by Max Barry

Latest Forum Topics

Advertisement

The Grand Republic of
Left-wing Utopia

Overview Map Factbook Dispatches Policies People Government Economy Rank Trend Cards

6

The Republic of Lorthos Wikipedia Page



Flag



Historical Flag


Motto: "Keepers of the Emerald Isle"


Anthem
The Silver Shores Link(Listen)




Map


Capital city
New Haven


Largest city
New Haven


Second Largest city
Sweetwater


Third Largest city
Treasure Falls


Fourth Largest city
Fort Brennick


Fifth Largest city
Fort Adriano


Official language(s)
Lorthian, Enkidan


National language(s)
Lorthian, Enkidan, Layudan


Ethnic groups
By Race:

52% Enkidu

28% Mixed

14% Layudan

6% Other


Religion
Nautilism


Animal
Octopus


Demonym
Lorthosian


Government
Republic

- Leader
President


Legislature
Parliament


Established

- Landing Day
August 14th, 1672

- Birth of the Republic
September 16th, 1724


Area

- Total area
approx. 6,440,787 sq km

(2,486,802 sq mi)

- Water (%)
approx. 11%


Population

- Estimate
225,258,613

- Census
216,738,124 (January 2021)


GDP
Current Estimate

- Total
$7.53 Trillion

- Per Capita
33,339


Gini
22.1


Human Development Index
0.883


Currency
Lorthosian Dollars (LOD)


Currency Symbol
$


Date format
dd/mm/yyyy


Drives on the
Right


Calling code
+37


ISO 3166 code
LO


Internet TLD
.lo

The Grand Republic of Lorthos, commonly known as Lorthos, is a country primarily located in Kavonia in the continent of Lorthosa, consisting of seven provinces, a national capital territory, and various other possessions. It is a beautiful and culturally rich country and has a land area of 6,440,787 square kilometers (2,486,802 square miles) and a population of 314,258,613. The national capital is New Haven, which is also the most populous city in Lorthos.

Contents

1 Etymology
2 History
⠀⠀2.1 Part 1
⠀⠀2.2 Part 2
⠀⠀2.3 Part 3
3 Geography
⠀⠀3.1 Climate
⠀⠀3.1 Environment
⠀⠀3.1 Wildlife and Conservation
4 Demographics
⠀⠀4.1 Population
⠀⠀4.2 Language
⠀⠀4.3 Religion
⠀⠀4.4 Health
⠀⠀4.5 Education
5 Politics
⠀⠀5.1 Political Divisions
⠀⠀5.2 Parties and Elections
⠀⠀5.3 Law
⠀⠀5.4 Foreign Relations
⠀⠀5.5 Government Finance
6 Military
⠀⠀6.1 Army
⠀⠀6.2 Navy
⠀⠀6.3 Air Force
⠀⠀6.4 National Guard
⠀⠀6.5 Law Enforcement and Crime
7 Economy
⠀⠀7.1 Income, Poverty and Wealth
⠀⠀7.2 Agriculture
⠀⠀7.3 Tourism
⠀⠀7.4 Science and Technology
7.5 Space Exploration
8 Infrastructure
⠀⠀8.1 Transportation
⠀⠀8.2 Energy
⠀⠀8.3 Telecommunications
9 Culture
⠀⠀9.1 Literature, Philosophy, and Visual Art
⠀⠀9.2 Architecture
⠀⠀9.3 Cuisine
⠀⠀9.4 Music
⠀⠀9.5 Cinema
⠀⠀9.6 Sports
10 See Also

Etymology


Lorthos was the name the settlers heard when asking the native islanders the name of their island. The islander in turn, had misunderstood the question and was saying Lothro owned the island. Lothro is a character in native storytelling, a sailor who made a deal with a great octopus to hold back the sea to make the island on which Lorthos sits today. Despite the miscommunication, the name stuck and entered into common usage amongst both groups.

