Teschego

Teschego
Commonwealth
Flag Seal
Country	Tierrador
Capital	Apin Tascaí
Largest city	Tataía
Largest metro	Malakela Parish
Before commonwealth status	Teschego
Akúsatine Beach Colonies	1813
Teschego Colony	1898
Commonwealth status	September 7, 1959
Government
• Body	Commonwealth Legislature
• Governor	Taiya Ani (PpT)
• Lieutenant governor	Iaka Wihone
• Qangreč delegation	6 delegates
Area
• Total	920,566 km2 (355,433 sq mi)
Population  (2030)
• Total	4,058,552
• Density	4.4/km2 (11/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC–09:00 (East Tierrador Mainland)
SPT Abbreviations	TE, Tes.
Area codes	601, 480, 337
ISO 3166 code	TI-TE

Teschego, officially the Teschego Commonwealth, is a Tierradorian overseas commonwealth in northeast Peratra. Teschego is one of two overseas territories, the other being the Saukhin Islands. It is also the larger of the two, covering an area of 920,566 square kilometers. Teschego is the largest commonwealth of Tierrador as well, almost 400,000 square kilometers ahead of Ulunkheria, the second largest commonwealth in the Woqalate. Despite this feat, it is one of the least populous commonwealths, with a population of a little over 4 million. It is also the most sparsely populated commonwealth in the country, at about 4.41 inhabitants per square kilometer. Teschego, like all of the other commonwealths, is divided into seven qoyalets, headed by a commonwealth legislature, and is led by a Commonwealth Governor. Teschego’s capital is Apin Tascaí, in the North Teschego Qoyalet, and its largest city is Tataía.

Being practically uninhabited for most of its history, with the exception of some indigenous fishing settlements here and there, Teschego was settled by the Tierradorian Confederation in 1812, by Tierradorian settlers who were discontent with the country’s government under Aphío Kostari. There, they established numerous fishing settlements of their own along the Akúsatine Beach. The settlers would eventually designate a main settlement, Apin Taschaí, which would become the capital of the colony. For almost a decade, the Akúsatine Beach Colonies were used as a haven for sympathizers of the former Qabóri Woqalate. As the colony expanded more inland, they began to find small Peratran indigenous settlements in the more mountainous region of the area. While the indigenous peoples were hesitant to interact with the Qabóri settlers, they eventually allowed the bartering of goods with them, as the settlers brought many exotic items from mainland Tierrador, which fascinated the natives. The restoration of the Qabóri Woqalate saw a more organized formation of the Teschego Qoyalets, which had expanded even further.

The remaining decades of the 19th century were dominated by the Teschego Frontier, which played a major role in the development and expansion of the commonwealth. By the 1890s, Teschego had expanded into its modern borders, though still lacking heavily in population. Many of the population centers in Teschego were small mountain towns, which were mostly dominated by the indigenous peoples of the area, which had seen a large population boom. Many residents in mainland Tierrador had demanded that the Woqalate pull its influence out of Teschego, seeing it as a deadweight colony. These attitudes would change in the early 1910s, when settlers would find gold in the Teschego mountains. This began a large gold rush which saw the colony’s population double by 1920. In 1959, Teschego was admitted as a commonwealth of Tierrador.

The abundance of valuable natural resources have enabled Teschego, with one of the smallest commonwealth economies, to have the one of the highest median incomes, with the extraction of valuable minerals, natural gas and oil, and commercial fishing dominating the Teschego’s economy. Teschego also has a large tourism industry, due to its small population and location in the Polynesian region of Peratra. The Imperial Government owns more than half the land in Teschego, which is used for national parks, national forests, wildlife refuges, and TDF military bases. Teschego has the second-largest non-Qabóri Abio population percentage, with 53% of the population belonging to three different Polynesian indigenous nations. Teschego is also the only commonwealth of Tierrador to use left-hand traffic, with the rest of the country using right-handed traffic.

History

Pre-Qabóri settlement

Originally, the influx of Polynesian tribes from the Vallos subcontinent into present-day Timbia led to a somewhat significant migration into what is now Teschego along with the other Peratran regions. Despite this, the influx of indigenous tribes was not as large as what was seen in Timbia, which somewhat explains the very small population in the Teschego of today. The newly-arrived Polynesian peoples eventually became the first of the A’ulele, which would also be the main indigenous tribe of the commonwealth throughout its history. Eventually, the Kaeoto and the Mo’ukakai tribes would find their footing in the area shortly after.

