Ivalice

The Republic of Ivalice (commonly referred to as Ivalice) is a federal constitutional republic located off the eastern coast of the United States of America. It is an island country. Ivalice is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean.

Colonization
In November 1353, a large group of explorers left Great Britain for Spain to pick up supplies and crew, intending to explore the western ocean for settlement and the promise of a New World with vast natural resources. Leaving London with a year's worth of food on six ships, and skilled fishermen aboard, the expeditionary group was lost at sea for 10 weeks before landing on the island of Ivalice in the Western Atlantic at modern day Ivalion, with nearly no food remaining. Upon landing on the island, they decided to settle there, seeing little to no chance of surviving a return voyage. The group immediately split into two factions, one wanting to replicate the monarchy typical of the time, and the other wanting a more 'united' system, where the people were involved in making the decisions. The democratic faction left the monarchists for the south, eventually settling into a village that would become Randgriz City. The monarchists and the democrats were out of contact with each other for one hundred and fifty years. By that time, the two groups had prospered into small nations, and having re-established contact with the major European powers, been recognized as independent states.

Unification War
By 1609, however relations between the two group became cold once again, with the northern monarchists, styled The Kingdom of Saint Ivalice, looking at expanding into the southeastern territories of the democrats, the Gallian Republic. King Marche II of the northern kingdom authorized an invasion of the southern republic with his army of one thousand men, sparking what would be known in the future as the Unification War. The Republic, having a vastly outnumbered army, instead asked for the support of King Philip III of Spain. Spain sent 800 prisoners, and weapons to equip them to the Republic as support, in exchange for giving the prisoners permanent residence in the Republic. The war waged on for three years in a series of bloody stalemates until both sides were lacking in resources to continue a war. The two states then came together to share resources under one nation, modern day Ivalice, with a national capital at Koiwai, a small neutral city sited at the far southern point of the island.

Politics and Government
Ivalice is a constitutional republic and representative democracy. The government is divided into three main branches, each designed to have no more power than any other branch as defined by the Ivalician Constitution, which is the highest word of law in the nation. There are three levels of government, Federal, State, and Regional. The nation is divided into several single-representative sectors.

The federal government is composed of three branches, Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. Ivalice's legislative organ is the National Diet, a bicameral parliament. The Diet consists of a House of Representatives, containing 200 seats, elected by popular vote every four years and a Senate of 80 seats, whose popularly elected members serve six-year terms. There is universal suffrage for adults over 18 years of age, with a secret ballot for all elective offices. The President of Ivalice is the head of government. The position is elected popularly by the people and must enjoy the confidence of the House of Representatives to remain in office. The President is the head of the Cabinet and appoints and dismisses the Secretaries of State. The current president is John Martin, and his vice president is Shi Johnson-Williams.

Ivalice is classified as a three-party system state, with the main parties being the liberal Rights Party, the moderate Unity Party, and the conservative Conservative Party.

Administrative Divisions
Ivalice is divided into three states and a federal district. The northern most state, Califia, is the most heavily populated, but is also the least densely populated. Califia's state capital is Ivalion. Forriedor, the western state, is the largest in area. Forriedor's state capital is Londinium. Gallia is the eastern state, and the most densely populated. Gallia's state capital is Randgriz City, which makes up half of the Koiwai-Randgriz Metropolitan Area. The Ivalician Federal District is the smallest division. It contains the national capital, Koiwai, which is also the seat of district government.

Economy
Ivalice's currency is the into. Ivalice is considered a 'developed nation' and its economy is rooted in the tertiary economic center. Its chief export is consumer electronics. Its chief imports are food and manufactured goods.

Population
Ivalice's national population is 48,872,300. The majority of this population is focused on Ivalice's eastern coast, between Ivalion, Europa Beach, and Koiwai.

Education
Ivalice has an extensive public education system, with primary and secondary education run by local government, and post-secondary education run by state governments, except at the four federal universities, one in each state and the City of Koiwai. Education is compulsory from ages five through eighteen. Public post-secondary education is paid for through income taxes and is otherwise free to all citizens. Private post-secondary institutions are generally moderately-priced compared to other countries.

Military and Foreign Policy
Ivalice's military consists of five branches, the army, navy, air force, space corps, and national guard. The army consists of land-based troops and equipment, such as tanks, artillery, and personnel carriers. The navy consists of all seagoing ships, including transports and submarines. The air force consists of all military air assets, including air transports, tankers, fighter jets, and bombers. The space corps is unique to Ivalice. It consists of all government space programs, including communications satellites, space exploration programs, and all of the nation's non-defensive missile inventory. The final branch, the national guard, consists of a larger non-active troop force and a smaller force of ground vehicles, ships, and airplanes exclusively to be used in times of national emergency on Ivalician territory in the event of an invasion, terrorist attack, or other emergency. Many members of the general populace are members of the national guard.

Ivalice is one of the founding members of the United Nations and the GTO. Its also member of the NATO, the WTO, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and the Organization of American States.

Transport
Transportation is highly varied in Ivalice, however it is a largely car dependent society. A series of high-quality expressways make up the National Route System and criss-cross the island. The state railway company, Ivalice National Railways operates intercity rail service to all major cities. The island's busiest international gateway is Londinium Skorcolum International Airport. All major cities have some form of rapid transit system, the most expansive being Ivalion Metro.