Raritania

Capital: Niwklinton

## Geography

Raritania can be divided into 3 broad regions: the East, the West, and the Colonies.

The West of Raritania consists of the DSAR (Deseret Autonomous Region), which is arid and mountainous.

The East is the heartland of the country, including the MWAR (Midwest Autonomous Region), which is a major breadbasket, and the heavily irradiated DPAR (Dauchh Palki Autonomous Region), and the Core Provinces and territorries.

Raritania's colonies are a network of islands and exlaves throughout the Atlantic, Arctic, and Indian oceans.

Raritania's colonies include Alexandra Land (the westernmost island in Franz Josef Land), Jan Mayen, Keflavik (the only colony to have a land border, in this case with Surrilandic Iceland), Vestmanaejyar, New Sable (an artificial island near the real Sable Island), Thingollia (a fictional volcano north of the Shetlands), Guadeloupe, Barbados, St. Helena, and the Crozet Islands. Raritania is also the Protector of the Tristan de Cunha and Icelandic protectorates

## History

#### 2090

Raritania was founded in the Raritanian War of Independence, an extension of the 2nd Bedlandic Civil War lasting about 1 year, from late 2089-late 2090. The war saw Raritania wrest control from multiple Bedlandic factions, secure a peace with Dauchh Palki in the aftermath of the latter's invasion of Bedland, and mount several punitive expeditions against militants in the remains of the now-anarchic Bedlandic state.

Late in the year, Bedland began to recover, and this resulted in border disputes with both Raritania and Dauchh Palki. These border disputes were exploited by reunificationists to deliberately spark a war between Bedland and Raritania. The Cornean War, from October-December 2090, saw both sides invade eachother and saw foreign involvement on both sides; it remains the only time Raritania has been invaded by foreign powers.

The end of the year saw the beginning of the South Sandwich War as Raritania began a policy of colonial expansion.

#### 2091

The year began with the violence of the South Sandwich War, as Raritania and the British fought for control of the South Sandwich Islands. The collapse of the Victorian Empire allowed Raritania to bloodlessly annex Jan Mayen instead, and Raritania made peace with Britain.

The remainder of the year saw Raritania continue to grow. Following the Dauchh Palki-Nukeya war, Raritania annexed a large chunk of northern Dauchh Palki to prevent a resurgent Bedland from grabbing it and encircling Raritania. This was followed shortly afterwards by Bedland itself, ever unstable, beginning to collapse again, due to its defeat in the War of Iron. As Bedland collapsed completely, Raritania and the HAE partitioned it.

#### 2092

Early 2092 saw the Sino-Soviet war, a vicious conflict lasting from Febuary to March. The Bedlandic government had escaped to Hainan, and from there conquered China. However, attempts to expand further to Mongolia provoked war with the Soviet Federation. Multiple nations joined, mostly on the side of the Soviets, but some, including Raritania, on the side of Hainan. After 2 months of fighting, Hainan eventually surrendered and would collapse shortly afterwards, leaving China to break up into Cliques; these would later reassemble into the Tang Clique and the Qing Dynasty.

The remainder of the year saw the Partition of the HAE between Raritania and Legio Caesaris in the immediate aftermath of TUI's return, the outbreak of the Anarchist War, and the subsequent Great American War as the various Anarchist uprisings in the east coincided with New France's war against Legio.

#### 2093

Raritania underwent a great transformation in 2093. Early in the year it participated in the Rimskayan War on the side of the Coalition forces, assiting the air bombardment of Rimskaya and leading the ground invasion alongside TUI.

Later that year, Raritania entered a period of great instability referred to as the Raritanian Civil War. Communist-Secessionist insurgents had been frequently rising up in the Bedlandic territorries for months, and eventually attempted to establish a breakaway state, the Bedlandic People's Republic. The republic was swiftly crushed, with Raritania simultaneously participating in the La Plata War- a conflict that saw Raritania's only use of nuclear weapons in war, when 2 10kt tactical nuclear missiles were fired at Cruzeiro in retaliation for the Cruzeiron nuking of La Plata.

