Sylvania

Sylvania
	Flag
	Motto: "United as One"
	Anthem: "The Nation on the Sea"
Capital	Sylvania City
Largest city	New Berlin
Official languages	English
Recognized regional languages	French, Chinese, German, Spanish
Demonym	Sylvanian
Government	Federal presidential
Legislature	Congress
Population
GDP (PPP)	2013 estimate
GDP (nominal)	2013 estimate
HDI (2013)	0.682 high
Currency	Sylvanian dollar (SYLD)
Drives on the	right
Calling code	+199, +299, +399
Internet TLD	.syl ;

Sylvania, officially the United Slyvanian Republic, is an island nation in the South Pacific Ocean located approximately 370 nautical miles southwest of Hawaii. Founded in 1890 by European explorers, the nation has a land area of approximately 32,000 square kilometers which are divided into seven states. The country has a population of over 15 million. The capital city is located at Sylvania City which is the country's second largest city behind New Berlin. The government is a Federal presidential system with Samuel Stone serving as president and Logan Greenwood serving as vice president.

For a period of time stretching from 2007 until 2013, the country was under Russian rule where the country was renamed The Nation on the Sea and the government was transformed into a dictatorship.

History[]

Discovery & colonization[]

The island nation was completely unexplored territory until 1834 when Spanish explorers landed on the Northwest shore and claimed an area of roughly 1,500 square kilometers. Exploration continued with countries like the United States, China, Germany, and France establishing colonies around the island. In 1885, English settlers formed a colony on the Northern tip of the island which was named Sylvania. The English settlers would declare their independence from England in 1890 officially creating the country of Sylvania.

Expansion as Sylvania[]

The first major expansion by the British founded nation of Sylvania included the anexation of the Chinese territory in 1902 which added roughly 7,200 square kilometers to the nation. As a result, Chinese was quickly adopted as a secondary language next to English.

The nation wouldn't see its next expansion until 1918 when it obtained both the Spanish and American territories. The anexation of Spanish and American territories added over 1,500 square kilometers to the nation.

By 1934 the French and German terrirories were annexed to Sylvania which now covered the entire islnd. The French territory, the smallest of any territory on the island, was on a small island inside of a cove on the Southern part of the nation. This territory would eventually become the Sylvanian Military Base.

World War II and aftermath[]

In 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland which triggered the Second World War. After France declated war on Germany, German-Sylvanian citizens wanted Sylvania to enter the war to support Germany but the Sylvanian government expressed interest in staying neutral. In protest, some Sylvanian citizens erroneously informed Germany of Sylvania's expanding nuclear warhead program. Once Adolf Hitler caught wind of this, he planned an invasion of Sylvania which started in the South with a bombing of the military base. Dubbed the Battle of Sylvania, the invasion lasted for just under a month before Sylvania was defeated; as a result, the Sylvanian government agreed to aid in Germany's war efforts by builing planes, ships, and weapons and shipping them to Europe.

Following the Battle of Sylvania, the country did not fight another battle but simply shipped war materials to Germany; however, after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in the United States, Sylvania secretely joined the Allied Forces and began to send the majority of their materials to the United States and England after informing Germany that their money and supplies were, erroneously, depleating.

Following the invasion of Normany by Allied forces and the subsequent end of World War II, Sylvania began expanding and strengthening their military in case of another invasion or war; however, the nation would not enter into another military conflict until 2007.

Russian occupation[]

Following 62 peaceful, war-free years, Sylvania found itself under attack in 2007. For reasons unknown, the Russian military invaded Sylvania using a similar method used by Nazi Germany in 1939. Different from the German invasion, Russian troops landed at Sylvania City where they led a successful campaign to assainate the president.

After overthrowing the government, Chinese-Russian citizen Mathew Chong was chosen to serve as President of the occupied nation, now known as the Nation on the Sea, and he later selected American-Sylvanian citizen Harry Ledge as the Chancellor. Originally, the occupied Sylvania was meant to be a semi-presidential state like Russia but the new president quickly transformed the nation into a dictorshop. Chong issued many politcal changes besides the government which included renaming the country, adopting a new flag and a new coat of arms, both of which were designed to represent Russia's control of the nation.

In 2011, a group of rebels attempted to overtgrow Chong and reclaim Sylvania. The rebels were executed and a new law was imposed which called for more street police to patrol all hours of the days and a national curfew was set up: no citizen was to be outside their home after 10:00 SST (Sylvanian Standard Time).

In September 2013, Russian president Vladimir Putin was pressured by the United States and the International Olympic Committee to liberate the Sylvanian citizens from totaliarian president Mathew Chong. Attempting to clean up the image of Russia prior to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, President Putin complied and led the liberation efforts alongside the United States military who succeeded in returning the power of Sylvania to the people.

Demographics[]

Population[]

Culture[]

Sylvania is home to over 15 million citizens as of the 2013 census. The official language is English but there are four other secondary languages: French, Chinese, German, and Spanish. Each secondary language is mostly spoken in the parts of the country where their respective mother countries once held territories. Nearly all religions are observed within the country.

Since 1975, professional sports have been played in Sylvania.

Sport	League(s)	# of teams
American football	National Sylvanian Football League	24
American football	World American Football Federation	3
Baseball	Sylvanian Baseball League	16
Soccer	Major League Soccer	1
Soccer	Sylvanian Soccer League	12
Basketball	International Basketball Federation	2
Basketball	Basketball League of Sylvania	20
Ice hockey	Sylvanian Hockey League	16

Holidays and Events[]

Date	Holiday	Remarks
January 1st	New Year's Day	Celebration of the new year.
February 14th	Valentine's Day	Traditional celebration of love and romance, including the exchange of cards, candy, flowers, and other gifts.
March 8th	International Women's Day	Celebrates women and the accomplishments they have made to society
March 17th	St. Patrick's Day	A celebration of Irish heritage and culture, based on the Catholic feast of St. Patrick.
March or April	Good Friday	Religious holiday, memorial of Jesus being crucified.
April 1st	April Fools Day	A day to play tricks on family, friends, and coworkers.
Spring Sunday	Easter	Celebrates the Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus.
April 22nd	Earth Day	A day used to promote environmentalism.
Spring	Arbor Day	A day for the planting of trees, commonly the last Friday of April but depending on the climate of the state.
Second Sunday in May	Mother's Day	Honors mothers and motherhood.
Third Sunday in June	Father's Day	Honors fathers and fatherhood.
October 31st	Halloween	Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian holy day of All Saints.
Fourth Thursday in November	Thanksgiving Day	Traditionally celebrates the giving of thanks for the autumn harvest. Traditionally includes the consumption of a turkey dinner Traditional start of the holiday season.
Friday After Thanksgiving Day	Black Friday	Kickoff to the Christmas shopping season, known to be the busiest shopping day of the year.
December 25th	Christmas Day	Both a religious (nativity of Jesus) and commerical holiday (exchanging of gifts).
December 31st	New Year's Eve	Final day of the year, celebrated in NoS with fireworks and carnivals.

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