Lotoa

Lotoa, officially the State of Lotoa, is a state of Cartadania located at the confluence western Polynesian Sea and eastern Ocean of Cathay in the Polynesia region. Inhabited for nearly 4,000 years, the archipelago has some of the most distinct culture among all of Cartadania's territories, and the federal government has implemented many regulations regarding the retention of the culture and heritage. With an area of approximately 1398.6 km2, the territory is quite small. On its three islands live around 651,753 people, many of whom are of Lotoan descent, and a little more than a third of the population lives in the capital city, Laaula

History
The archipelago that constitutes the territory of Lotoa has been inhabited by Polynesian peoples for nearly 4,000 years and is the outermost island chain in the Polynesian Sea. Formed by the Ahinui volcanic hotspot beginning some 0.2 ago, Lotoa was (and still is) one of the fastest growing island chains on the planet.

The origins of the people of Lotoa are addressed in the theories regarding the migration into the Polynesian Sea that began about 4000 years ago. During pre-Latinic-contact times, there was frequent canoe voyaging between the nearer islands. Two of the three islands of Lotoa were inhabited but all three islands were known. This explains the origin of the archipelago's native name, Tolu Manatu, which means "three points" in Lotoan. Possible evidence of human-made fires in the Caves of Vanu Lanumeamata suggests humans may have occupied the islands for thousands of years. The area was not completely isolated; later, voyagers from Stenza and other nearby islands introduced some Austronesian cultural aspects. Intermarriage and intense navigation between the islands tended to blur cultural differences and resulted in a significant degree of cultural homogenization.

Cartadanian arrival
The direct path of how Cartadanians arrived at the Lotoan archipelago is unknown, especially given the time it was discovered in the early 18th century. Many speculate it was an offshoot due to severe weather en route to Crona which lead Cartadanian vessels to land in Lotoa. With tropical cyclones blowing easterly south of the equator, it would not have been entirely implausible. Evidence of Cartadanian arrival and intermixing with locals was not well evidenced until 1731, with the full establishment of the then-Cartadanian territories of Ceylonia, Galicia, and Porlos. It was around this time that Cartadanian cartographers set out to map the southern hemisphere, which was not known to their maps in detail at the time. In the 1760s, Cartadania established a full time connection with a tiny kingdom they came across on the archipelago, known as the Queendom of Tolu Manatu. Despite linguistic barriers and a distance of nearly one-quarter the globe, the Cartadanians and Lotoans maintained a trading partnership of sorts. In turn for their advancements and cultural differences, they began teaching each other their respective languages and the Queen of Tolu Manatu allowed the cartographers to document their findings and explore the islands.

Early relations
With the extreme urbanization and explosive growth of metropolitan Cartadania in the late 1790s to early 1800s, Alahuela sought to introduce Lotoa to the rest of the world, which was the complete opposite of what several of Lotoa's high council desired. Many of them wanted to retain their way of life and remain severed from the rest of the world as to avoid potential troubles such as war or more extreme outcomes. As a direct response, Alahuela offered to protect Lotoa with its armed forces and do its best to retain the local culture.

Queen Apikaila, now in her mid-80s, was beginning to show signs of her age as she began to slow down and spend more time out. Though its not well documented in its historic records, Queen Apikaila desired to keep the islands protected and retain their way of life. Though she saw the changes to Lotoa as inevitable, she sent off a request to Alahuela–in the event that we fully become a part of the greater nation of Cartadania after my passing, I request only that [the] culture of Tolu Manatu be retained in its most pure essence. Queen Apikaila passed on her 95th birthday.

Following her passing, the ties between Cartadania and Lotoa began to strain a bit, most notably with the influence of Koré'hetanùa, a nearby Polynesian country southwest of Lotoa. In the years of the 1950s, Congress once again reached out to Laaula to try and foster a stronger connection with Lotoa, but was shut out by much of the high council again, as it was during Queen Apikaila's rule. One individual in particular, then-current ruler of the islands, Princess Telila, who had traveled to Alahuela and much of the occident as well, was optimistic of the life Lotoans could have if they embraced Alahuela in a "symbiotic" relation. Many of the council called her a traitor and biased as she had a Cartadanian father, but she did her best to reassure them that Lotoa was her home and she only wanted what was best for it. As an effort to prove to her council that it would be to their benefit, Princes Telila took a six month trip to Cartadania, where she explored different parts of the country and documented her findings with notes and sketches to bring back. Upon her return, the council was in quite a different mindset, in awe of not only her return but what she brought back with her. Her efforts alone saw Lotoa's eventual ascension to Territory of Second Class.

