The Yonkage

The Republic of the Yonkage is a federal republic located on the remote Gimp Island in the Northern Pacific Ocean. It covers approximately 2,000 square miles of land and borders the independent states of Koropistrano and Kawanda. The capital of the Yonkage is Kelänsen. In 2015 the census recorded a population of approximately 760,000. Currently the majority language of the Yonkage is English; the native tongue of the area, Yonkastic, has been driven almost to extinction and is currently undergoing a crash rehabilitation program. The country gained de facto independence from the United Kingdom following a lengthy war of independence which the independence fighters won in early 1941. Formal independence was obtained at the end of 1941 through the Treaty of Senkäla.

The Republic of the Yonkage is a fiercely democratic state, with the citizens having the ultimate authority on the adoption of all measures drafted by the legislature. The government is quite large, with an annual budget of $15.8 billion USD, almost 43% of the country's GDP. An implementation of the single transferable vote safeguards a flourishing multiparty democracy. The Yonkage employs a welfare state model similar to the Nordic system, with high taxes compensated for by free education through the college level and a world-class public healthcare system. At the same time, a competitive market economy is regulated by the government to ensure proper business ethics and worker rights. Despite these more socialist tendencies, the fundamental nature of the country is capitalist, and it has been attempting to enter OECD since 2003. A flourishing indigenous space program has solidified national unity and pride.

However, the Yonkage does face many issues. Corruption in government does exist, although it is severely weakened by the highly democratic nature of the country. Tensions with other Gimp Island countries have flared up periodically, threatening the Yonkage with war time and time again. The country is very depolarized politically, with most of the population agreeing on most issues.

Prehistory
Gimp Island was colonized by the ancestors of the present denizens of the Yonkage in the eleventh century BCE. The migrants are presently believed to have originated in eastern Siberia; however, more research is needed. They made landfall in the southwestern region of Gimp Island, a region now known as the 'Western Reaches', and diverged into two separate groups. The first group clung to the southwestern shores of the island and fished in the rich seas. The secondary group moved inland and adopted an agricultural lifestyle. The two groups traded amongst themselves, but the rugged crags of the Western Reaches prevented any meaningful communication between the various valleys.

Steady advancements in shipbuilding and the serendipitous development of the wheel allowed for the rise of trade routes during the seventh century CE, resulting in the connection of the three valleys the dominated the Western Reaches for the first time. Trade increased the rate of technological development, but population remained constant and little specialization of labor occurred, largely because of the harsh climate of the Western Reaches.

Early History
Sometime during the late tenth century CE a local rise in temperatures led to increased agricultural output and a surge in productivity of the fisheries. The brief warming period also witnessed the development of irrigation. While the meltwaters from the jagged mountains had already watered their crops, this development increased the effectiveness of farmers by as much as seventy percent. Shipbuilders were also able to invest more time in innovation and eventually created larger and more durable hulls that dramatically increased the rate of seafood production.

The food surplus allowed for specialization of labor and increased technological development. Subsequently, the early eleventh century saw the first rise of Yonkastic Runes. The runic system rapidly spread throughout the three valleys. Along with the food surplus and the rise of specialized labor, the system of runes allowed for the creation of larger-scale settlements and eventually large city-states with complex governments. It is believed that the most populous city-states had populations of up to 120,000 people.

The Classical Period (1250 CE - 1690 CE)
However, the warming period did not last forever. Written records attest that temperatures had dropped back to pre-warming levels by 1250 CE. The resulting struggle for food and other resources ultimately led to what was referred to as the Seventy Years' War. The war and the concurrent famine are believed to have led to the deaths of tens of thousands of people in a truly massive humanitarian crisis.

The main consequence of the Seventy Years' War was the rise of the valley alliances. Literacy rates had soared during the previous century, allowing for the mass dissemination of information. In this case, the governments of city-states sponsored well-known authors to pen scathing denunciations of the "barbarians" from the other valleys. This phenomenon occurred in every city-state, and the denunciations make up the most well-known documentation of thirteenth and fourteenth century politics.

