Zakistan

**The United Lands of Zakistan** (**ULZ**) (Russglish: ***Soyedin Zemli Zakyiztana***) is a country located in eastern Ailou. It is a presidential republic consisting of 7 subdivisions called Lands, led by a President elected every 4 years. The capital is Novy-Jjork, and the country harbors a small population of 8 million. This population is 80% ethnic Zaks, with Korlans, Kongolians, Friedlichians, Xetenatans and the indigenous Meagan minority making up the rest. The currency is the Z-Dollar, and the official language is Russglish. To the north, south and east is the Peecific ocean, while the northwest borders Xetenatu.

## History

The Zaks were organized by a man named Zakhar I approximately 5,000 years ago. It is not known who the Zaks were before that or where they were. Their homeland, original language, time on Ulina, and ethnicity is debatable. The most popular theory places their homeland in Kanita, but no one knows for sure. For a very long time, Zaks have been nomads, meeting doom and gloom wherever they’ve tried to settle.

Zakhar started a Zak royal family that had 69 kings in total, lasting around 5,000 years. Many of these Kings have been lost to time. The last king, Zakimir LXIX, led the Zaks to an uninhabited peninsula that would become Zakistan. He was overthrown by the Zaks and replaced with an elected President, a man named Zakerovich who had led the uprising. President Zakerovich helped write the Zak Constitution and applied for international recognition from Ulina’s UN. The application was accepted in 2045. Official borders for Zakistan were drawn up by the UNU, including a close uninhabited island the Zaks hadn’t even known was there.

One of the first major events in Zakistan was the discovery of the Voz Strait Scrolls, ancient scrolls found in the waters in between the Lands of Sestriya and Golostiya. For a very long time, the government wouldn't say what was in the Scrolls. A flashback revealed that Zakerovich has seen the Scrolls' contents, and whatever was in them drove him to tyranny. The Scrolls were last seen with Zakerovich as he disappeared.

Recently, the Land of Boliya clashed with the Zakistani Government. A long-running debate in Zakistan is if the country should expand into said land; thr government has always ignored these suggestions. Many of these imperialists against Zakerovich moved to Boliya, and decided if they could make their own laws, they could expand as far as they want. The Bol population was given a vote by the Government, resulting in 89% of the Bol voting yes. However, Zakerovich vetoed the vote with an executive order in a shocking and uncharacteristic move. This resulted in protests still going on today.

Shortly after, General Zakman, Head General of Zakistan, went missing, along with his family. Zakerovich officially put out an announcement saying his close pal Zakman had killed himself with three shots to the back of the head, and his family was privately mourning indefinitely. Zakman was replaced with the popular General Zaksch.

Those events caused much concern and conspiracy across Zakistan. The Zakistanis became convinced that something fishy was going on. In response, Zakerovich mass-produced propaganda to nationalize the people. The Zupreme Court ruled this violated the constitution, but the court was abolished by Zakerovich before they could call him to trial.

This enraged the people, who raided Zakerovich's Residence. As Zakerovich escaped, he ordered General Zaksch to unleash his army of police robots. The Robots ended up going haywire and spreading their chaos across the country. For over 5 months, Zakistan was in a state of apocalypse. The President was missing, everyone was dying, and forces local and foreign could barely make a dent in the Killer Robot population. Even worse, the now-sentient Robots were hatching a plan to take over all of Ulina!

Eventually, a group of soldiers found Zakerovich hiding in the ruins of his home. He confessed that he built the Robots with the help of the Scrolls. The Scrolls themselves were a warning that Zakistan was in danger, and one day, the Zaks would be killed by an extinction event brought on by their own division. Zakerovich pushed nationalist propaganda to encourage unity and division, in the hopes of delaying the foretold extinction. The Scrolls had instructions on how to build an ancient race of soldiers, which ended up being the Killer Robots. All of this was because Zakerovich thought he was doing the right thing.

After the soldiers and Zakerovich battled and killed a Security Bot, the Bot's remains blasted a laser into the sky that attracted both the soldiers and robots to the beam. Finally, everyone on every side was together. This resulted in an all-out final battle, later known as the Battle of Novy-Jjork. The Killer Robots ended up losing, and Zakistan won.

The millions of dead Zaks were revived by a once-in-a-millennium spell from a powerful Kripti named Magiknik. The Zaks were so grateful they elected Magiknik as the second President of Zakistan. Zakerovich was imprisoned for his crimes but escaped, and hasn't been seen since sailing into the Peecific. The Scrolls were revealed to be fakes, forged for unknown reasons. Their author has not been located. The country has been mostly rebuilt by now. Under President Magiknik's fair rule, Zakistan is a free and safe democracy again.

Zaksch also ended up surviving the apocalypse and was reinstated by Magiknik as Head General, then promoted to Vice President. Although he may possibly have something bigger up his sleeves...

## Geography

Zakistan is located on the Volsh Peninsula and Golostiya Island, separated by the Voz Strait and surrounded by the Peecific in southeast Ailou. A lot of the country is very forested, except for the handful of big cities. As it’s in the Southern Hemisphere, the higher up you go, the hotter it gets. Yuzh and Bol enjoy snowy winters while Perls enjoy hot summers. Though Golostiya is more down south, it maintains a tropical climate due to being an island.

## Culture

The origins of Zakistan’s official language, Russglish, is unknown, but is nevertheless called the language of the Zaks. The language reflects all of Zak culture, a mix of Slavic and Germanic cultures. Dialects and ideals vary greatly by land, but unity and teamwork is still heavily pushed in Zakistan. When polled, Zakistan ranks highly in patriotism, unity and support of isolationism.

The National Anniversarial Day (*Natzinal Yubiley Dyen*) is celebrated with no school, no work, and partying all day. A governmental parade takes place in Novy-Jjork, while a more popular unofficial parade takes place in the southern city of Voskresk.

## Trivia

- The name "Zakistan" was chosen because my surname is Zak. And that like, rhymes with Pakistan. Get it? You get it.

- Zakerovich's early appearances closely resembled 46th US President Joe Biden.

- Z-Pop is a subgenre of pop music that is very popular in Zakistan. It is also the 5th most popular music genre in the separate nation of Nordgis.

- The Zaks' design was inspired from *Animal Crossing*'s Bob until I realized the resemblance to the Czunglishmen. Instead, the Zaks were visually changed to resemble the Lyman character from the same franchise.

- The national anthem of Zakistan is the song "*Techno Syndrome*" from *Mortal Kombat: The Album*.