Bandiaterra

* 79% Afro-Bandian
* 18% White (mostly Danish)

**Bandiaterra** is a country situated in the Indian Ocean halfway between the British Indian Ocean Territory and the Cocos or Keeling Islands. Until the 1980s, Bandiaterra had residential units situated on stilts just above the sea, until oil was discovered offshore of Bandiaterra. Since then, the country has built it's first apartment complexes and high-rise commercial buildings. The country had an area of 223 km2 and a population of roughly 20,311 people, giving a population density of 91 people.

Recently, Bandiaterra has been investing a lot in it's tourism sector and capitalizing on it's various sites.

## History

Bandiaterra was discovered by the Bandi tribe, related to the larger Bantu people, who came from East Africa, which are now known as Tanzania and Kenya, and inhabited the island.

They left as an attempt to escape the much fiercer Omanis, and they embarked on a mass expedition to pretty much anywhere. The Bantu people didn't exactly know where they were going. After months on stopping by several ports and countries such as the Seychelles and Maldives, they finally discovered and landed upon 2 main islands, which they named Bandia and Terra, the Portuguese word for "Land".

Soon after the Bandi had discovered the islands and developed a stable society for several decades, Danish explorers stumbled upon the islands and were shocked to find Portuguese-speaking Africans. Famous Danish explorer Jørgen Jørgensen was on his way to Australia when he and his crew found Bandiaterra. After he found the archipelago, he immediately reported his findings to King Frederick VI, and over th enext century, tons of Danes flocked to Bandiaterra and reshaped the entire cultural dynamic of Bandiaterra to this day.

Due to this, the Danish language is taught as a secondary language to the people of Bandiaterra, and they've even adopted the Danish alphabet as a secondary script in addition to the Bandian script.

## Geography

### Political geography

Bandiaterra is made up of 11 islands, which only about 5 are actually inhabited. The archipelago is situated between the British Indian Ocean Territory and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. 2 out of the 5 inhabited islands maintain global affairs and modern societies. The largest islands are Bandia and Terra, which combined are slightly larger than the size of Puerto Rico.

The other 3 inhabited islands are incorporated, autonomous island territories. The first island of these is Vyaja Island. The second one is Terraya, and the smallest one, with only 47 people, is Tavarana. These three islands are mostly cut off from the other islands, however still mantain agreements so that Bandiaterra can kind of rule over them.

### Physical geography

Bandiaterra's landscape is really unique to Bandiaterra, and is incomparable to anywhere else on Earth. Much like Hawaii, Bandiaterra is a volcanic archipelago, and the area has stunning isolated structures that give it an almost creepily-beautiful appeal. It is also one of the only places in the world to contain black sand beaches. This makes these beaches a huge tourist spot that the country uses for economic revenue.

Due to Bandiaterra's fast-growing population with limited land space, they have utilized underwater space on their coral reefs and beaches for crop production. Still to this day, Bandiaterra grows some of the world's finest kelp, kolmbu, dolce, and laver. These crops also make up a huge sector of the typical Bandiaterran diet.

What makes Bandiaterra super unique from all of the other countries in the world is it's enormous fields of rare Bandiaterran tropical lavender, which is the southernmost growing version of the plant species on Earth. The plant is commonly used for oil extracts, nectars, and many more. Bandiaterra is also known for it's "glow worm caves". The caves light up upon noise, and the first inhabitants of the islands, upon discovery, referred trro these caves as the star caves.

## Government and politics

The Bandiaterran government is strange, as they elect officials to rule for 9 months out of the year, but for the remaining 3 months, a technical "monarch" overrides parliament nad has the final say. Every year, on July 31st, or Children's Day, parliament is required by law to put the youngest child of the monarch to act as prime minister. Whereas the prime minister assumes the position of attonery general for the day, as he or she is bound up by purple lavendar dyed velvet drapes. They recite the national creed to symbolize the escape from the Arab slave trade and the prosperity of the country.

### Foreign relations

Bandiaterra was mostly unknown to the outside world until they came into contact with Sri Lankans and developed trade partnerships with them. However, things didn't really start happening until the 19th century, when the Danes came in and introduced ideas and concepts that completely changed the nation for the better. Prior to the 19th century though, Bandiaterra was a kind of frozen in a 15th century technological era, whereas the rest of the world was going through the industrial revolution.

Bandiaterra also surprisingly gets along well with Singapore and Australia. The 2 countries have been working together for over a century with dilomatic missions and policy developments, and the Australians were also the largest aid supporters during Cyclone Nadine back in 1977.

The best country to have diplomatic relations with Bandiaterra would have to be Denmark. The Danes were welcomed since day 1, and eventually became close partners with trade and diplomacy. Interestingly, Denmark was not that interested in colonizing Bandiaterra for themselves, but rather, they saw it as a great place to invest in for a prosperous exchange. Plus, most of the Danish immigrants were Christian missionaries who built the country's first hospitals, universities, and the Bandians quickly embraced a Danish lifestyle and culture.

## Economy

The economy of Bandiaterra is mainly focused on oil, which was discovered somewhere in the 1980s. However, they have recently been investing heavily in their tourism sector, due to the amount of tourists there. They also export a lot of stuff, specifically the Bandiaterran tropical lavender. It was, and still is one of the most highly prized exports of this region.

## Demographics

The original inhabitants of the island were the Bantu people, when they went on an expedition as an attempt to escape the Omanis. They then settled on the island and to this day, the majority of the islanders are African in their ethnic origin. However, the majority of the Bandia pilgrims were biracially mixed with Portuguese blood and were lighter than the other tribes. The population is about 79% Afro-Bandian, 18% White, mostly Danish people, and the remaining 3% being South Indian and Bengali.

The 3 smaller autonomous island territories are inhabited by the Sana Bandias, a subtribal group that has lived independently with a more rustic, conventional lifestyle free of modern technology. They still allow Bandiaterra to have some sovereignty over them and do business, however, they are social security and tax exempt, and by all means, operate in their own self-rule.