Thus, the war, and the faction formation that it caused, resulted in the destruction of many city-states. Before the war, the Käl Valley had been occupied by the city-states of Toäk, Pelkän, Doäth, and Findäk. Only Toäk and Findäk survived the conflict. The Thwest Valley saw an even greater level of destruction. Chelmüth, Onäth, Sendik, Kelänsen, Mengäk, and Kiländel marched inward from the sea before the war. Chelmüth and Kelänsen were the only city-states that persisted. In the Okth Valley, the city-states of Senkäla and Ethgäl both survived the war, but they lost their preeminent status.

The surviving city-states eventually united under the reign of King Toklük of Kelänsen in 1345 CE. Toklük headed a monarchial government known as the Kingdom of Üthelküch. In the dialect of Yonkastic spoken by residents of the Thwest valley, this literally means "Kingdom of the Reaches". The government of this kingdom was structured around three provinces. Each province occupied a single valley and paid tribute to the king in Kelänsen. Aside from that, the provinces were largely self-governed and the cities in those provinces even more so, except for Kelänsen, which was directly ruled by the king. This government was very stable and existed right up until the Europeans arrived in the late seventeenth century.

European Rule (1700 CE - 1934 CE)
The European arrival severely destabilized the Kingdom. European merchants were able to draw Senkäla, Chelmüth, and Toäk into a collection of free cities that were more open to trade. The resulting civil war pitted the interior cities against the coastal ones backed by Europeans and led to great loss of life and property. The Kingdom, significantly weakened, did not survive into the eighteenth century. European powers then formally annexed the Yonkage, with Britain, France, and the Netherlands seizing the Käl, Thwest, and Okth valleys, respectively.

For almost a century and a half, the Yonkage remained divided between the various European powers. However, the Napoleonic Wars saw France evicted from the Yonkage. Britain took the Thwest valley from France. Affairs were largely stable until the end of the First World War, when the Netherlands handed over its holdings in the Okth valley to Britain.

The Yonkastic War of Liberation (1934 CE - 1941 CE)
Main article: Yonkastic War of Liberation

The First World War and the subsequent Great Depression catalyzed ballooning anti-British sentiment. Peaceful self-determination movements sprung up in all of the major cities. As the Depression wore on without relief, the various movements aggregated into the Yonkastic Independence Front (Yonkachit Ükenth än Sinyäd) in late 1932 under the leadership of the British-educated Dr. Nemek Ütollech.

This relatively peaceful state of affairs continued until the 1933 assassination of Dr. Ütollech. The Yonkastic Independence Front seized the opportunity and organized a series of rallies throughout the colony protesting British rule. These rallies were violently suppressed by the British, inciting the Front to declare independence on August 2, 1934. Every city in the Yonkage evicted British troops and civilians and seized their property.

The British responded by launching a military attack on their rebellious colony. With the exception of Kelänsen, they captured the major cities one by one over a span of a few months. A lengthy conflict followed in which the Yonkastic Independence Front transformed into the Yonkastic Liberation Army (Yonkächit Päntalech ith Sinyädthen) and waged guerrilla war against the British.

Eventually, the advent of the Second World War prevented the British from committing their full resources to the struggle, and the Yonkastic Liberation Army finally succeeded in defeating them at the Battle of Senkäla on April 30, 1941. Ultimately the British decided to move out of the Yonkage, and the Treaty of Senkäla was signed six months later on November 17, 1941.

Drafting the Constitution (1941 CE - 1942 CE)
After the British withdrew, the Yonkastic Independence Front instituted a provisional government. The sole purpose of this government was to administer the country until a Constitution could be drawn up for the young nation. This task took up most of the first half of 1942 and saw the Yonkage declare its official neutrality in the Second World War. Eventually a constitution was agreed upon that made the state a federal parliamentary republic. The constitution was adopted in a nationwide referendum held on April 23, 1942, and elections for all positions were held two weeks later.

