quentinsburgh, QT (also national capital)


 * ES- Edenshire


 * Edinhurst, ES


 * WD- Windross


 * Wendale, WD


 * LW- Lawrence


 * Lawrence, LW


 * LS- Leyshire


 * Leyford, LS


 * PL- Pell


 * Pellchester, PL


 * JH- Jhuandan


 * Jhuandan, JH


 * CH- Cholmondeley


 * Cholmondeley, CH


 * JL- Jhelesie (means Hills, though some mock for sounding like "jealousy")


 * Rosalita, JL


 * GA- Gaviera


 * Juliana, GA


 * TR- Tierra Redimida


 * Los Redimidos, TR

Nationality/Ethnicity

 * 35% Ingerish/Franquese-descended (including Ingerish-Tarephian and Rivagie-Tarephian)
 * 27% Castellanese-descended (including Castellanese-Tarephian)
 * 22% Native Tarephian
 * 7% North Archantan
 * 5% Other Ulethan
 * 3% Other or Other mixed

Religion

 * 49% Christic- Pacifist-derived evangelic denomination
 * 11% Christic- Traditional Pacifist Christic
 * 13% Christic- Conservative prosperity denomination
 * 11% other Christic
 * 5% Ibriyim/Hebraic
 * 3% Imani
 * 3% no religion/non-practicing
 * 2% Koinoia (Meilanese religion)
 * 3% other

Languages

 * Ingerish as the dominant language, with Franquese as a recognized language and Budrian as a minority language
 * Franquese having lingering influence in Frankelyn, Margo
 * Budrian (native conlang based on Antarephian languages) having lingering influence in the north and east
 * Some Castellanese/Latinian influence, but mostly just in Tierra Redimida where the Castellanese colony would have once been based out of

Franqueterre Region

 * Frankleyn- colonial seat of government and military hub
 * Vandoveur- grew much later (1900s) as an entertainment and nudism hub. Home to Betterview Studios and StudioOwl, Freedemia's biggest film/entertainment companies.

Ingerish Region

 * Quentinsburgh- colonial seat of governance, capital
 * Dautonsburgh- Quentinsburgh commuter suburb turned city in its own right. Heavily suburban, modern planned urban design
 * Lawrence and Lenseter- manufacturing cities
 * Jhuandan/Juandon- major strategic colonial military hub, originally native, briefly a shared trade hub for Ingerish/Castellanese and a port city for the Castellanese, then taken by the Ingerish. Tech and light manufacturing city today.
 * Mijhong

Castellanese/Budrian Region

 * Los Redimidos- colonial seat of governance
 * Sent Carlina- main military hub
 * Cholmondeley- the home city of the single royal family. Would have originally had a different name during Castellanese colonization
 * Fotja Rejt- mountain pass city, one of the smallest cities in Freedemia and the only major one in the northern interior. One of the highest remaining native Tarephian populations. Economy based around resource collection/processing

Largest remaining native population of the regions- inspiration from South American and Caribbean natives

Important Historical Names

 * Roosevan-
 * Claude Roosevan- cathedral was named after him- potentially an early Pacifist Christic leader?
 * Fredrick Roosevan- grandson of Claude Roosevan, first president of post-monarchy Freedemia in 1812


 * Cholmondeley- the name of the single royal family of early Freedemia
 * Benjamin Cholmondeley and Chloe Cholmondeley- first king and queen
 * Riley Cholmondeley- second king, son of Benjamin. Stepped down after the death of Queen Chloe to work to transition Freedemia away from monarchy and help draft the new constitution.


 * Hartham?
 * Hallory-
 * Christian Hallory- one of the founding mothers who fought for women's rights to be included in the first post-monarchy constitution

Musicians/Composers

 * John Scopell- Freedemian ragtime artist known for works such as the Turtlefruit Rag
 * Oliver Newcom- Freedemian composer, known as the "Master of Marches" for patriotic compositions like Bells of Democracy (1898) and The Matriarch (1911)

Other Significant Dates/Thoughts

 * 1889- Leyford Pass Railway between the Wendale area/central river valley and the east (Sent Carlina, Jhuandan) completed. Basically, all other railways would have come earlier

Major Holidays

 * Unity Day-
 * Free Reedemia Day- March 29th, the anniversary of the signing of Freedemia's independence and peace treaty with Ingerland, Castellan, and the Rivages. Traditions include parades complete with marching bands playing patriotic traditional songs like The Hen of Tarephia and Bells of Democracy, along with evening fireworks or drone light shows.
 * New Year's Eve/New Year's Day- December 31st/January 1st, a major summer holiday. Traditions include lights, parades leading up to the day, countdowns to the new year, gift exchanges at midnight, and feasts on New Years' Day. The day is also frequently associated with stories of (fictional) magical flying Southern Island penguins delivering gifts to kids around the world.