History



The Exodus Era
The first landing of settlers on Lorthos occurred in 1665 when some smugglers were blown far off course without realizing it. Landing on unknown soil, they explored briefly to resupply, noted the stars, and headed back out to sea, charting carefully to ensure they could find their way back. Eventually the location of the new land was bartered away to an enterprising pirate captain, who in 1672 would return to the isle and found the first foreign settlement dubbed New Haven by those living there. Due to the size of the island and increased traffic in the area, it was eventually discovered and settled by other pirates, smugglers, and outcasts seeking to avoid the attention of the inquisition in their homeland. Out of fear of the need to defend themselves from the inquisition, unofficial pacts between these settlements began to arise, laying the groundwork for a more literal and permanent union.

The Foundation of the Republic
While many settlements had unofficial pacts with others, as the development of the nation increased these partnerships began to take on more a more formal nature and included than just defensive interests. Trade of goods and services began to see consolidation and incorporation of smaller settlements into larger ones.

In 1708 a young leader of New Haven named Gabriel Stone began to campaign on a platform of confederation of the settlements on the continent as a new nation. It would take him 2 years to win over the holdouts, but after many debates, 2 failed attempts on his life, and some tense negotiations with the more rebellious settlement leaders a grand summit was called with all the leaders of the proposed nation present. After lengthy discussions and proposals, the assembly would sign the first Lorthosian Accords, considered by many to be the earliest ancestor of the present day Lorthosian Constitution.

In 1724 the first constitution by name would be signed into law by Gabriel Stone himself, establishing the nation's governing body, formalizing the judicial system, and reforming the military structure to be cohesive and less based on individual settlement's militia levies. This day lives on to be celebrated as the birth of the Republic of Lorthos.

Early 20th Century
Information on the Great War is an ongoing historical pursuit, check back later.

In The Modern Age
In 1973 Lorthos's pharmaceutical industries suffered financial losses and were facing bankruptcy, leading to their purchase as state corporations, which unintentionally kickstarted the research and development sector of the nation which endures to this day. This would pay dividends when Crane flu swept the islands in 1996 and the ability to produce much needed antibiotics domestically allowed the casualty rate for lower than expected at the time.

The 1999 Blackwater political scandal led to the mainstream demise of the popularity of the traditionalist party, which would take until 2004 to be succeeded by the emergence of the Saber Party. This led to roughly five years of unchecked political power by the reforms party, which would push through bills protecting the public funding of academic institutions, while strengthening the progressive taxation and regulation of private enterprises.

Geography



Climate
Lorthos is compromised of a variety of biomes, including boreal forests/rainforests, tropical forests and rainforests, and hilly to mountainous grasslands.

Three major rivers run in Lorthos, the Indigo river, the Pebble river, and the Ennis river.

Environment
Lorthos takes great pride in its environment as a result of its flourishing tourism industry, but that wasn't always the case.
It's estimated that approximately 85% of the island was forested before human arrival, with only wet, volcanic, and alpine areas being clear, but due to heavy deforestation for agriculture around the time of Enkidu settlement approximately a quarter of that was lost, and after its rediscovery by settlers in the 1600's logging and burning reduced the tree cover to approximately 45% of its original area.

In the modern day, strict regulations are in place relating to the safe disposal of waste, and zoning is set up in such a way as to minimize environmental impact. Before additional development can begin environmental impact studies must be done on the region, and there are numerous national parks throughout the mainland. Lorthos has a publicly funded environmental conservation and national parks branch, the department of Lorthosian Environmental Stewardship, that maintains protected areas, conducts conservation efforts and facilitates studies for the government.

Wildlife and Conservation
Lorthos enjoys a colorful and diverse biosphere, and due in part to it's island status it also enjoys some truly unique endemic evolutionary lines. These include flightless birds, fish, reptiles, bats, exotic plants, including lichen and fungi, and insect life.

The island is vulnerable to invasive species of plants or animals brought from abroad. This has resulted in an extremely thorough and capable border patrol screening system that so far has proven effective at stemming any external threats to the biosphere.

