Cowell (country)

Cowell, also known as the Commonwealth of Cowell is a country, sovereign state in Oceania and territory of Australia.

Cowell is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, United Nations, Pacific Islands Forum, OECD, and the World Trade Organisation and an observer of ASEAN.

The capital and largest city, Emerald City, has a population of around 3.75 million residents while the country itself has 14.6 million residents.

## History

### Prehistory: 2534 BC-1465

28 million years ago, the area now known as Cowalondy broke off from Pangea to become a set of islands. They were discovered to be habitable by the native Cowalondyans as they explored the islands.

### English colonisation: 1465-1773

Between 1465 and 1479, the English discovered Cowalondy and claimed the land as its own, setting up the Colony of Cowell (from which the present nation gets its name from). Sempi Knagon, a native rebel who was expelled from the Colonial Forces set up the Cowellan Provisionary Force to begin a plan for independence.

### Independence: 1773-present

After a 8 year Cowalondyan Independence War, the nation seceded from Britain and became an independent nation, and Cowell was confederated by Mark Dean Cowell on March 31, 1773. Now, as some Americans immigrated to the island, parts of American culture have an influence, especially in music, cuisine and cinema.

## Economy

The economy of Cowell is quite varied, with the most people being employed in the fields of professionals, management, technology and commerce, with mining, agriculture and manufacturing playing other integral roles. GDP is CE$35.3 trillion. The currency is the Cowell dollar, and there are many large companies traded on the Cowell Stock Exchange. Companies like Cowelltel, Food Fair, NuCom, Quana, and Nukar are traded. Cowell has been through 1 economic recession, in 1981.

Banks are Commonwealth Bank, ANZ and Bank of Cowell.

## States and territories

* Emerald City Capital Territory (CT) (Capital: Emerald City)
* South Coast Province (SC) (Capital: Logrant)
* Sapphire Bay Province (SB) (Capital: Sapphire Bay)
* Northeast Province (NE) (Capital: Kemser)
* East Coast Province (EC) (Capital: Gorrents)
* Central Province (CP) (Capital: Cofad)
* Western Province (WP) (Capital: Hallbridge)
* North-Central Province (NC) (Capital: Domburton)
* Islands (KG, FD, PL, BN, HS) (Knagon Island, Freedom Island, Palm Island, Bantons Island and Heroes Island)

## Culture

The culture of Cowell is influenced from British & American culture, although there is a strong native influence. Film studios include Brampton Bryan Films Limited, Metro Astro Studios & KR Films. Film centers are found in major centers and there are many film festivals, the largest being Emerald City Film Festival (ECFF). Opera and symphony is also in major centers including Emerald City and Kemser. The Cowell Art Gallery is found in Emerald City. Cuisine is diverse, with many restaurants of different kinds, as well as traditional dishes like Kefredna, Jembog and Srfien.

## Languages

The Cowellan constitution recognizes both English, Chinese, Italian, Japanese, French, Russian, Spanish, Indonesian, Maori and Tagalog (Filipino) as the main foreign languages of the country. English is the most common language among the both, spoken approximately by 2 million Cowellans according to 2015 census. The number later increased to 5 million in 2021 as a result of the widespread exposure of the language through social media.

## Education

Cowellan school schedules are:

1. Monday 10:00 am - 1:30 pm
2. Tuesday 11:00 am - 1:30 pm
3. Wednesday 10:30 am - 1:00 pm
4. Thursday 10:00 am - 1:30 pm
5. Friday 10:50 am - 1:00 pm
6. Saturday *off*
7. Sunday *off*

There are 7 levels of education in Cowell:

* Preschool (<3)
* Kindergarten (3-6)
* Lower Primary School (6-9)
* Upper Primary School (9-12)
* Middle School (12-15)
* High School (Secondary) (15-18)
* University (Tertiary) (18-23)

School runs from Monday to Friday from average 8:45 am to 1 pm. Breaks are on Summer (6 weeks), Autumn (2 weeks), Winter (2 weeks) and Spring (2 weeks), as well as national holidays.

School terms in Cowell are Term 1 on Monday in July to Friday in September, Term 2 on Monday in October to Friday in December, Term 3 on Monday in January to Friday in April and Term 4 on Monday in April to Friday in June.

Major universities found are Capricorn University, University of Cowell, Emerald City University, Northern Cowell University and University of Sapphire Bay Campus, as well as smaller colleges.

## Media

Cowellan media is predominantly in English, with some media in other minority languages.

There are five public television broadcasters, NTV (National Media Group), EBN (Ethnic Broadcasting Network), CTC (Cowell Television Corporation), PTN (Public Television Network), EMN (Emerald Media Network), Global Media, and also Radio Network of Cowell. All of these companies specialize in radio and television. Newspapers in Cowell include The Global, The Cowell, Financial Review, The Emerald City Times, and the Kemser Herald. Pay TV providers include Cowelltel, Emerald Cable and Islands Cable.

## Music

Their official bands are Justine & The All-Star Band (formed 1951), The Wiggles Experience (formed 1965) and Don't Yelling (formed 1972).