World War II and the Early Cold War (1942 CE - 1972 CE)
Immediately after its full independence, the Yonkage began courting the United States of America in pursuit of an alliance or special relationship. Many Yonkastic citizens had looked up to the example of the American Revolutionary War during their independence struggle and hoped to gain acceptance by the state that they viewed as their philosophical predecessor. To this end, the Yonkage began providing subtle aid to the American war effort, mainly in the form of natural resources. In return, the Americans helped to improve the Yonkage's infrastructure. After assembling a navy, the Yonkage ultimately declared war on the Empire of Japan in 1944, and two Chänkanel-class frigates participated in the Battle of Leyte Gulf and supported the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. With the war's end, however, the country grew more isolationist.

On September 17, 1954, a Soviet-sponsored coup d'etat installed a pro-Soviet military junta in the Yonkage. The Constitution was suspended and at least a thousand civilians and anti-coup military personnel were killed. In response, the leaders of the erstwhile Fifth Congress (which had been elected in June of that year) appealed to the United States for aid. The Americans were all too eager to assist, and the countercoup occurred on March 17, 1955 - exactly 6 months after the Soviet-sponsored coup. The Fifth Congress was restored in short order and the country returned to democratic rule, this time very pro-American and anti-Soviet.

The Yonkage provided support for American policies during the early Cold War, using its vote in the United Nations to advance American interests. The country continued to support American policy interests and actions up until 1972, when the pro-American Liberal Party lost by a landslide largely attributed to the publication of the Pentagon Papers the previous year, which annihilated Yonkastic support of American actions in Vietnam. The new Conservative coalition led the country away from world affairs toward a policy of isolationism.

The Late Cold War (1972 CE - 1996 CE)
Following the Conservative victory in the 1972 elections, the Yonkage began investing heavily in infrastructure. The next twenty years saw the country's GDP triple, even as its population saw an increase of only 30% or so. A network of high-capacity highways connected the various cities in each valley and connected the valleys by way of mountain passes. Resource extraction became a less dominant sector of the economy, which expanded to include an entrenched technology sector. The transition to a post-industrial society was marked by most economists as taking place around the mid 1990s.

This focus on internal development saw the Yonkage withdraw from most international affairs, even as a succession of highly skilled Foreign Secretaries played the US and USSR off each other while sneaking provisions for financial aid to the country into UN resolutions of all ilks. In short, the Yonkage used diplomacy to aid its internal development, even while minimizing expenditures on international affairs.

The Modern Era (1996 CE - Present)
After the Communist Party swept the 1996 elections with a coalition of nationalist and far-left political parties, the Yonkastic government took a much more involved role in its citizens' lives. Universal healthcare was expanded and streamlined, though it was substantially improved over the course of the next decade. The education system was revitalized, accelerating the transition of the Yonkage to a post-industrial society. The Yonkastic Space Agency (YSA) was created in 1999, solidifying national pride and support for the Communist-led coalition government.

The tax hikes that allowed for this uptick in federal spending led many political elements throughout the country to rally around the Conservative and Liberal Parties, which took back the Congress in 2002. The Conservatives were able to assemble a coalition government focused on cutting federal spending. This led to the gutting of the YSA, which the Liberal Party made the primary object of their successful 2008 recapture of Congress.

The parliamentary system of the Yonkage prevented any one party from being able to force legislation down the country's collective throat, eventually resulting in widespread acceptance of many of the Communist Party's reforms to healthcare and education. The Communist Party remained mostly irrelevant, though, especially due to its close relationship with autocratic countries such as Russia and China.

The Yonkage was severely impacted by the 2008 financial crisis, but aggressive government spending programs were able to restore GDP growth and reduce unemployment to normal levels within six months.