Despite these efforts, poaching is not unheard of and 12% of island species are considered at risk due to a range of factors linked to human habitation. Since humans settled the region it's estimated that 17% of the Lorthosa's unique wildlife has gone extinct, the majority of which were flightless birds and other species that had no natural predators at the time.

To address these issues, modern Lorthos has been a major player in pioneering sanctuaries, pest control, wildlife translocation, and environmental reconstruction. One success story is the Grye Hawk which at one point had dwindled to only an estimated 1500 members in the wild, but after a concerted conservation and reintroduction effort it enjoys populations estimated to be between 250,000 to 300,000 members in the wild.


A Gyre Hawk

Demographics



Population
The 2021 Lothosian census enumerated a total population of 225,258,613, an increase of around 3% from the 2021 figure. The main drivers of growth are primarily natural growth and secondarily immigration. Lorthos accepts refugees, but limits immigration to levels set by the environmental sustainability standards set during the twice a decade census.
Population Density in Lorthos is approximately 49 people per square kilometer, with the majority clustered around city centers or their satellite communities. 78% of Lorthosian's report living in family households, with 14% indicating they live alone, and the remaining 8% being made up of those living with other relatives or unrelated persons.

Largest Cities

Rank

City

Metro area population

State

1

New Haven

31,500,000

Silver Shores

2

Sweetwater

28,100,000

Enkidu Heartlands

3

Treasure Falls

24,600,000

Marble Coast

4

Fort Brennick

22,900,000

Emerald Valley

5

Fort Adriano

17,400,000

Adriano's Way

6

Kairn's Landing

12,800,000

Silver Shores

7

Raider's Point

9,200,000

Northlands

8

Viridian Bay

7,300,000

South Point

9

Blueport

5,300,000

Admiral's Bay

10

Calahan's Cove

4,700,000

Argent Isles

Language
The official languages of Lorthos are Lorthian and Enkidan, but there's a sizable minority (16%) of speakers who speak Layudan.
Enkidan was formally adopted as an official language in 1922 following a referendum and was enshrined into a constitutional amendment. Lorthian and Enkidan are used in all legislative settings, while the province of the Northlands adopting the use of Layudan in its courts and government PSAs in 1993.

Religion
Lorthos is officially a secular state, with the majority (77%) of its citizens professing no religious affiliation. That said, religion is a protected class, and the right to religious worship was codified into law in 1976. At 17% of the remainder, the largest religious demographic practices Nautilism, the modern day version of the ancient beliefs of the native Enkidu people. The next largest minority at 3% is Gyrthism, with the remaining 3% being spread amongst a dozen smaller religions. When surveyed, the majority of religiously affiliated respondents stated that their religion was unimportant in their daily lives.

Health
The publicly funded healthcare system is a source of national pride. Governmental efficiency is considered somewhat remarkable for its dollar-to-value ratio, and the nation operates a national medical R&D complex that has proven capable of developing and producing vaccines and pharmaceuticals entirely self-sufficiently in the past.

A 2016 report by the chief public health officer found that 88% of Lorthosians, indicated that they "had good or very good health", but 43% of Lorthosian adults self-report having at least one major risk factor for chronic disease: smoking, physical inactivity, unhealthy eating or excessive alcohol use. Four chronic diseases—cancer (leading cause of death), cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, and diabetes—account for 65% of deaths in Lorthos.

Education
Lorthos boasts a highly educated populace due to it's high number of publicly funded post-secondary educations, with 63% of Lorthosian adults having attained at least an undergraduate college or university degree. The largest university is the University of New Haven, which has over 125,000 students, followed closely by Emerald Valley University and Stone University. The nation heavily subsidizes tertiary education, allotting 20,000$ LOD per student.