The tribes of Teschego were very similar compared to the other Abio Nations of Tierrador as they developed a relatively organized society, based on a matrilineal kinship system that featured a vast and complex land inheritance system, which is still apparent even today. Teschego’s tribes routinely engaged in complex diplomatic endeavors, establishing well-written trade systems that had also involved the tribes of Timbia. Record indicate that during the 16th and 17th centuries, the A’ulele and Kaeoto even interacted with the Tapkoii of the Saukhin Islands and the Trukese people.

Arrival of foreign settlers

The arrival of Daxian settlers in the early 17th century was one of the first instances of foreign settlement in Peratra. While Daxia did not impede on the modern-day borders of Teschego, their presence was certainly noticeable. Many of the indigenous peoples of Timbia began crossing the Tula’au o Tina mountains into Teschego, establishing new tribal borders. While the tribes of Timbia and Teschego were considered to be on good terms, the sudden mass influx of Timbians began to cause a majorly negative rift in the way they conducted their business. This surprisingly did not cause a major conflict, but it did result in the A’ulele practically cutting off the Timbians from their business. Exactly two centuries following the arrival of Daxia in Peratra, political dissidents from Tierrador began to arrive in smaller numbers to Peratra, starting in 1812. While the existence of Peratra had been known for almost 300 years by the Tierradorians, the arrival in Teschego had been purely unintentional. The journal of the Tierradorian sailor Satolo Esutmaí revealed that the settlers main destination was Rumahoki, however violent winds had blown the ships severely off-course. The death of the captain of Esutmaí’s ship, Tuuno Taâkanen, had only made the situation worse, as nobody else on the ship knew how to sail a ship of that size.

The purpose of the ship’s journey was to escape a violent, war-torn regime in mainland Tierrador led at-the-time by Aphío Kostari. Kostari had led a broken nation during the height of the Takosenic Wars, started by his predecessor, Tesío Takosenia. Meanwhile, the settlers had landed fairly roughly on the northeastern coast of Teschego. Originally, the Teschegan people were skeptical about the newcomers, but reluctantly welcomed them upon discovering the goods they had brought. The settlers brought many rare items from the mainland, including exotic fish species from the Songun Sea, textiles made in newly-constructed Tierradorian factories, firearms and ammunition, and indigenous Cronan ceramic items. Eventually, the settlers would become assimilated in the culture of the Teschegan people, and even began to incorporate aspects of the Pan-Qabóri civilization into the daily life within the region. By October of 1816, the number of Tierradorian settlers had grown, still mostly consisting of anti-Kostaric dissidents, and one month later, the first permanent settlement, Apin Tascaí, would be established by Tierradorian businessmen. The name "Apin Tascaí" is a Qabóri translation of the term "Good Colleagues," and was meant as a gesture of appreciation towards the indigenous peoples of Teschego for their kindness towards the Tierradorians.

The alliance between both the Tierradorian settlers and the Teschegan peoples would be taken another step further, as Chief Taa'ā of the A'ulele tribe had offered a helping hand in bringing down Aphío Kostari's regime. In the spring of 1823, 100 Tierradorian settlers would make the trip back to the mainland, bringing along another 50 A'ulele warriors who volunteered to fight alongide them. There, they began to strike an alliance with frustrated members of the Qabóri Guard, establishing the Qabóri Restoration Alliance. That same year, the QLA stormed Kostari's residence in Taisgol, and would depose the leader shortly after. Immediately following the restoration of the Qabóri Woqalate, Woqali Aipasía commended the A'ulele warriors, and offered to make the Teschegan settlements a fully integrated colony of the Woqalate. Chief Taa'ā accepted this offer under the condition that he remained in a position of leadership within his tribe, which was accepted by the Qabóri government. Following this, the Akúsatine Bay Colonies had officially been formed and integrated into the Woqalate in December of 1823.

