Sovonthak

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8% Spanish

**Sovonthak** (formerly the **Vaskodam Republic**) is a country that is so-called a "floating nation". The country is mainly submerged underwater, with the majority of the population living on hover locks. The capital is Santo Chay, which is the only dry portion of the entire country. The largest region is Baia Trey, having a population of 8,000. In 2019, they got their independence, and was the last surviving Spanish overseas territory.

Since almost all of the nation is underwater, they do not have any airports. However, they have one seaplane dock on Baia Trey, Baia Trey International Dock. They also have 2 seaports, both on the capital. Which are the North and South Sampongang Taki Port.

## History

To start Sovonthak, it took a lot of trading with Thailand. It all started with the Khmer empire, which was ruled by King Suryavarman II who had dreams to expand further into the unknown west.

Since the Cambodians were more focused on land transport, they hired the local sea nomads (or the Moken people) to explore and claim new territory for them. The Mokens agreed at first but then realized that they were exploring land that they don't get to keep. They then decided to just never report back to the Cambodians if they found any land and lay low for a couple centuries.

By the time the Sovonthakis established, the Kamaya empire fell into civil wars in the Thai kingdoms. From there, they were cut off from their commissioner.

## Geography

Sovonthak is located in right in the middle of Andaman Sea, just above the Malacca Strait. Being located between Thailand and Indonesia, it is made of 8 shallow, underwater reef atolls, ranging from 3-6 meters deep. The 8 atolls are basically the 8 regions of the country, including the capital Santo Chay, which sits on the only dry-land above sea level, on an island. The island is only about a 1/2 kilometer in size, and is right in the middle of all of the reefs.

Due to the lack of dry land, most of the population lives on elevated stilt-homes, and massively anchored, yet mobile, sea vessels known as "hoverlocks". The most populated reef is Baia Trey, with a population of about 8,000 people. If you include the entire surface area of the nation however, then Sovonthak has an area of about 600,000 km2.

There is no airports, as there is virtually no land, however on Baia Trey, they have the only seaplane dock, Baia Trey International Dock. There is also two ports, that the majority of cargo and passenger ships arrive in, both on Santo Chay, the North and South Sampongang Taki Ports, which also hosts the customs office and storage facility. The ports are also where most travel between the other 7 atolls begin and end. Santo Chay is also home to the head of state, known as the "Patron Chief", as well as most offices of administration.

The highest elevation of Sovonthak is ony two meters above sea eve on Chay Island, which aso has the only inland body of freshwater, the small Chay Pond, which also holds nearly all of the country's freshwater reserve.

### Animals

Most of the animals in Sovonthak, are marine species, such as the angelfish and orca. However, Sovonthak has their own native species to Sovonthak, called the malacca beaver, known for their incredibly long tails, and a single horn extending from their nasal cavities, which gives them the nickname "The Unicorn of the Sea". The national animal is the Shallow blobfish.

### Sngot Season

*Main article: Sngot Season*
Every year, they go through the Sngot Season, in which for about 2 weeks, the tidal patterns push back the ocean exposing the reef below with a wide lush mud flat. Once the mud flats are exposed, the whole country goes wild for the Nakanini, which not only is it a luxury consumable product, but it's also used in cosmetics and can go up to ~$20,000/kg during off season. Luckily, most animals avoid the fruit, which leaves humans a much better chance for harvesting.

## Food

Sovonthak has had to mainly depend on resources available to them.

## Government

The country is run by a government system called the "Patron commitee" in which the tribal leaders (or patrons) of each atoll is allowed to rule as head of state rotating every two years. The current head of state of Sovonthak is chief Iga SantoKramh, who single-handedly led the country to its independence from Spain in 2019.