Los Ochentas

Los Ochentas (formally, the Democracy of Los Ochentas) is a sovereign island nation located in the Pacific Ocean. The country is completely surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, though it is considered to be apart of North America. Off the coast to the northeast is Mexico, and to the northwest is the United States state of Hawai'i.

Los Ochentas is a democracy with the principles of a directorial system that is codified within the nation's set of governmental codes. The unique government of the nation is centered around the principle of direct democracy, and no single leader holds power within the virtually non-existent government. Instead, power is vested throughout the country's various cliques. The cliques of the nation decide on issues when the need arises, and their responsibility lies in protecting the interests of the people based on a system of common civil code. The nation's civil code is not legislation passed by a formal legislature; instead, all governmental code is accumulated by agreements between all cliques, insuring common legal principles within the independence of the cliques. Welfare, culture, and infrastructure is another unique organ of governance within the nation that is managed by unanimous agreements between all cliques, and a regulated group tax system which allows for the management and upkeep of public systems. In all, the nation's political system is unique in that no single state exists, and that power is largely vested within society itself.

The economy of the nation is highly capitalist, as no formal government has total regulations upon industries. In a manner of environmental protections, the nation does maintain some economic impositions upon certain industries and extremely dangerous practices, otherwise, Los Ochentas withholds a strong free market system. The national output of agricultural products provides a substantial amount of food for basic surplus within the population, though some exotic foods are imported into the nation. Both tertiary and secondary economic activities make up the majority of the nation's total economy, attributing to about 87% of the nation's GDP. Clothing manufacturing, entertainment, alcohol production, recreational drugs production, consumer goods manufacturing, and textile production are the largest contributors to the national economy, which attributes for a high volume of exports to other North American nations, specifically the United States and Canada.

Mainstream global politics are generally considered to be irrelevant to the islands, and international awareness is the lowest in the world among the population. A policy of lax international responsibility exists within the governmental code, and as a result Los Ochentas is largely neutral in its foreign exchanges. Despite permanent neutrality, the nation is apart of the United Nations, and maintains diplomatic exchanges with many nations around the world. Los Ochentas is one of the few existing nations in the world that has never officially been at war with another nation.

Etymology
The phrase Los Ochentas comes from the Spanish phrase el ochenta, meaning the eighty. The name of the nation is derived from the Islands of Los Ochentas, which refers to the original 80 exiled inhabitants of the island who came from the colony of New Spain after their banishment by the Spanish viceroyalty. The name was officially adopted in 1872, with the formation of the nation's system of clique-based rule that has lasted into the contemporary era. Although it is rarely used, in some official documents the nation as a whole is referred to as the Democracy of Los Ochentas, which has been regarded as the official name of the nation. Though some doubt the legitimacy of the usage of the word Democracy in the phrase, it was agreed upon by the cliques in 1932 that the phrase was the nation's official full name, and it is largely used in official diplomatic exchanges and in some governmental codes.

Pre-Columbian period
For a large part of history, the islands which compose of the contemporary state of Los Ochentas were uninhabited by humans. Evidence has arisen that some Polynesian groups settled on the western coasts of the island around 980, although it is unclear what brought about their leave from the islands around 1020. The small Polynesian colony gave suspicions as to whether or not they established contact with societies in Mesoamerica, though this theory was proven false by the short term length of the settlement and its minimal impact on the islands as a whole.

Exploration and settlement period
The first Europeans to visit the islands was a small group of Spanish explorers who first documented the presence of the islands in 1534. The Spanish explorers mistook the islands to be particularly small due to weather conditions which reduced visibility, and they continued their voyage west with minimal exploration of the islands they could perceive. It was the first voyage of Spanish Captain Don Jaun Carlos de Lopez in 1557 whose goal was to visit the islands in search of gold and silver. De Lopez was the first to survey the geographical features of the archipelago, exclaiming that it was a much larger land mass than originally thought by the first Spanish sighting of the islands. The success of De Lopez's exploration allowed for him to transgress with a second voyage to the islands in 1561, with the intent of establishing a penal colony on the island to begin mining operations in the iron and silver rich mountains. It is from the first 80 criminal inhabitants of the islands from which the archipelago received its name.

After years of successful small-time mining operations on the island, the Spanish government sent a larger group of criminals to expanding mining operations and exploit the unique fauna and flora endemic to the island. The Biancano, believed to be a relative cousin of the Alpaca, provided a soft wool and dairy, and the islands also contained significant natural quantities of cottongrass, papaya, avocados, beans, potatoes, and tomatoes. The extremely productive penal colony maintained a regular influx of new prisoners, and the port of La Rosa was incorporated into the Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain in 1634.