Shortly afterwards, a second communist uprising occured, a much larger one, with a radiological bombing in the capital, Sox-Plac province *de facto* seceding, and rebellions across the Bedlandic Territorries. This uprising was also crushed, albeit more slowly, and is generally referred to as the civil war proper.

Towards the end of the year, with the uprisings crushed, Raritania rapidly stabilized, acquiring land in northern Utah after the collapse of the RoDevnian Empire that would later form the core of the DSAR, while also allowing a HAE rump state to regain independence from the MWAR.

#### 2094

Raritania spent most of 2094 at peace, acquiring the remainder of the DSAR (then nearly twice its present size). However, towards the end of the year, Raritania intervened in the 2nd Kolakian Civil War.

#### 2095

In 2095 Raritania frequently intervened abroad; it fought a brief air/sea war with Areulia over the UPE presence in Fiji, participated in an aerial blitz of the Kasa Free State alongside TUI and the AFR in retaliation for KFS support for Kolakian rebels, and engaged in the Mundusian Conflict, bombarding Mundusian Franz Josef, seizing "Core Mundusia" off its own coast on the first day of the war, and engaging in a protracted naval campaign against Mundus in the pacific. These conflicts were followed up by further intervention in the AFR against a group known as the Black League.

#### 2096

Beginning in late 2095 Raritania began rapidly acquiring colonies and naval bases abroad, twice bringing it to the brink of war with other nations; its annexation of the Balleny Islands nearly sparked a TUA-ZukAreVic war, whilst its annexation of Cabinda nearly started a conflict with the GSA. Both times, however, tensions were defused by compromise treaties.

## Politics

Raritania's government is an authoritarian republic; a small "Lower Council" of 12 elected representatives oversees day-to-day legislation, but they are subordinate to an "Upper Council" of 8 appointed heads of departments that is itself subordinate to the President. The President is appointed by a Combined Council from among their number upon the death or resignation of the previous president. The first (and current) president, Memem Aster, also has the honorable title of Founder, as he is the founder of Raritania. Raritania has moderate levels of percieved and actual corruption at the lower-mid levels, but the high government is relatively corruption-free.

## Economy

Raritania's economy is largely laissez-faire capitalist, though some large corporations are favored by the government which works in cooperation with them, particularly Ongon Teknolojy and Molybdenum Mining Corporation, which cooperate with the Raritanian Department of Defense; the former is even owned by a government member, Rigan Dufles of Nantucket. Raritania has a GDP of 5.5 Trillion Orbis Notes as of 2095, putting it in the top 10 global economies. The dominant industries are the Mining Defense, Digital, Robotics, and Aeronautics industries.

## Diplomacy

Raritania is a founding member of the League of American Nations. It is also a founding member of TUA, which also contains Kolakia, the AFR, Scotland, the UPE, and China, and protects the AFK and Hyperterra.

Raritania is also a member of TUI's JGP, and in addition has a separate MDP with The United Imperium. Raritania also has individual MDPs with La Plata, Sedrosia, and Poland, and cooperates occasionally with Britain despite intermittently rocky relations. Raritania has a JGP with Western Scarborough on the island of Barbados.

Raritania has NAPs with the members of the Gabon Security Accords, and with the UES.

Raritania has a special relationship with Superior, a microstate on an island in lake Superior governed by Sturgeon Paramilitary Company.

## Military

The Raritanian Military is one of the most powerful in North America and the western hempisphere, on par with Cruzeiro, somewhat ahead of Novist, and only behind TUI itself. The Raritanian Military has over 1 million active duty personnel across its many branches, of which by far the largest is the army. Raritania's air force is one of the most technologically advanced in the world, fielding jets like the BF-x, BB-x, and BQ-x series of aircraft.

Raritania is a nuclear power with an arsenal of over 200 tactical nuclear weapons, about 50 strategic nuclear weapons, and an undisclosed number of so-called "mini-nukes" with yields of less than 1 kiloton, to be used in "nuclear carpet-bombing" should the need arise.