Education is overseen by the federal government, which spends approximately 5% of the nation's GDP on education.
With a mandatory education age range from 6-18 years, Lorthos boasts an adult literacy rate of 99%. Homeschooling is permitted, but is highly regulated and is open only to parents with education credentials. As a result the actual rate of homeschooling rate is negligible.
Teachers are expected to attain a high level of education, but are suitably compensated for it and enjoy a high level of public prestige on par with doctors.

Politics



Political Divisions


Map of Lorthos with provinces

Stuff

Parties and Elections
Stuff

Law
Stuff

Foreign Relations
The Lorthosian Diplomatic Corp aren't well publicized, but continue to do vital work behind the scenes that clear the way for much more well known national agendas.
Lorthos champions a co-operative diplomatic approach to international issues, proudly working in partnership with Pylosa to maintain a secondary joint diplomatic corps with the stated mission of promoting peace in the region.
Lorthos is the architect behind the Lorthosian Defensive Pact (LDP), which contains the nations of Lorthos, Beare Foria, Farokand, and Kicadom Thonina. This is a mutual defense pact between nations, specifically created in response to Tamudian aggression in the region of the Western Passage.

Government Finance
The nation has a considerable number of high tech industries that are taxed appropriately with progressive tax laws. Additional, income tax scales based off of income in a tiered system. To counteract the malice this generates with the extremely wealthy, the Lorthosian Government holds ceremonies announcing the people and corporations who paid the most tax, giving honors and credit as a society to those who enable it the most. This can include parades, special opening ceremonies for the services their contributions enable, statues at new government service branches, and more. This combined with the fact that the infrastructure needed to create vital components in these high tech industries would be prohibitively expensive to outsource has led to an almost competitively playful atmosphere around paying taxes.

Military



The Lorthosian Military has three branches, Land, Sea, and Air. These are represented by the Army, Navy, and Air-Force respectively.
The military enjoys respectable funding, but is subject to audits for wasteful spending. The average citizen is maintains a positive to indifferent opinion on the military, with the exception of the Naval branch, which enjoys widespread approval for cultural reasons. The military is a staunchly apolitical entity, and maintains a strict code for interacting with elections and fundraisers lest they be mistaken as endorsing a candidate. The military is largely deployed for peacekeeping operations, but maintains a dedicated drilling schedule for force assessments and international co-ordination with allies.

Army
The Lorthosian Army is a respectable force totaling approximately 30% of the nations forces, with a considerable subset of reservists not serving in active duty. The military has a considerable armored division due to the high level of technical industries on the Lorthosian mainland enabling it. While no major wars have been fought by the army, their smaller engagements have shown their skill and effectiveness.

Navy
The Lorthosian Navy is often referred to as "The Pride of Lorthos". Due to the longstanding traditions of Lorthos as a naval power from before it was even a formal nation the navy and it's infrastructure effectively never wants for funding or prestige. Naval forces nearly double that of the other two military branches as a result. In addition to three standing naval fleets, Lorthos maintains a strong merchant marine presence and a vast number of naval-capable military bases throughout the region of the Western Passage that allow the fleets an abundance of choices for resupply, air support, or safe harbor. The crown jewel of these bases are a network of artillery and intelligence installations that combined with the fleets can for all intents and purposes close the Lorthosian end of the Western Passage to unauthorized travel. The Lorthosian Coast Guard are a subsidiary of the Navy, and enjoy close ties with them.

Air Force
Approximately the same size as the Lorthosian Army, the air force is a well oiled machine due to the abundance of naval joint operations they partake in. They also have a considerable hand in coast guard operations due to their search and rescue potential. While not overly renown on their own, their participation in these joint operations is often crucial for success. As a branch special attention is paid to unmanned and over-the-horizon combat capabilities, ensuring air superiority in regions with sufficient military infrastructure.

