Costa Azul

**Costa Azul** is a small island country roughly twelve square miles in area located in the Bay of Sharks on the eastern coast of Gimp Island. The government maintains that Costa Azul was never a tribal state of Kawanda but was always an independent state. Jeremany, a noted American businessman, led a revolt against the Hughe Shark, the previous office, and upon seizing power established himself as the island's duke and formally declared independence from Kawanda. The independence declaration greatly angered Kawanda, which began a military campaign in an effort to retake the island. Even after multiple heated standoffs and the burning of flags, neither side has been met with success.

The capital of Costa Azul is in the only city on the island, Stackhughes.

The state operates with a constitutional monarchy, with all power vested in Prince Jeremany Hughes. On the international stage, Costa Azul is both praised as a people seeking self-determination and vilified as a dictatorial renegade state.

After being pressured by the various states inhabiting Gimp Island, Duke Jeremany withdrew Costa Azul from international affairs. Jeremany then revised his military and made reforms to the treaties with other Gimp Island countries. On April 23, 2018, Costa Azul rejoined the international and reclaimed full control of the island. The government has asserted that Costa Azul nows aims to not incite conflict among other nations. However, they will not shy away from direct a direct assault on Costa Azul or its people.

## International Relations

The Yonkage has been known to be both supportive of and in opposition to Costa Azul, as has Koropistrano. The sovereign nation of Klaus has not been known to make a formal public statement supporting or condemning the country. The island has also begun exporting their rare form of Ginseng which is harvested in the Ginseng Forest. Their great yields of Genting has provided them with great economic success. However, their global economic interactions and relationships are heavily dependent on this one crop. Therefore, if the Ginseng Forest fails to yield the desired export orders, the Azulanders global economy could be at high risk.

## Before Duke Jermany

From about 2000 BCE up until 1553 native Azulanders had maintained full control of their island. Throughout the 8th century and even up until about the 17th century, the natives lived in rather primitive shelters constructed of natural materials that are found on the island. For this span of time the Azulanders lived very peacfully, they feasted off of the plentiful amounts of bananas, cocoa, wild boar, and many other foods found on the island. Life was simple for the Azulanders, up until 1553. This year marks a dark time in the island's history. That was the year the Spanish conquistadors seized the island and exploited it. The tunneled deep into the core of the islands and forced the natives to extract the gold that lied beneath. The Spanish controlled Costa Azul up until the mid-18th century. They abandoned all affairs they had in Costa Azul as the Spanish Imperial Empire began to decline in the early 1700s. The Spanish left the island in shambles and extracted almost all of the gold and other natural resources.

## Industrialization and Globalization in the 21st century

After the spanish abandonded Costa Azul in the 18th century, the native Azulanders repaired the damages caused by the spanish and returned to their traditional primitive life. Begining in 2017, American business man Jermany visited Costa Azul's beautiful beaches and vast Ginseng Forest. He decided to return a year later and invested in Costa Azul. He first focused on harvesting the plentiful Ginseng Forest which could be sold on the global market as a flavoring and medicinal product. He then used his private funds to construct factories in which they could process the ginseng. As well as creating international markets and business partners for Costa Azul, Jermany also invested in improving beach accessibility and tourism facilities. Hotels were constructed along playa azul and the Azuliander ski resort was established in the Randal Mountains. Today, Costa Azul is a flourishing country with global markets and great accommodations for tourists.

## Underwater Exploration

Costa Azul has recently begun exploring the oceans and seas that surround Gimp Island. They have invested about 1 billion into their underwater exploration program, known as the National Costa Azul Underwater Exploration Federation or "NCAUEF". The NCAUEF has not only made great strides in protecting the marine biology around Gimp Island but has also begun making preparations to explore a vast underwater sea cave located approximately 5 miles from the Bay of Sharks. The NCAUEF scientists have also aided Costa Azul's navy in weaponizing mechanical sharks. These mechanical sharks are currently peacefully co-existing with other marine life in the Bay of Sharks. Although these sharks are harmless to the underwater environment, they provide a crucial point of surveillance around the island and can help spot anomalies and possible threats to Costa Azul. The sharks are equipped with infrared cameras so they are able to stream live footage day and night.

## Government and Military

Costa Azul is a constitutional monarchy that has a board of advisors as well as several branches of government, each keeping the other in line. The Costa Azulian government emulates the U.S. government to a degree, except that supreme power is vested in the Duke. The constitution is also relatively similar to that of the U.S, giving everyone in Costa Azul freedom of speech, press, etc. as well as the right to bear arms. However, contrary to the U.S., Costa Azul has no regulations on what type of firearms civilians can purchase, in fact almost everyone on the island owns a fully automatic assault rifle, because they are vital for home defense. Azulanders are extremely nationalistic and will fight for their country at all costs. The police in Costa Azul rarely face serious threats as crime rates on the island are very low (crime index is about 21.5). Through the days, Costa Azul has built up its military significantly in order to maintain peace as well as dominance over other Gimp Island countries. Their military has 7 tanks, 2 F-22 Raptors (aircraft), 4 warships, and over 5000 ground troops. The latest addition to the Costa Azulian military is the donation of Somalian pirates from the corrupt Somalian government. Due to the large infestation of pirates in Somalia, their government sent 200 of them to be enlisted in the Costa Azul army. Today, these ak-47 toting pirates patrol the area around the island in pontoon boats.

## Primitive Life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4rCOsEbl-M

(clip of azulanders building primitive structures)

## Economy

As previously stated, Costa Azul is a massive provider of the world's ginseng crop and they have many connections in the global market. Another large portion of the county's economic prosperity and wealth derives from mining and distributing sea gold. Although almost all of Costa Azul's land-based gold was extracted by the Spanish, the seas surrounding Costa Azul are still filled with large amounts of gold. The NCAUEF has assisted with the extraction of the gold, creating environmentally friendly ways to obtain the gold and sell it a global market.