The next decade saw the Yonkage resume its space program, putting a person in orbit for the first time in late October 2015. When no party was able to assemble a majority coalition after the 2017 elections, the Conservative and Liberal Parties agreed to divide control of the country, with the Conservatives handling international affairs and the Liberals domestic ones. This arrangement has resulted in a remarkable decrease in political polarization. All legislative proposals have either passed with more than a two-thirds majority or failed abjectly, and Supreme Yonk Oliksten has united most of the major political parties behind him. This has led to the coining of the term Onesten ith Ükyon, the Era of National Unity.

Geography
The Republic of the Yonkage occupies the southwestern portion of Gimp Island, dominating the region known as the Western Reaches. The Reaches are a rugged area, with jagged peaks separated by deep glacial valleys. Presently, all three of these valleys are occupied by rivers. From north to south, the valleys are the Käl, the Thwest, and the Okth. These three valleys all originate as arms of Mount Ändoleth. Ändoleth is the highest mountain in the Yonkage (and on Gimp Island), standing roughly 13,000 feet above sea level. The mountain, its satellites, and the upper reaches of the Käl and Thwest valleys are all incorporated into the High Reaches National Park. No other parks exist in the Yonkage, but the vast tracts of rugged mountains and the highly urbanized nature of the country mean that much of it is a trackless wilderness.

Government Structure
The Republic of the Yonkage is a federal parliamentary republic. Its government is centered on the unicameral legislature, known as Congress or Änletaküsht. Separate from the legislature is the court system, known as the Federal Court or Üntängüda. Officials of both branches are elected on a regular basis, and all citizens 18 and older are required to vote, while those 16 and older are allowed to vote. The taxes used to punish those who do not vote are graduated by income, and are so punitive that turnout rates approach 95 percent in all elections.

Elections at the national level are based on a constituency system. The fifty-one constituencies are each entitled to four legislators and one local judge. These constituencies are adjusted after every census to ensure that each constituency has a population roughly equal to that of every other constituency.

At an altogether different level are the provinces, of which there are three (one for each valley). Provinces serve as local governments and are protected in this respect by the constitution, but are required to abide by certain federal statutes. In all other respects, though, they operate as states within a larger state, complete with constitutions and laws of their own.

The provinces have always been less influential at the federal level than the states of the United States, reflecting the general belief that the central government should always have the power to intervene and protect the citizens of the provinces. Recent years, however, have seen further power transfer from the provinces to the constituencies and their citizens.

The People's Council
The Yonkage employs a unicameral Congress as its legislature. It currently has two hundred and four seats, though this number is expected to grow following the 2020 census. The Council elects the Supreme Yonk (equivalent to a Prime Minister in other countries), who acts as both the head of state and the head of government. The Supreme Yonk is entitled to appoint other members of Congress as secretaries to staff the various government organs, though they and their secretaries are answerable to the Congress and may be removed from office with ease.

The primary purpose of Congress is determining the domestic and international policies of the Yonkage. While the Supreme Yonk has broad latitude in international affairs, the Congress is still able to affect policy decisions to an extent. The result is that the Supreme Yonk and Congress work together as much as possible for the sake of efficiancy.

The Judgment Halls
In addition to Congress, the Yonkage has a judicial branch, which is also elected. In practice, most elections are fairly noncompetitive, but close elections do occur every ten years or so in most constituencies. The judges of a province convene every few years to elect their province's delegation to the Federal Court, which is equivalent to the Supreme Court or Constitutional Court of other countries and is responsible for striking down legislation contrary to the Constitution. This is the most important role of the Provinces in the federal government by far. Most cases begin in the lower courts, but many cases can and do make their way to the Federal Court, which has heard almost 17,000 cases in its 70-odd years of operation.

