Sekowo

Sekowo (Kunikata: セコヲ), officially the Federal Empire of Sekowo (Rengō no Sekouo Teikoku), is a nation located on the continent of Dovani. It is bordered by Hulstria and Gao-Soto to the north, Lourenne to the south-west and Argos to the east.

History
Sekowan history is split into several periods: Ancient, Classic, Colonial, Union, Aretic, Commonwealth, First Empire, Second Commonwealth, Second Empire, and Third Empire. Sekowo has no one original peoples, but rather has been comprised of many different cultures and civilizations.

However, while Sekowo has been the home to many different cultures, Sekowan history has only been primarily influenced by three of them. The Orinco culture of the ancient coastal city-states is the oldest indigenous Sekowan civilization, and its influence can be seen in Bizena, Lorrod, and to a lesser extent North-West Undarro. The Kunihito people, part of the Gao-Showa metaethnicity, and their ancestors have lived in the region for over a thousand years, however as Sekowo marked the southernmost part of the Empire of Gao-Soto, Gao-Showan influence has historically been limited to Hasowar and South-East Undarro. The colonial period and mixed marriages have led to the development of the third major culture, the Sécowonnais. Another culture that was historically important, but whose relevance is now minimal, was the Nordic Sørna, a group related to Kazulians, who primarily influenced North-East regions of Sekowo, and the result of their presence can be seen the most in Hikhala.

Although Sekowo was originally unified by the native Orinco Tsekwon Empire, it became part of the Empire of Gao-Soto in the 14th century. After having become a colony of Egelion and later Rildanor in the early modern age, Sekowo gained her independence in 2193, beginning the Union period. Between 2402 and 2436, Sekowo was ruled by a totalitarian ideology, Aretism. The Aretist regime collapsed in 2436, after the First Sekowan Civil War, beginning the Commonwealth era after four years of transition.

The Commonwealth era is considered to have started in the year 2440, though Sekowo did not use Commonwealth in its name until several decades after this. The era is one of the longest and encompasses great political change, civil and external war and the growth of Sekowo's territory to its modern size. The Commonwealth era officially ended in 2723 as a result of the massive change in the government from a semi-presidential Federation into a Federal monarchy, the First Sekowan Empire.

In November 2891 after months of internal political conflict and tension, a semi-presidential parliamentary democracy was created unanimously by the Senate. The government of the time set its goal to regain the respect Sekowo once had before its former government collapsed. However, this did not last, as in February 2925 the Second Empire (the Eternal Harmony and Empire Magnificent) was established, which lasted until 2980. This period was also marked by the intensification of ethnic conflict, and was almost entirely covered by civil war. In January 2935 an Orinco Junta seized power in a coup d'etat, and, due to the resurgence of the Eternal Harmony, power was divided in June 2939 between the Junta-ruled Imperial Dominions in the North and the Ishida loyalist Eternal Harmony in the South. The Eternal Harmony officially annexed the Imperial Dominions in February 2958, however there was continued guerrilla warfare by communist insurgents in the North. Between 2964 and 2980, the country participated in what is known as the Great Sekowian War.

Conditions continued to deteriorate for the Empire Magnificent and in September 2980, Yukio Kumiko abdicated the throne and disestablished the empire. Around the same time, Kenji Ishida was installed officially as emperor of Sekowo under the Imperial Federation of Sekowo, which then controlled all of Sekowo. However, in October 3015 several high ranking military officers stormed the Celestial Palace in a bloodless coup and the Ishida family along with the cabinet were overthrown.

Following mass civil disobedience and social unrest the junta was later replaced with the Empress and Celestial Family retaking their positions as Monarch and Imperial family and Democracy restored.

In 3368, another coup removed the Ishidas from power, and installed a Gao-Showan ultranationalist regime, which lasted until August 3386, when the Ishidas were returned to the throne.

Government
The Federative Empire of Sekouo is a Federal Constitutional Monarchy lead, with the Mikado-Tennō as head of state. The powers of the monarchy throughout Sekouan history has differed greatly based on the era, however the monarchy fot he last several centuries has been hihgly influential, mostly indirectly. Often they will represent Sekowo abroad during visits to foreign nations and other royal families. Since it's founding the modern Monarchy has almost always been an Empress, with only a single interruption in which the nation was a Dual-Monarchy as per a special agreement made prior to the restoration of the House of Ishida, however even at this time the Empress was still in power alongside an Emperor.

The Shushō is the head of government and is a partially non-partisan position.

The parliament is the Kokkai, which consists of 700 representatives directly elected by people. These representatives hold the power to form the laws of Sekowo. They also hold the ability to select the national cabinet and the Shushō, the head of government.

Politics
Generally speaking, Sekowo is a liberal-leaning nation, and often its most popular political parties are those that profess progressive, libertarian, and/or pacifist views. While this is true, Sekowo has had instances of rule by far-right parties, such as what was seen in the Empire Magnificent, however these have always been short and have been replaced by long-standing, liberal, democratic governments.

Various measures have been made throughout Sekowan history to curb radical nationalism in the government. Some political ideologies have been banned outright, those being Aretism and Nuncirism. Other techniques used in the past against radicalism have included banning political parties affiliated internationally with organizations (ex. the New World Order and Nova Terra) and establishing a Cordon sanitaire against them.



Military
The Imperial Army of Sekowo (IAS), also known simply as the Imperial Army, is comprised of the Legionary Defence Force, Imperial Air Force, Imperial Navy, and irregular paramilitaries.

Geography & Climate
Sekowo is comprised mostly of three different geographic zones.


