Bijan

Bijan, officially the Bijani Republic (Esperanto: Biĵana Respubliko) is an island country in the southern Indian Ocean, 3600km west of Australia. The nation comprises the island of Bijan as well as numerous smaller peripheral islands. An isolated volcanic island formation, Bijan's flora and fauna evolved in relative isolation, producing unique flora and fauna, much of which can be found nowehere else on Earth. The islands' diverse ecosystems and unique wildlife are threatened by the encroachment of the rapidly growing human population and other environmental threats.

Initial human settlement of Bijan occurred between 250 BCE and 450 CE by Austronesian peoples arriving on outrigger canoes from Borneo. Other groups continued to settle on Bijan over time, each one making lasting contributions to Bijani cultural life. The Portuguese and later the Dutch established contact with the islands in the fifteenth century, and Bijan was occasionally used as a transoceanic stopover point. Until the late 16th century, Bijan was ruled by a fragmented assortment of shifting socio-political alliances. Beginning in the early 17th century, most of the island was united and ruled as the Kingdom of Bijan by a series of local nobles, while European powers established an increasingly influential presence on the island. An object of colonial interest by both the British and the Dutch, the indigenous monarchy collapsed in 1783 when the Peace of Paris formally incorporated Bijan into the Dutch colonial empire. Apart from a brief period of British rule from 1797 to 1814, Bijan remained a Dutch colony until its independence in 1949.

The original 1949 constitution established a parliamentary system, which was replaced by a semi-presidential system in 1960, which exists to this day. In 2014, the population of Bijan was estimated at just over 9 million, 40 percent of whom live on less than two dollars per day. Reflecting the diverse ethnic and cultural background of is citizenry, the republic adopted the international language Esperanto as its official language, with Bijani, Mawasi, Koho and Dutch as recognized national languages. The majority of the population adheres to Christianity. Bijan is notable for its relatively large Bahá'í community, approximately five percent of the population. Ecotourism and agriculture, paired with greater investments in education, health and private enterprise, are key elements of Bijan's development strategy.