Republic of the Draguan Islands

The Republic of the Draguan Islands, or commonly called the Draguan Islands is an archipelago which is located in the Gulf of Biscay, the Celtic Sea and in the Northern Atlantic Ocean. The inhabitants are mainly the Dutchmen, the American, the Japanese, the Afrikaners and the natives, the Puhrai, which mostly resemble the Latin-American natives. The most spoken language is Dutch, followed by English, Japanese and Afrikaans. The capital is Copa Cabana and is governed by President Andrei Caale.

The archipelago is reknown for it's long lasting peace and fraternization between the different ethnicies. Draguan people tend to be open, respectful, hospitable and friendly. Although Draguans have no difficulties with other ethnicies, they would favor people from their nation's roots (Dutch, Americans, British, Japanese and Afrikaners) the most over others.

Pre-colonisation history
The Draguan Islands was always a native homeland to the Puhrai, an aboriginal race resembling the original inhabitants of Latin-America, which are their original ancestors. This was possible due the Atlantic Shift, which moved the Dragon's Plate, the tectonic plate on which the islands are located, toward the Eurasian Plate. While the Dragon's plate was pushed against the Eurasian Plate, the landmass began to scatter, forming the modern archipelago.

In the 13th century, French and Irish fishermen were aware of a group of islands in the Gulf of Biscay and the Atlantic Ocean, but usually kept their distance due the treacherous surfs near the mainly rock coasts of the islands. Also, folk tales were made out of the sighting of so called "Dragons" near the coasts, being the actual Draguan Iguanas.

Age of Exploration
In the Golden Age of the Dutch Republic, the Dutch East India Company generally used to sail around the south-eastern parts of the islands. However, in 1615, the Dutch East India Company saw a perfect opportunity to settle a trading post what nowadays grew to be Port Barentzs. The Spaniards colonized the southern Draguan Islands during the Spanish Domination, sending troops from A Coruña to strengthen their presence in the south. Port Barentzs became heavily reinforced with canons and more troops, after Spanish ships had been spotted not far from the Dutch colony, seen as a direct threat. In 1621, the Kingdom of England colonized the western part of the Draguan Islands and declared total domination of the western islands, threatening the Dutch position on the archipelago.

Second World War
The Draguan Islands were, just as in the First World War, neutral to all belligerents, but allowed American and British troops to be stationed on their territory in both wars, one of the main reasons of the major American/British ethnicy. However, at the begin of 1942, the Empire of Japan took the offensive at the Administrative Draguan Territory of Leade Island, home to a moderate Japanese ethnicy. This resulted into the Battle of Leade Island, which lasted roughly two weeks. Both belligerents solved the dispute with the Japanese-Draguan Peace Pact, which granted friendly relations and safety for both the Draguan Islands and Leade Island, and Japan, as long there were no USMC troopers stationed on the island, and as long Japan would no longer mount an offensive at Draguan territory.

Geography
The Draguan Islands is divided in 48 islands; 8 major islands roughly 600 KM in length, and 40 minor island roughly 40 KM in length or smaller. Every major island has it's own province, which makes 8 provinces in total: Mid-Draguan, South-Draguan, East-Draguan, North-Draguan, West-Draguan, Atlantic-Draguan, Archipelago-Draguan and Iberia-Draguan. Many Rim-islands are mountainous and are the main cause for the insulated climate of the Draguan Islands, making it habitable for known animals like the Iguana. Many of these mountains are popular for sightseeing by tourists. Due to their height, whole islands can be seen from it.

Politics
As any other regular Democratic and Liberal country, the Draguan Islands has a President, a Vice-President, a Presidental Secretary and a cabinet. Besides that, the Draguan Islands also has chosen Island Mayors under presidential regulation. The cabinet proposes and decides rules and laws, while a special council checks if these are actually feasible. The cabinet consists of two large groups, much like the political situation in the Netherlands.

First Parliament

Second Parliament

The Second Parliament usually proposes rules and laws, which are discussed, and eventually inspected by the First Parliament if these are acceptable.

Political parties
The cabinet is formed by various political parties, mostly working together to stand stronger. Every citizen in the Draguan Islands is free to vote for their party, and eventually take part in it. The current parties:

Foreign relations
The Draguan Islands tries to maintain contact with many of it's allies, and is very open to trading in valuable resources and technologies. It is a member of organisations as the United Nations, the NATO and the Overseas Trading Union.