Territorial period
During the early 1900s, Tolu Manatu was considered a Territory of Second Class, which gave its citizens the right to travel freely to metropolitan Cartadania and its other territories, but limited its rights within the union as compared to territories of First Class, which enjoyed much of the same freedoms as the states. Though Cartadania kept to its promises of protection and retention of the archipelago's culture, the Second Great War increasingly strained Cartadania to the point of Congress essentially exhausting a large portion of its resources to the islands. Though its consequences were short lived, the short-term impact was quite severe as many living in the islands had grown accustomed to the way of life introduced to them. In hearing of the war, many of the Cartadanian-born residents left the islands to serve in the war, leaving behind many families and children. Perhaps ironically, a large swath of Lotoans also enlisted and traveled to Amar in Porta Bianca, where they assisted in improving maritime travel technology and served mostly in the Navy, as they had great experience in being on the water for extended periods of time.

Following the war's closing and Cartadania's expulsion of Galicia and Porlos, Congress again set its sights on Lotoa, this time with way more ability and money to boot. Again, Lotoa began a time of prosperity and Cartadania introduced new technologies to the islands, such as cars. Lotoa's high council, to the surprise of now-Queen Telila, advocated for the full inclusion of Lotoa into the union, and Congress, seeing it as an opportunity to expand its knowledge base and other aspects of its union, accepted this concept of a fully-integrated territory. Thus, the process began as it had with many other territories, to determine the conditions and codes of the new territory, and on 3 January 1980, Lotoa became a Territory of First Class and was the most recent territory to do so until Santa Domenica followed suit in 2008.

Geography
The Lotoan archipelago is part of greater Ahinui Rift Zone of the northwestern Polynesian Sea and is thus volcanic. Consequently, the islands frequently see volcanic activity, although it is seldom very destructive to developed areas. Laititi, the smallest of the three islands, is the most actively volcanic and as of March 2021, currently experiencing an eruption event.

Climate
Like much of tropical Polynesia, Lotoa experiences a very consistent climate year round. The average temperature ranges between 21 and 31 °C (70 and 88 °F), with little seasonal variation. The lowest and highest temperatures recorded in Laaula are 16 and 34 °C (61 and 93 °F), respectively.

Politics and government
Lotoa is a special-case territory of Cartadania. Designated as a Territory of First Class, Lotoa is the most autonomous of Cartadania's territories, and the only one to write a majority of its laws in the same manner a state would. The biggest concern of the federal government during it's assumption of control over the archipelago was retention of and support for the Lotoan culture. Much like the federal government did with Porta Bianca during it's early territorial days, Congress incentivized relocation and development of Lotoa with support and oversight from its native populace during the first decade of it's territorial status. Unlike Porta Bianca, however, is the retention of the local language, which is co-official in the territory.

Lotoa operates much the same as the other territories in terms of government, with a bicameral legislature consisting of it's Senate and Chamber of Deputies, a judiciary with a Supreme Court at its apex, and an executive branch headed by its governor.

Administrative divisions
Each of the three islands–Anamua, Matau, and Laititi–serves as county-equivalents for Lotoa, with the islands being divided into districts and further into cities and villages, many of which retain their native names.



Self-determination
While Congress has always maintained that the people of Lotoa may choose their destiny and may leave the union if they so choose, the people of Lotoa seldom vote in favor of independence, with the last polls showing 11.4% voted to leave the union. Many Lotoans have stated they don't actually mind the territorial status, and actually prefer it as it gives them access to the rest of the world through Cartadania and the rest of the Occident. Its status as a territory has drastically expanded its tourism industry and the federal government's support of local businesses and culture has only made the way of life in Lotoa improve.

Economy
Lotoa's economy is dominated by the tourism and agriculture sectors, accounting for 63% of the territory's economy. Vanilla, taro, sugar, coconuts, and various fruits form a large portion of the agricultural sector. Alahuela has recently spent more time in attempting to diversify Lotoa's economy, chiefly through further improvement of the archipelago's infrastructure. Laaula is undergoing an aggressive urbanization project valued at €200 billion, which would overturn a large portion of the city's outdated infrastructure. Developers have included locals in all aspects of the development of the city and it has generated a large amount of jobs and excitement around the future of Lotoa.

Alahuela's goal is to have Lotoa transform into a highly developed by 2040, which many have cited as ambitious but applaud the government's commitment to developing the islands. In keeping with it's cultural identity, Lotoa's economy does still have ties to its Polynesian neighbors. Many large corporations have invested in the archipelago and, despite how remote the island group is, some have decided to relocate their headquarters to Laaula. Large hotel chains are also a part of the development of Laaula.