Monarchy Era

 * 1737-1789- King Benjamin Cholmondeley and Queen Chloe Cholmondeley
 * 1789-1809- King Riley Cholmondeley

Constitutional Parliamentary Republic Era

 * 1812- Fredrick Roosevan (first premier of Freedemia under the parliamentary system)

Metals, Minerals and Gems
Freedemia has a large mining industry. The largest mineral commodities are copper, nickel, and emeralds, though aluminum, gold, iron, and chromium are also large exports. The copper, nickel, and gold resources also contribute to Freedemia's computing and electronic manufacturing industries. The prevalence of emeralds (along with the rich green forests) has given Freedemia a strong association with rich green colors and made emeralds a sort of secondary symbol of the nation.



Vehicles and Parts
Freedemia has a history of heavy industry and vehicle manufacturing, including export of cars, buses, trucks, some rail infrastructure, and related parts. However, the rise of quality of life and economy in Freedemia has led to a decline in the industry as domestic and foreign brands move manufacturing to countries with cheaper labor. Nonetheless, the industry is still one of Freedemia's largest. Even after outsourcing of much heavy industry, Freedemia's Starmobile Auto Group remains one of the largest auto brands in Tarephia, behind its Vodean competitors and about even with brands from neighboring Paroy. In addition, many Cabelian companies now do heavy manufacturing in Freedemia.

Light Manufacturing, Appliances
Freedemia has a strong light industry, based primarily out of Jhuandan. Appliances, light electronics, and internals for each category respectively make up much of the industry, assisted by the metals mined within the country. Increasingly, this includes a growing tech industry including computers, mobile devices, and game systems, though many of the internal chips come from Vodean companies like Marathon.

Meat and Dairy
Poultry, lamb, goat, and fish are Freedemia's largest meat exports. Beef is also exported, but makes up a comparatively small amount of Freedemia's meat. Eggs, milk, and cheeses also are major.

Wool and Down
Partially due to the prevalence of chickens and sheep, wool and down products are also two of Freedemia's largest exports, such as clothing and pillows.

Agriculture
Rice, corn, onions, soy, potatoes, mangoes, beans, olives, cotton, turtlefruit (a relative of the pineapple), sugar, and related products are Freedemia's largest agricultural resources.

Wood and Paper Products
Freedemia is known in part for its massive forests and wood quality. The availability of wood resources has led to somewhat of a woodcraft culture for furniture and wooden instruments while fueling many related industries like paper products.

Energy
Freedemia has large natural gas reserves and has made large investments in nuclear and renewable energy production. Freedemia exports some natural gas and electric energy to surrounding countries. Historically, Freedemia was also a large exporter and user of oil; however, environmental concerns in the 70s and 80s led to a somewhat large shift away from new oil drilling and large shift towards natural gas drilling/fracking. Some oil is still used in manufacturing processes but it is not as commonly used as an energy source today.

Sports
Baseball, field hockey, ringbowl (sometimes known as Freedemian basketball), football (soccer), and foosball (table soccer) are the most popular sports in Freedemia. Other sports such as tennis and cricket also have moderate followings.

Most major team sports leagues in Freedemia are set up with a relegation club setup where teams can be in an upper or lower league based on their previous season. As such, for the most popular sports like baseball, there are lots of teams in major cities, and even some smaller regions have some.

Baseball
Lycene League Baseball (LLB) is the main baseball league for Freedemia and the Lycene region at large. While the majority of teams in the league are Freedemian teams, several surrounding countries also have teams that play in the league.

Field Hockey
Field hockey is one of the more popular sports in the Lycene region, and Freedemia is no exception.

Ringbowl
Ringbowl, sometimes referred to internationally as Freedemian basketball, is a ball sport that plays similarly to the ball-hop games found in many arcades.