National Guard
Stuff

Law Enforcement and Crime
Stuff

Economy



Income, Poverty and Wealth
Stuff

Agriculture
Stuff

Tourism
Stuff

Science and Technology
Stuff

Space Exploration
Lorthos has an observatory atop Mount Lortho, from which some of the most notable discoveries of the nation have been made. It also maintains an orbital space telescope, the Miranda, which operates in conjunction with the observatory for more advanced analysis of space borne entities.
The discovery of the likely life-sustaining planet X-37182, or Orpheus, revitalized public interest in space exploration, leading to approval of greater budgets for space initiatives. The latest result of these initiatives is The Marble Coast Space Center, which has just opened. The launch of a secondary, more powerful, space telescope dubbed "Intrepid" is scheduled for later this month.

Infrastructure



Transportation
Stuff

Energy
Stuff

Telecommunications
Kavonia invests heavily enough in telecommunications infrastructure that the nation's geographical position as a nation of many landmasses is largely unnoticed in terms of connectivity. Buried fiber optic cables are the main source of communications, but a robust system of towers, satellites and other methods serve as supplementary and fallback options.

Culture



Literature, Philosophy, and Visual Art
Stuff

Architecture
Traditional Lorthosian architecture incorporates a great deal of the natural resources found in abundance on the island. The first settlements were made from beached ships, but eventually as more flourishing and lasting settlements came to be an emphasis on permanence was made. An abundance of marble and limestone means that some of the oldest buildings still standing are also some of the most beautiful. While settlers didn’t share the theocracy’s love of religion, that didn’t stop them from adopting stained glass motifs and impressive acoustic spaces.

Notable tourist attractions include the various coastal forts which still stand today as heritage sites, the Keelhaul Court, the elaborately altered cave used as a meeting place for pirate lords of the isle, and lastly the White-Gold library. Commissioned to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the republic, it’s considered by many as one of the greatest man made works in the history of the nation for its considerable size, intricate murals and mosaics made with riverstones, stained glass windows depicting significant moments in the nation’s history,, limestone arches and columns, and use of fossils in the limestone to accent.

Cuisine
Traditional cuisine is often a medley of sea based options, but tends to incorporate a native fruit called Multapa (Malt-tap-uh), which roughly translates to Tang-numbing. The fruit is savory and tangy, but if the juice is boiled or fermented it also has a light numbing effect on the tongue, which has led to a popular line of wines and sauces.

Music
Lorthosian music developed to be heard over the distance between ships in a fleet, so deep echoing horns and drums are favored in traditional music, alongside vocal accompaniment typical for sea shanties. Strings and gentle tones have come to be popularized in the modern age, leading to a renaissance era for traditional style music as old compositions have been rearranged to take advantage of changes and advances in both instrumentation and performance spaces, leading to a surge of patriotism and appreciation for older works.

Cinema
Classic Lothosian cinema includes retellings of classic tales from the age of exodus in the form of dramas, comedies, and even mysteries. While today’s citizen’s may be far less criminally inclined than their ancestors, it appears consumers still enjoy the notion that they could have a bit of pirate in them yet, if the continued success of the Black Cutlass series is any indicator. Government support for the arts ensures that the film making industry remains healthy and continues to find and nurture local talent, while on the international market documentaries on the nation’s wildlife and natural beauty always bring in a tidy sum and the occasional award.

Games
The national sport of Lorthos is Hoklash. First taught to settlers by the natives of the island, Hoklash is played with an arena between two teams of between six and twelve people. The arena is flooded with water roughly 3 feet deep, and platforms are erected throughout the pool. A network of obstacles and climbable surfaces are used to link them. A ball approximately the size of a common volleyball is used as the objective. The goal is to get the ball to your opponent's scoring zone without touching the water while carrying the ball or being tagged by an opponent. If tapped, you drop the ball and return to a tag-in point a little ways behind your scoring zone.This ensures that the closer a team gets the then enemies scoring zone, the more intense the resistance. The ball may be passed, but the circular nature of the arena and placement of obstacles means passes are seldom very far and enemies are usually very close.

Expert players of the game are akin to gymnasts, free climbers, and rugby players all in one, with a fiercely popular professional league taking place each year, drawing eyes internationally as well as locally.

Maintained by the Lorthosian Government. All rights reserved.

Report