European Union
Although the Draguan Island uses the Euro as it's currency, it is not a member of the European Union. It did, along with Norway, refuse the invitation to become a member state of the European Union in 1969. However, it did made a monetary agreement with the EU at the introduction of the Euro in 2002, replacing their Dragoon currency.

Non-Proliferation Treaty
As one of the few countries, the Republic of the Draguan Islands did not sign the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. This caused strained relationships with various countries in the past, and even nowadays. However, the current production of nuclear weapons in the Draguan Islands remains dormant, and the existing nuclear weapons are in stock. The Draguan Islands regulate that their nuclear arnament will only be used at a critical emergency in an act of self-defense. The Draguan Islands do not share or sell their nuclear weapons.

Military
The military of the Draguan Islands has been equipped with very advanced equipment, vehicles and weapons. They were able to fend off the Axis in the WOII but remained neutral to both forces. However, they allowed the Allies to station themselves on the Draguan Islands and mount attacks from there.

The military is divided into five branches:
 * Draguan Land-Based Army
 * Draguan Air Force
 * Draguan Navy
 * Draguan Military Police
 * Draguan International Army (Draguan troops stationed all around the world)





Demographics
The Draguan islands has a population of 39 million inhabitants, which are mostly people of Dutch ethnicy. People in the Draguan Islands usually live in towns troughout the islands, as they tend not to be city-goers.

People of Dutch ancestry make up the majority of the population with 32%, followed by the English Americans with 30%. Japanese with 22%, Afrikaners with 11% and Puhrai with 5% make up the minority of the Draguan population.



Language
Most of the inhabitants of the Draguan Islands are bilingual. Children and teens learn Dutch, (American) English, and sometimes Japanese or Afrikaans at their school. Dutch is spoken for 37%, English 35%, Japanese 14%, Afrikaans 11%, and 3% other languages. Immigrants that don't speak any of these languages will be taught it, mostly English.

As the Draguan Islands has 4 official languages, passports, restaurant menus, most signs, and other public ornaments are printed in the dominant language of the region the person is located in. However, passports use English as a dominant language, but translations in Dutch, Afrikaans (not always applicated due the similarity with Dutch) and Japanese are positioned next to the word.



Religion
Most of the Draguans identify themselves as Atheists, while a little is religious. There are only a few churches on the Draguan Islands, because these churches have to pay moderate taxes. Religion is freely in the Draguan Islands, however religious people are uncommon.

Education
Children and teens in the Draguan Islands firstly go to a Primary school, which will last 8 years. Then, they go to the Middle school, where they can choose from 3 different levels of education:


 * General Middle-school Universitary Education (GMUE) - Lasts 6 years
 * High Levelled Education (HLE) - Lasts 5 years
 * Middle Levelled Theoretical Education (MLTE) - Lasts 4 years

After the Middle school, students go to the university or will do a Vocational Study.

Culture
The Draguan Islands is a multicultural nation, because of the mixed ethnicies. While some regions are Dutch-styled, some are Victorian or Japanese-styled. Nowadays, the most builded houses do not have a real ethnicy style. Presenting different cultures troughout the Draguan Islands is encouraged, and Draguan people are very curious about them.

Media
The Draguan Islands has a wide arrangement of media, which is mostly in 4 languages. There are channels in English, Dutch, Japanese and Afrikaans, and all of the movies and programs get subtitled. Known tv-stars of the Draguan Islands are Daisy Mowes, John-William Mayborn, Johan Heeves, Lina Kettler and Haru Oshiro.

Channels in English:
 * Island One (Cultural)
 * Island Two (News and Reports)
 * Island Three (Comedy-shows, Late night-shows and Talkshows)
 * Island Movies (Movies, mini-series)
 * Island Shows (TV-shows)

Cuisine
There is no real "Draguan Cuisine", because the most dishes are from European, Asian and African cultures. Dutch, American, Japanese and Puhraian dishes are the most favored amongst the people of the Draguan Islands.

Sports
Sports from all over the world are played in the Draguan Islands, but is mostly influenced by the European sports. While soccer is the most popular amongst the Draguans, Field Hockey is also a widely-played sport. American sports like American Football and Baseball are rising at popularity in the Draguan Islands.