Transportation and communications
The transportation network of Lotoa is slowly improving, but has been mostly defined by a loosely organized system of ferries between islands and old highways between cities. There is not much of a system in place for those living in cities like Laaula, which doesn't have an form of public transit other than the ferry system. Recently, with the ProjectLotoa, Congress has allocated enough funding to the territory to vastly increase its transit measures and further integrate the city while its population remains relatively low. Chiefly, Laaula is set to complete a metrorail system and new bus network throughout its district, while Anamua County will extend a bus network around the island.

Telecommunications in Lotoa have been pretty much on par with most other territories, with Lotoa actually serving as Axiom's testing ground for  interconnectivity. Southern portions of Anamua, especially those around Amu Piniki and Laaula, tend to have some of the highest cellular data speeds on the planet. However still, many telecom companies have stated they would like to see more integration. Axiom in particular has signed onto ProjectLotoa and has stated that it would bring the city under its fiber optic cable and internet services.

Population
The Cartadania Office of the Census found that the reported population of Lotoa was 651,753 at the 2020 Census, which was finalized on 31 December 2020, making it the third-most populous territory in Cartadania. The population density of the territory is 466 PD/km2, making Lotoa the fourth-most densely populated territory of Cartadania.

Ethnic groups and ancestry
According to census findings, the population of Lotoa in 2020 was:


 * Polynesian 39.2
 * Pardo 24.2%
 * Cronan 14.6%
 * Alshari 9.3%
 * Latinate or northern Levantine descent 4.1%
 * Audonian 1.3%
 * Other 7.3%

As it's heritage and identity would indicate, there are strong Polynesian ancestry lines amongst Lotoan people, especially those from the southern coastal regions of Anamua County. Like most of Cartadania, the Pardo group holds a sizeable percentage of the population, trailing Polynesian descent by about 15%.

Languages
The federal official language in Cartadania is Cartadanian, and as a result, the language of business, government, and instruction in Lotoa is Cartadanian as well. However, due to the Cultural Retention Act of 1980, Congress has protected and continues to encourage the combined use of the Lotoan language alongside Cartadanian. Approximately 49% of the population has reported speaking Lotoan at home in Lotoa, including those born abroad and born in the metropole.

The most common languages spoken in Lotoa as of 2022 are:
 * 71% Cartadanian
 * 49% (bilingual speakers; 18% Lotoan alone)
 * 5% Stenzan
 * Other languages less than 1% each

Religion
Lotoa is mostly, although there is a large community within the territory as well. Cartadania did not bring missionaries to Lotoa on its trips to the archipelago, and as a result of extremely limited contact with other countries, the religion never garnered a large community. It is beginning to grow in more recent years, but the amount of Lotoans who practice Christianity is still low, about 15% of the population.

Cuisine
The cuisine of Lotoa includes local foods such as cassava, taro, yam, potato, fish, and pork. Post-contact Lotoan cuisine is largely based on corn, and includes tortillas, tamales, atole, and chilaquiles, which are a clear influence of the ever-merging cultures of Cartadanian and its southern neighbor. Western cuisine is favored among young Lotoans and the locals are joined by foreign tourists. Tourists eat mainly at their hotels on such islands. Some local foods include an alcoholic drink made from coconut on the tree and the drink made from the roots of the kava.

Music
The music of Lotoa includes traditional and popular styles, ranging from native Lotoan folk music to modern rock and hip hop. Lotoa's musical contributions to the music of Cartadania are out of proportion to the territory's small size, a trait comparable to that of Ciulaga, Santa Domenica, Santa Elena, and Porta Bianca. Cartadania's insular territories and states, with the exception of Solemia, have notoriously been popular in music.

Styles such as kī hōʻalu guitar are well known around the world, while Lotoan-tinged music is a frequent part of film producer soundtracks. Lotoa also made a major contribution to country music with the introduction of the steel guitar. Traditional Lotoan folk music is a major part of the territory's musical heritage. The Lotoan people have inhabited the islands for centuries and have retained much of their traditional musical knowledge. Their music is largely spiritual in nature and includes chanting and dance music.

Sports
The Polynesian traditional sport va'a is practiced in all the islands, and given the importance of water and navigation to the Lotoans, it was unsurprising of their prowess in international rowing and water-based sports. However, due to its distance from metropole Cartadania, team sports in Lotoa are characterised by youth, collegial and amateur teams over professional teams.

Surfing has been a central part of Polynesian culture for many centuries, and since the late 19th century, Lotoa has become a major site for surfers from around the world. Lotoa has produced elite-level swimmers, many of whom have gone to compete in international competitions that have garnered quite the reputation for the island chain.

Lotoa is particularly fond of western sports as well, such as and, with association football being the most prevalent sport in the territory. In recent years, has become more popular, as well as. Lotoa has produced a large number of athletes that compete in the professional teams of metropole Cartadania as well as collegial sports, both domestic and in the metropole.