 * The Northern part of the country is comprised of high mountains, because of this, the area has a temperate climate in the summer and cold and snowy winters.
 * The middle of the country is comprised of small mountains and mostly hilly terrain. The climate in the area is a mixture of Temperate and Sub-tropic with Summer and Winter temperatures varying year by year, though in all it is a mild and comfortable climate.
 * The Lower South-East of the country is comprised of the Western most part of the Great Dovani plains. The climate in the area tends to be very warm, with summer temperatures reaching as high as 45°C.

Administrative Divisions
The Imperial Federation of Sekowo has a four-tiered government comprised of the prefectures, municipal governments, and the City of Kasmenai.

States
States make up the third level administrative division of Sekowo. Each prefecture is comprised of five states.

States deal with issues primarily effecting the municipalities and settlements within them.

Municipalities
Municipalities make up the fourth and smallest administrative division of Sekowo. Municipalities are primarily made up of large cities, towns, villages, and hamlets that are close by each other.

The number of municipalities in the commonwealth is not concrete due to the regular creation, merging and division of them happening every few years.

Protectorates
Sekowo had protectorates which were sold in March 2874 to the Holy Luthori Empire and in March 2875 to the Federation of Zardugal; Tropica, Argos, Midway and Shiratoku. This decision was overturned by later nationalistic governments, but the protectorates remained under foreign occupation. Gradually, all the former  protectorates have been reoccupied by the Imperial Sekowo Armed Forces, except for the Carina Strip/Teoitan which remains under Luthori administration.

Economy
Sekowo has a mixed economy, as well as a very developed social protection system. After the economically counter-productive Aretist period, Sekowo began a very long and painful process of regulated market liberalization and modernization quite successfully. Following its first decade of post-Aretist government, when the economic situation was disastrous, Sekowo made an impressive recovery, building a modern and diversified economy. Now the country is classified as a middle-income country, with large possibilities for continued development.

The actions of the cabinets during the following decades began to implement a far-reaching program of macroeconomic stabilization and structural reform aimed at maintaining price-stability, creating conditions for sustained growth, and alleviating scarcity are seen as the cause of Sekowo's recent economic growth, as well as the rise of a new dynamic middle-class capable of economic expansion.

The population in extreme poverty has decreased from 54.7% to 1.7% in the general population and from 74.1% to 6.7% in rural areas since the founding of modern Sekowo, and the GDP annual average growth over the long term has averaged 2-7%. Sekowo was a founding member of the Dovani Common Market Area, though it trades with several other countries as well.

In recent years, due to the policies of the current government, the country's economy has been undergoing dramatic liberalization. Some argue that Sekowo no longer has a mixed economy but a fully liberal one. The deregulation of vast sectors of industry as well as easing of capital controls have contributed to the economy's current growth spurt, at an average of 5% a year. Worries persist, however, over indications of increasing inequality as well as a possible erosion of the welfare state.

Demographics
With a population of 99 million, Sekowo is the 6th most populous country in Dovani and 31st in the world. Sekowo's annual population growth has seen substantial increases as well as slower growth periods, however it is currently increasing at a rate of around 2.35% every five years. The average life expectancy is 95 (92 male, 98 female).

Immigration
Sekowo has been historically home to a number of immigrants from the surrounding countries, mostly from Hulstria (10%), Lourenne (10%) and Kazulia (5%). Many of the other significant immigrant groups are from the various territories of Eastern Dovani, including Gao-Showa and Kli'kut.

A growing number of immigrants have come from Talmoria, Vascania and the Kerisian nations.

Ethnicity
Like most nations in Dovani, Sekowan ethnicity is characterized by being a conglomeration of different peoples both from within the country itself as well as immigrants. The largest ethnicities in Sekowo are the Gao-Showa, who make about 50% of the population, the Sécowonnais, a Metis people, making about 20% of the population, and the Orincos, a native Dovani population, who form about 15%.

Language
Sekowo is one of the most diverse countries in terms of languages.

The four most common first languages in Sekowo are Kunikata (50%), Modern Sekowan (15%), Canrillaise (15%), and Normand (5%)

Infrastructure & Transportation
The infrastructure and transportation systems of Sekowo are extensive and highly developed.

Infrastructure
Sekowo's infrastructure system is extensive do to over a century of government ownership and investment into various areas.

The communications infrastructure system is considered one of the most extensive and developed in Dovani with telecommunications lines connecting every home, office and building. The average Internet connection speed in Sekowo is 25 mb/s.

Transport
The transportation network of Sekowo consists of two primary transport systems, the railways and road system.

While roadways were at one time the most prevalent transport system in Sekowo following decades of environmental regulation laws in place the rail system replaced it as the primary means of transport.

The rail system of Sekowo is unique in that roughly seventy percent of existing rail lines have been converted into MagLev routes connecting much of Sekowo proper and linking the major cities and population centers of the overall Commonwealth.

Culture
Sekowan culture is incredibly diverse do to Sekowo's population being comprised of many different groups from differing cultures. However Sekowan culture is most influenced by the Orinco cultures of the coastal city-states, the Kli'kut and related cultures of the South and the Gao-Showan cultures that permiate the Eastern half of the country.

Holidays
While many holidays are celebrated in different regions there are several national holidays celebrated throughout the nation.

Three multi-day celebrations are also celebrated throughout the country, the Summer Celebration that lasts from June 27th to July 10th, the Winter Holiday that lasts from December 19th to December 31st and the New Years menagerie which lasts from January 1st to the 5th.