First democratic period
The Spanish maintained complete and absolute control of the archipelago until 1798, when a decline in Spanish colonial presence struck the region. While the penal colony was still profitable and had given way to the establishment of a small, functioning civilian colony, the Spanish Empire saw little value in retaining the islands with their capture of the North American West Coast. As not to overwhelm themselves territoriality, the Spanish simply abandoned the penal colony, which quickly overtook the small civilian colony. The former prisoners then established the first formal government for the islands, eliminating the more violent and abusive prisoners as to insure that their new nation would not succumb to internal problems. The small nation known as Los Ochentas was officially established in 1799, its capital the small port of La Rosa. In its early time, the nation was a harboring point for pirates and smugglers who operated in the Pacific Ocean, and diplomatic pressure against the nation would only result in a rise in the level of illicit activities taking place across the Pacific. Formal international recognition was received from the United States in 1804, who viewed the nation to be a fellow in the new order of American nations. With the recognition of its ally, Spain subsequently gave diplomatic recognition towards the existence of the small island nation, despite calls from within to simply reconquer the archipelago. The nation continued to receive recognition from the Republic of Gran Colombia in 1819, the First Mexican Empire in 1821, and France in 1824.

The new found diplomatic support during the early 1800s brought in greater immigration to Los Ochentas; by 1830 it was estimated that only 40% of the population was made up of its original Spanish inhabitants. The largely multicultural society was dominated now by an English speaking population, and by 1850, English became the primary singular language of the country. Los Ochentas' society of criminals and outcasts also became a highly unique portion of its international reputation, and it drew in large numbers of sex tourists, illicit businessmen, and other illegal or shunned practices. A nation of organized crime, internal violence among members of rival gangs gave way to economic and social deterioration. The small republican government was unable to handle the situation, and by 1869, most members of the government had resigned or simply vanished. A short period of lawlessness followed the capitulation of the nation's government.

Second democracy and stability period
In 1872, a large group of individuals who did not associate with the nation's organized crime called for a truce between the warring entities. The truce would eventually lead to the formation of the first contemporary governmental code of the nation, which revolutionized the system of government on which the nation would operate. Instead of a presidential system which attempted to rule the various organized criminal gangs, the gangs would form cliques and then rule the nation as a whole. The new system also introduced a series of welfare, infrastructure, and culture management systems which would allow for the betterment of the nation's people while also allowing for the cliques to act individually and mostly independent of one another. The new government of Los Ochentas was highly popular among the peoples of the nation, and a sense of stability emerged in the nation by 1880. It was so effective in curbing organized violence that it was even tested in some US states, however it was largely unpopular there due to its somewhat "anarchic" principle of governance. The flourishing new society on the archipelago saw a period of relaxed economic development and largely lowered immigration rates, which also aided in the nation's new period of stability.

With high economic stability and widespread prosperity, Los Ochentas entered into what is known as the "First Ochentan Golden Age," in which the practice of fine arts within the nation began to flourish. With influences from Spain, Mexico, America, and several European nations, Ochentan culture took on a new perspective of society, and gave the nation a great amount of national identity. The Golden Age also resulted in the foundations for contemporary systems of culture and society, barring most personal differences for the benefit of entire groups. Seen as highly anarchic and retrogressive, the new societal standards of hedonism which had flourished on the island resulted in tense relationships with several European nations and more conservative areas of the United States and Latin America. Pope Leo XIII even condemned the values and supposed "indecency" of Ochentan culture, going so far as to propose that its peoples "[would] enjoy an eternal afterlife in the fires they so [danced] with."

Interwar period
The end of the First Golden Age was marked by the beginning of World War I in Europe, an event which greatly reduced international commerce and caused market interruptions across the Americas. While Los Ochentas was largely neutral in the conflict, it greatly condemned the use of chemical weapons on both sides of the war, and advocated for the persecution of world leaders who used such weapons actively and intently with knowledge of their total effects. With the entrance of the United States into World War I, Los Ochentas saw a renewed period of economic growth as the United States imported larger quantities to make up for a domestic lack of war-apportioned resources. The end of World War I caused a brief slip in the nation's stability, as renewed demand for international tourism and trade quickly overwhelmed the nation's ability to produce goods and raw materials. The collapse of the stock market in 1929 brought huge economic crisis within the nation, causing a policy of international trade isolationism to take effect in Los Ochentas.

By the beginning of World War II, the policy of isolationism was dropped by the cliques, and a progressive effort to involve the country heavily in international trade began. The actions of Nazi Germany against many different groups of people was greatly astonishing to the highly tolerant peoples of the nation. The overwhelming threat of Japanese invasion was also brought to the attention of the cliques, however, the Japanese did not attack Los Ochentas, and instead decided to attack the United States at Pearl Harbor. Overall, World War II put the country back into international trade as the Allied forces required a greater amount of goods to appease their peoples and also supply their fronts. The end and aftermath of the war also led for greater exportation towards European and Asian nations which needed materials to rebuild, Los Ochentas supplying a great amount of textiles and some foods to those nations.