The Cape

The Cape, officially the Federacy of the Cape, is the easternmost country in Crona. It is bordered on the north, east, and south by the Odeneru and Cathay Oceans. It covers 2.3 million kms2 and has over 127 million people, largely concentrated in its namesake Cape Peninsula. The Cape is a multiethnic and multicultural society, with a majority of the population having mixed ancestry between the country's three primary ethnic groups, Kiravian, Cartadanian, and Cronan. The capital and largest city is Cape Town, which concurrently serves as one of seven provincial capitals.

For thousands of years, the Cape was home to various indigenous peoples. In the 1600s, however, Cartadanian and Kiravian explorers began to settle the country's eastern coast. Their colonies and dominions would expand throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. Disputes over political representation and forced colonial assimilation would lead to the Capetian War of Independence in 1897, led by Melvyn Kalma and the nascent Republican Nationalist Party, which established independence in 1901. The tumultuous young republic, weakened by political violence and rampant power struggles following Kalma's death in 1922, was invaded and occupied by Paulastra and Arcerion during the Great War. A Reclamation war soon took place, re-establishing the republic in 1951. A slow series of reforms between the 1980s and the 2000s would transition the state from a one-party military dictatorship to a representative, if flawed, - with the country entering into a rapid period of economic growth and industrialization that continues today.

The Cape today is a   led by the constitutionally-dominant Republican Nationalist Party. The country ranks as a semi-democracy in the Liberty Index and is categorized as a. The Cape is a key member of numerous international organizations such as the League of Nations. It is a regional power with a growing economy and a highly. Traditionally fuelled by the state-led exploitation of natural resources, manufacturing, and international shipping, the economy has grown significantly in its service sector during the past three decades - with no small part due to foreign investment. Cape Town ranks as one of the most economically active and important urban areas in Crona, home to the continent's largest stock and commodity exchanges by. The nation has high levels of economic freedom yet maintains numerous state-provided social services, ranking highly on continental indicators of education, health care, and human development.

Etymology
The Cape is named after the Cape Peninsula and its landmark Cape of the Segunda Cabeça. As a great cape, seen as the final waypoint between the Odeneru and the Cathay, sailors and settlers began to refer to it as simply "the Cape.” The name stuck, and the Kiravian colony that would eventually exist took on the name Axerka Kesta (literally "cape colony"). The Cape is one of a handful of countries in which the is used in its English-language name.

Indigenous peoples
It has been accepted that the first humans to settle the lands of the Cape arrived at least 12,000 years ago. Indigenous peoples in the Cape today can trace their ancestry to those groups, the two most significant being the Cahokian and Anahuak peoples.

Throughout history, those Indigenous societies became increasingly complex. By Occidental colonization, many cultures included permanent settlements, hierarchical states, and advanced agricultural techniques. Although it is difficult to estimate the Indigenous population of the Cape at the time of Occidental colonization, the generally accepted number is between 700,000 and 4 million; with the modern Federacy's Executive of Culture recognizing a figure of 2.4 million.

Initial contact between Occidental settlers and the various Indigenous states and commonwealths was relatively peaceful. Those of Indigenous mixed descent played a vital role in establishing Kiravian colonies and trade connections. Indigenous relations with Kiravian Capetians remained strong until independence. However, conflict quickly arose with the Cartadanian settlers, who, starting in the 18th century, began to conquer Indigenous states and attempted to assimilate them into their culture. Such actions reached a peak before the War of Independence, with forced integrations and deportations.

Occidental colonization
The first documented arrival of Occidentals in the Cape was on Christmas of 1612, by Cartadanian. In 1616, Kiravian explorers arrived, erecting a crude effigy of the Marble Emperor on the southern tip of the Cape Peninsula and declaring the establishment of Cape Town. Settlers to the “city” would only truly arrive a decade later. Cartadanian settlers established the permanent settlement of Sao Suro in 1621. These two cities would serve as the heart of the Cape’s fur and gold trades and soon became the respective capitals of Kiravia’s Cape Colony and Cartadania’s Natalia Colony. Skirmishes would break out between the two colonies in the 1670s, culminating in the Little Beaver War, fought over the control of the fur trade and the Indigenous states surrounding the colonies.

Fleeing turmoil in the nascent Cartadanian Republic, much of Cartadania’s wealthy left for Natalia. A coup, led by the newly-arrived upper class, took place in 1697 during the republic’s tumultuous Red Year. This coup deposed the former colonial administration for an oligarchic corporate administration. The 17th century would see a de-facto independent Natalia annex the Indigenous statelets surrounding it in the Cahokian Wars; first subjugating, then assimilating the Indigenous people. Such acts came to the chagrin of the new Federative Republic of Cartadania, although any solid police action was found unfeasible by the new Cartadanian Congress.

