Rio Blanco

The Republic of Rio Blanco, commonly called Rio Blanco (Arapaho: Nookniicii Biito'ówu '  (lit. "white-river land"); IPA: /noknit͡ʃi bitɔʔɔwʊʔ/) is a sovereign state, situated on the Western region of North America. Most of the territory is located within the Rocky Mountains range. It is entirely surrounded by the United States of America and it is landlocked. The capital and largest city is Denver, while other important cities are Springs, Salt Lake City, Fort Collins, Pueblo, Cheyenne and Pocatello. The area is 473,948 km2 (54th, between Cameroon and Papua New Guinea). The population is 7,714,321 (99th, between Switzerland and Papua New Guinea).

Etymology
The name Rio Blanco (Spanish for "white river") comes from the White River, tributary of the Green River, which passes through Eastern Salt Lake and Western Moffat.

History
The Colorado Territory was created in 1861, following an Organic Act, with William Gilpin being appointed as Governor.

The admission to the United States was regarded as fairly imminent, but territorial ambitions for statehood were thwarted in 1865 by a veto by President Andrew Johnson. This veto started a wave of dissatisfaction among the top officials, which wanted the territory to effectively join the United States. Montrose Garner then threatened President Johnson that if he did not grant Colorado statehood, the territory would secede from the United States and form an independent nation.

Garner's menace started a series of diplomatic conflicts, which lasted from 1866 to 1876, when the Colorado Territory ceased to exist and the Republic of Rio Blanco formally seceded from the United States, by proclaiming a new Constitution (written by Lanceton, Garner, Bergmann and Vynn). However, the US-Rio Blanco relations were not fully established until 1879, when the United States officially recognized the newborn nation.

In 1931, following the American Natives Act, the nation established the two Indian Reservations of Ute Mountain Ute Tribe (Rioblancoan sector) and Uintah and Ouray (which includes small parts of the U.S. State of Utah).

A year later, the Government also established the National Highways, starting with the N1, the N2, the N3 and the N4. In 1952, they were followed by the State Routes, with the first ones being the Yuma SR1 and the Salt Lake SR1 (plus SR11).

In 1976, the Government accepted a proposal by the then-President, officially switching from the U.S. (Imperial) Measurement System to the Metric (SI) System, much to the radical Conservatives' dismay.

In 1981, an alleged law (which was later turned out to be a hoax) started the Honeybee revolt, temporarily paralizing the tourism in Rio Blanco.

Politics
Rio Blanco is a federal presidential republic, subdivided into 10 states and 1 district, the DCD, which are further divided into 94 counties and 8 neighborhoods (as called within the DCD).

Electoral divisions
The Rioblancoan parliament is divided into the Senate (upper house) and the House of Representatives (lower house). The Senate is composed of 50 members, 5 for each state (the Capital District has a right to one senator). The House of Representatives is composed of 102 members, each coming from every county/neighborhood of Rio Blanco and elected in coincidence with the President.

Subdivisions
Rio Blanco is divided into states, which are divided into counties. The Denver Capital District, while not being subordinate to any state, has similar subdivisions, called neighborhoods. Counties are further divided into townships, which are usually created for statistical purposes, but may elect an assembly (townships encompassing part of big cities do so). Counties with just one incorporated community (such as ) do not contemplate the formation of townships.