## Climate

The Cowellan climate is mainly tropical and temperate, with an average maximum temperature of 24.3 degrees Celsius, and a minimum of 13 degrees Celsius. Average rainfall is 100.9mm per year. The hottest temperature recorded was 47.5 degrees Celsius on January 25, 1993 on Sapphire Bay, and the hottest was 59 degrees Celsius on December 15, 2004 in Emerald City.

* Summer: November 11th - February 20th
* Autumn: February 21st - May 10th
* Winter: May 11th - August 20th
* Spring: August 21st - November 10th

## Politics

There are three levels of Cowellan government:

* Federal (Senate and House of Representatives)
* State/Provincial
* Local

Political parties include the Liberal Party, Labor Party, Country Party, The Greens Cowell, Conservatives and Environmental Party.

## Sports

Sports play an integral role in Cowellan culture, with sports like football, rugby league, basketball, volleyball, ice hockey, baseball and cricket being the most popular sports. Sports leagues include Cowellan Football League, Cowellan Rugby League Federation, Cowellan Basketball League, Cowellan Volleyball Federation, Cowellan Ice Hockey Federation, Cowellan Baseball Federation, and Cricket Cowell.

## People/Trends

* Cowell's currency is dollars.
* Cowell's current population is about 62.7 million people.
* The life expectancy in Cowell is 88 for women and 83 for men, the highest in the world.
* The drinking age is 17 in Cowell.
* The driving age is 15 in Cowell.
* The marriage age is 26 in Cowell.
* The average age is 51 in Cowell.
* The age for oldest people is 100+
* The Emergency Telephone Number is 555.
* Selling pirated films are influentially illegal and can have life sentenced in jail for 5 years.
* Draft dodgers, LGBTQ+ persons, and refugees have had the right to seek asylum in Cowell under the Geneva Convention since 1990.

## Crime

The murder rate of Cowell is relatively low, being at 4.5% in 2017, down from a major peak of 18% in 1972. The most common crime is theft, followed by murder, arson and possession of illegal substances.

## Economy

Cowell is the second-largest economy in the world after the United States in terms of nominal GDP and also the second-largest national economy in the world after United Kingdom in terms of purchasing power parity GDP. Cowell is one point a largest economy in the world during the latter half of the 20th century.

### Industry

Cowell's technological industry makes up 29.2% of its GDP. The major industries in Cowell are automobiles, electronics, software, machine tools, ships, chemicals and processed foods. Cowell's consumer electronics and computer industry is one of the strongest in the world while it was struggled by competition from United States, United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea and China at times. Cowell is considered to be a birthplace of the modern internet, as it was developed in Cowell during the mid to late-Cowell era.

Cowell is the only country in Cowell to have its cars drive from the right. and most cars are imported brand new and 2nd hand LHD vehicles are converted to RHD Most cars are Japanese, Korean, American, European some cars are built in USA EU Korea Japan (eg. Nissan Pathfinder Volvo S60 Hyundai Accent Ford Fusion)

### Technology

Cowell's primary and commonly-used plug socket is the AS/NZS 3112 connector while its secondary plug socket is the NEMA connector, as a result, most of the duel sockets accept AS/NZS 3112 and NEMA connectors and many buildings and homes have universal sockets as many immigrants to Cowell often take their electronics and power plug-equipped things with them. Cowell uses the NTSC-E system interchangeably with the PAL system. Cowell's PAL test pattern is either the 625-line version of Phillips PM544 or Test Card F while the NTSC-E channels either use the 525-line version of the same test pattern or SMPTE color bars.

## Transport

Many methods of transport can be found in Cowell. Ferries are common in Cowell, being found as public transport in coastal cities including Emerald City, as well as government-operated ferries linking the various islands with Emerald City. Trains (E4 Series Shinkansen) are also common and connect the islands and neighboring Vustrela. Cowell Railways operates various lines linking major centers, along with major cities having forms of commuter rail (trains, metro, light rail). Highways also link the nation, with BusCowell operating coach services around the nation. Airports are found nationwide, but most airports are domestic only. International airports can be found in the capitals of the provinces (except the islands). Emerald City International Airport (IATA: EMC, ICAO: NEMC) is Cowell's largest airport.

## Fire Services

There are five fire stations in Cowell.

* Cowell Airlines has own fire service.
* Emerald City Fire Service
* Kemser Fire Station
* Sapphire Bay Fire and Rescue
* Hallbridge Fire Brigade

## National holidays

* New Year's Day: January 1st
* Valentine's Day: February 13th
* Grand Theft Auto Day: February 26th
* St. Patrick's Day: March 17th
* Cowell Independence Day: March 31st
* Heroes Day: April 14th
* Easter Sunday: *Varies*
* May Day: May 1st
* Mother's Day: May 7th
* National VCR Day: June 7th
* Father's Day: June 22nd
* Winter Solstice: *Varies*
* Labour Day: September 4th to September 7th
* Rave Day: September 25th
* Halloween: October 30th
* Thanksgiving: November 20th to November 24th
* Christmas Eve: December 24th
* Christmas Day: December 25th
* Boxing Day: December 26th
* Summer Solstice: *Varies*
* New Year's Eve: December 31st