New arrivals from Kiravia, largely lower-class, peasant farmers and middle-class merchants, settled Cape Colony starting in the 1700s. These peasants soon found themselves with little arable land left, providing much of the impetus for the Great Beaver War fought between Urcea and Kiravia. Throughout this time, Cape Town became a vital military port, an important trading port for the Alshar spice trade, and the gateway to Crona's abundant gold, resource, and fur trade. Some of the earliest mixed-race communities developed during that time in Cape Town. Relations between Cape Colony and the surrounding Indigenous peoples were relatively cordial compared to their relations with the Natalia colony. However, they were likewise annexed to halt the growth of the Natalian sphere of influence through the Treaties of 1792, which granted Kiravia control over their foreign policies.

Despite continuous immigration, by the 1880s, only a tiny minority of Cape Colony’s population had been born overseas. Such distance from Great Kirav allowed the development of a unique, Capetian culture and self-governance measures. At the same time, the situation in Natalia became untenable - by the 1890s, the colony’s working-class and Indigenous populations were soon on the brink of open revolution.

Independence and confederation
The Praça da Colônia massacre (1896) in Natalia, where thousands of Indigenous and working-class protestors were shot dead by government forces, prompted the establishment of the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) - whose chapters quickly popped up across both colonies. Under Melvyn Kalma, a prominent advocate for independence and decorated former general in the Kiravian Foreign Legion, a War of Independence was waged starting March of 1897 to overthrow both colonial governments and to unite the peninsula under a new state.

By June of 1897, following significant uprisings in Cape Town, Kiravia exited the Cape. The NRA’s provisional government was recognized provided the new state remained a Kiravian ally and allowed the continuation of Kiravian trade. The transition of statehood from Cape Colony to the NRA's Cape Town government (subsequently known as the Government of the Supreme National Assembly) was formalized on June 22, 1897. By 1898, Natalia’s Indigenous population was in open revolt, with most local chiefs and leaders pledging allegiance to the NRA. “Liberating the peoples of Natalia” became official policy at the first convocation of the Supreme National Assembly. The invasion of Natalia, the Great Offensive, would conclude in February of 1901. On October 7, the newly formed Federacy of the Cape was declared the successor state to both Cape Colony and Natalia, with Melvyn Kalma serving as the first Prime Executive.

Kalma subsequently introduced many reforms, such as the state, establishing a period of redress for the Indigenous peoples, and instituting industrializing reforms with the goal of transforming the Cape into a modern, Occidental, governed as a  with a secular. To this end, the political activities of the NRA were separated into the civilian Republican Nationalist Party - which was to govern the country under a of tutelage until such reforms were complete. Following the establishment of the Federacy, certain groups in the former Natalia, both upper and working-class, became discontent with Kalma's reforms. Anti-secularist and anti-tutelage/pro-democracy (the Kadets Rebellion) revolts broke out in 1907 and 1911, respectively, which were suppressed with military force.

20th century
After Kalma’s death in 1922, the reformist-dominated RNP considered the Cape sufficiently developed to exit the period of political tutelage, beginning the first multi-party period of the Federacy of the Cape. Four major parties contested the 1924 elections: the Communist Party, the Constitutional Democrats (Kadets), the Lusophone Worker’s Front, and the Republican Nationalist Party. The RNP was controversially returned as the majority with a margin of barely one percent - with the months following being permeated with brutal street fighting between Republican, Kadet, Front, and Communist militias.

Politics and government
The Federacy of the Cape is a   led by the Republican Nationalist Party under a period of Planoarita, or republican politics (literally “politics in accordance with the popular will”) - the final stage on the road to full. The Capetian political system operates under the 1951 Federal Constitution, which recognizes the RNP as the “constitutionally guiding force”.

Since the 2000s, the Cape has been fundamentally structured as a. Although the RNP holds the majority of seats in the Supreme National Assembly, third parties have been allowed to run in elections and even hold cabinet positions. The SNA, comprised of the 503-member National Stanera and the 28-member National Auditorium, constitutionally holds "". In practice, however, the Assembly serves merely as the country’s, with executive power wielded by the Office of the Prime Executive, and judicial power wielded by the Supreme Tribunal of the Federacy and the Constitutional Court of the Federacy.

Deputies to the SNA are elected every four years on the principle of. These deputies, in turn, appoint the President of the Federacy, who serves as the and  of the armed forces. The member of the National Stanera who can obtain the confidence of a majority of the lower house is appointed by the President to act as the Prime Executive, who serves as the. The Cape is comprised of seven provinces in a.

Politics
Since the founding of the republic, the dominant political current in Capetian politics has been Restarkism - support for Melvyn Kalma’s reforms. Restarkism today is manifest as support for a  with a  constitution and an Occidental,  culture. It remains enshrined as the country's constitutional - with the role of its defence given to the armed forces. It likewise serves as the guiding ideology of Kalma's own Republican Nationalist Party.

Owing to the turmoil of the War of Independence and the Reclamation, Restarkism posits a stepped plan for the implementation of. First, military revolution (such as in the War of Independence),, where the party leads in a dictatorship, republican politics, a period of "national rejuvenation" led as a under the RNP which sets the groundwork for democracy, and constitutional politics, full. Since 2001, the Cape has been under the period of republican politics - in which third parties (the most prominent being the Constitutional Democrats) have been legalized, restrictions eased, and elections introduced. However, participation in the party, commonly through its quadrennial nationwide open s, remains the main form of democratic participation. In the past 20 years, the party has become divided between multiple factions across the political spectrum.