Political Parties
The framers of the Yonkastic Constitution had many examples of democracies to work with when fleshing out their ideas, and accounted for political parties in the Constitution. While the concept is not mentioned by name, the Congress is designed in such a way that it is exceedingly difficult for one party to force its agenda; this is helped by the use of the Single Transferable Vote in all elections, and by the fact that constituencies are redrawn in such a way as to eliminate all possibility of gerrymandering. The result is a multiparty democracy with five major parties (Liberal, Conservative, Democratic, Socialist, and Communist) competing for electoral dominance. After the Communist Party nearly collapsed in the aftermath of the 2002 elections, the Liberals and Conservatives assumed more dominant roles in the country, but the growth of the Democratic Party and resurgence of the Communist Party in the 2017 elections have decreased this lead. Together, the 'big five' only account for 80 percent of the seats in Congress, with the rest divided among almost a dozen minor parties on all sides of the political spectrum.

The Liberal Party primarily advocates for an active foreign policy and investment in domestic infrastructure and is very fiscally liberal, while the Conservatives are generally more isolationist and focused on building up a treasury surplus. The two often compliment each other, with the Liberals working with the Conservatives to build up the Treasury when the latter are in power, and using that expanded Treasury to finance their development and foreign policy programs. The Liberals hold 25 percent of Congress, while the Conservatives control 21 percent.

The Democratic Party is best described as 'populist,' focused on appeal to younger voters and moving the Yonkage closer and closer to direct democracy. The party's founders have described it as "Jacksonian" in nature. Currently the Democrats hold 16 percent of Congress, and that percentage has been steadily growing since the 2011 elections.

The Socialist Party has focused on expansion of social welfare, accentuated tax brackets, and the like ever since its founding in 1965. It held a majority in Congress from 1990 to 1993 and has been slipping ever since, though it reclaimed some lost ground in the wake of the 2002 elections, only to begin losing it again in the 2008 elections. Currently it claims seven percent of Congress.

The Communist Party was founded in 1984 as a party promoting greater equality in all respects and stole the Socialist Party's platform in the 1993 elections, eventually assembling a governing coalition in 1996 with a variety of nationalist and far-left parties. After its defeat in the 2002 elections the party's new leader refocused the party on social justice, a platform under which it has grown to occupy 11 percent of the Congress.

The Conservative and Liberal Parties are the only parties with a variety of different goals that they are in pursuit of, while the other parties focus on individual issues or a small group of related goals. This disciplined approach to crafting party platforms has resulted in a society that is uniquely depolarized politically.

Demographics
The Republic of the Yonkage was home to 761,584 people as of the 2015 census; 759,967 of these were Yonkastic citizens. The population growth rate for the last fifty years has been in a slow decline, averaging 0.51% per year from 2010 to 2015.

The Yonkage is highly urbanized. Approximately 200,000 people lived in the capital of Kelänsen over 42 square miles as of the 2015 census. Another 500,000 people lived in the other major cities, the largest of which are currently Toäk (pop. 146,000) and Senkäla (pop. 103,000). Roughly 50,000 of the remainder live scattered throughout the valleys engaged in farming, while the rest of the population live in the high mountains, including roughly a hundred people who live in the Üngedsän.

Language
The national language of the Yonkage is defined as Yonkastic in Section I of the Second Amendment to the Constitution, which was passed by the Fourth Congress right before the end of its session in 1954. The country's education programs have consequently focused on aggressively promoting fluency in the language, even while the Yonkastic Language Academy worked to rebuild the language's lexicon. This has met with tremendous success, with every single registered citizen of the Yonkage being at least conversational in Yonkastic. Many proposals to make fluency a requirement for citizenship have failed in Congress, however, and no citizen initiatives to do the same have met with success thus far.

Regardless of the status of Yonkastic, English is still widely used, a relic from colonial days, and at least 80% of the population is bilingual. For example, the official copy of the Constitution is in English, a notable contrast with the Yonkastic Declaration of Independence, which was written in Yonkastic.