Law
The supreme law of the Cape is the 1951 Constitution, which establishes a. Its inviolable Fundamental Statutes guarantee rights and freedoms for the Planoarita/republican politics period - namely the freedoms of thought, speech, assembly, and association - which any government cannot override or amend. However, a notwithstanding clause (derogatory clause) allows the Supreme National Assembly to unilaterally suspend certain sections of the constitution for up to 6 months.

The nation's judiciary, consisting of the Supreme Tribunal and the Constitutional Court, plays a vital role in federal governance. Although subject to the use of the derogatory clause, the Constitutional Court maintains the power to overturn executive and legislative decisions. At the same time, the Supreme Tribunal plays a prominent role in interpreting legislation and ensuring the of politics. The National Auditorium nominates candidates to both courts, with their nominations subject to approval by the President of the Federacy.

A form of based on the Levantine code prevails in all parts of the Cape, with criminal law a responsibility of the federal government and is uniform nationwide. Law enforcement, however, remains the primary responsibility of provincial governments and is primarily conducted by municipal and provincial police forces.

Federal subjects
Internally, the Cape is divided into seven provinces. Although, in theory, each province is granted wide-reaching authority, power remains heavily centralized with the federal government in the capital of Cape Town - with the Department of State for the Provinces granted the ability to manage inter-provincial relations. Each province is governed by a parliamentary system similar to that of the federal system, with a elected by each provincial legislature to serve as the head of government. The powers of provincial governments are limited in scope to fields such as, , and public housing.

The provinces are, in turn, divided into 112 municipalities and non-urban districts.

Foreign relations
Since the introduction of republican politics, the Cape's international relations have been based on the 16th Amendment of the Federal Constitution: establishing, diplomacy, and cooperation as the fundamental principles on how the Capetian state should interact with other countries and organizations. According to the Constitution, the President of the Federacy acts as the nation’s chief diplomat with broad powers to determine foreign policy objectives, although the task commonly falls to the Prime Executive.

The Cape’s formerly belligerent and ideological foreign policy has softened since the 2000s, although elements of it remain; the country shares tense or lacks formal diplomatic relations with a handful of ideologically opposed League of Nations member states. Contemporary Capetian foreign policy is based heavily on the principle of - it is a founding member of the Southern Crona Conference and the informal League of the Free Republics. The nation seeks partnerships with fellow Cronan, Coscivian, and countries; it participated alongside them in the Final War of the Deluge.

Military
The Cape Armed Forces are the national of the Federacy of the Cape. Born out of the National Revolutionary Army, the Cape Armed Forces have evolved to become one of the most well-funded militaries in the Eastern Hemisphere. It consists of the Cape Ground Forces, the Cape Aerospace Forces, the Cape Republican Navy, and the Cape Strategic Forces.

With a small professional contingent of 310,000 soldiers, the armed forces rely heavily on the Cape’s program. Most citizens, regardless of gender, are drafted into the armed forces at 18 for a period of up to 12 months. The country can call upon a force of almost two million reservists in times of war. The armed forces have historically served an outsized role in Capetian politics and are perceived as the guarantors of the nation’s independence. The country, therefore, devotes a relatively high 5.7% of the national GDP on defense; with the funds spent on the maintenance of a large tank force, a, and a suspected stockpile of nuclear weapons to be delivered through a growing fleet of s.

Human rights
The human rights record of the Cape has been subject to much international condemnation and scrutiny. Particularly, the Cape’s combination of a, a restricted opposition, and the frequent participation of the armed forces in politics has led to the country’s description as an - if not an outright “authoritarian regime.” In 2020, the nation was ranked 16th out of 50 with a score of 6.73 on the Liberty Index, placing it as a. Although Capetians retain strong, , and a semblance of democracy through participation in free and fair intra-party elections, the state has been criticized for restricting opposition groups, the , and. A number of foreign governments, NGOs, and press organizations have alleged many assaults on press freedom - with organizations identifying over 51 jailed journalists (even including members of the editorial staff of Restarka, the governing party's newspaper) over the last 10 years.

Political power remains cemented in the Republican Nationalist Party in a system of. Each opposition party must recognize Planoarita politics and the RNP’s “leading role” to participate. In 2014 and 2017, the Supreme Tribunal struck down and dissolved political parties that violated such measures, with the Constitutional Court doing the same in 2016 and 2022 against groups that violated the Constitution’s Restarkist provisions of state. In 2021, the Cape Armed Forces carried out a against an unpopular attempt to use the derogatory clause. Throughout, the security services-dominated, colloquially referred to as the Republican Guard, has continually remained active in defense of the status quo.

However, since the 2000s, the Cape has ranked consistently as one of the least corrupt nations by public perception. The state’s unique structure of authoritarian democracy, a strong rule of law,, and focus on popular support through good governance has led to remarkably little public sector corruption. Popular support for the RNP and Restarkism, therefore, remains high - a phenomenon attributed through policies,, and intra-party democracy that allows for both popular reform and ideological continuity.