Teschego Frontier

As the colony had began to grow in both population and economic power due to increased trade with Qabór along with its vassals and allies, the Bay Colonies would eventually grow in size, as well. The dawn of the 1830s and 1840s would begin the Teschego Frontier period, which saw indigenous and foreign settlers alike racing to claim new lands to add to the colony. It was also around this time that the Qabóri Militia began its presence in the colonies, establishing numerous forts and bases meant for the colony's defense, most of which are still used today. These military sites played a key role in Qabór's presence in the Polynesian region, including events such as the Saukhin Conquest, where a naval fleet originating in Apin Tasčaí conquered the Saukhin Islands, establishing the second Qabóri colony in Polynesia. Meanwhile, the establishment of livestock towns in the more mountainous inland regions of Teschego began a wave of the cowboy culture, similar to what was seen in the mainland. By the 1850s, livestock quickly became Teschego's top industry, and the colony had nearly tripled in size, in both area and population. Despite this, Teschego had not been pulling its weight economically, and many scholars back in the mainland began to question the necessity of a colony as large as Teschego so far from the mainland. It even got to the point where settlers and indigenous Teschegans began to develop the same mentality, believing they would be better off as an independent nation.

In 1882, however, these issues would be quickly resolved when Antti Qobasaô and Taaura Tapihana, two ranchers in the livestock town of Ashburn, stumbled upon a large deposit of gold while in a drunken altercation. Upon this discovery, they quickly went to work mining as much gold as they could, and word began to spread of the discovery across Ashburn. Eventually, more livestock towns would establish mining operations in hopes of finding as much gold as Qobasaô and Tapihana did, to much success. As more and more pockets of gold would be discovered by Teschegan mining operations, the colony would expand even more, until it reached its modern-day borders in 1890. Woqali Tataía III would begin to integrate the colony into the Woqalate, including expanding mainland trade advantages and mining operations into both Teschego and the Saukhin Islands. The Teschego and Saukhin Act of 1892 promoted both regions from colony status to qoyalet status, with Saukhin becoming a qoyalet of Aracadó and Teschego becoming an autonomous group of four qoyalets. By the beginning of the 20th century, Teschego had become Tierrador's main producer of gold and other precious metals. The abundance of these metals in the mountains started a decades-long gold rush, which is still occurring even today, though not as much as during the Teschegan Frontier.

Walakee State

The Qabóri coup d'etat of 1911 replaced the second iteration of the Qabóri Woqalate with the much more authoritarian but progressive Walakee State. Some historians argue that the implementation of the Walakee State was very beneficial to Teschego's economy, as the region began to see much more economic progress. The 1920s and 1930s also saw a rise in the region's energy, fishing, and manufacturing industries, which would skyrocket during the coming decades. The various land reforms that were enforced throughout all territory under the Walakee banner would only heighten the benefits for Teschego, and the region's average income, GDP, and foreign trade advantages would also skyrocket in the years leading up to the Second Great War. Despite this, Tierrador's involvement under Satola Sanleć would halt this period of prosperity for Teschego, as the entire country's economy would be left in near-ruin due to lower supply rates caused by a shifted focus in the war effort. After Tierrador withdrew from the Second Great War, the economic state sparked a mass outrage against Sanleć. Teschegan industrial laborers, who mostly were of A'ulele, Kaeoto, and Mo'ukakai backgrounds, began to unionize and strike against the Walakee State, with the goal of causing a regime change or even allowing for Teschegan independence.

Eventually, Sanleć would resign as Grand Woqali, and would be replaced by Pedro Gomez. Gomez quickly began his tenure by reducing funding in the defense budget and allocating it across newly-founded government organizations with the purpose of recovering the nation's economic and cultural state. This immediately earned him a large amount of popularity in not just Teschego but also in the Saukhin Islands as well, which was considered unusual for them due to their consistent anti-mainland sentiment. In 1959, Gomez would become the first Tierradorian head of state to visit Teschego, when he was invited to visit the cities of Tataía and Apin Tascaí by Teschego Governor Mikhail Tereiti. Gomez addressed the people of Teschego after arriving in Tataía, announcing in front of a massive audience that Teschego would be promoted from just four qoyalets to an autonomous commonwealth, with the same amount of rights and advantages as the mainland commonwealths, along with the Saukhin Islands being transferred from Aracadó's jurisdiction to Teschego's. In the first quarter of 1960, Pedro Gomez would become the first head of state to receive a 100% approval rating in a specified subdivision without tampering from a national government.

The 1960s would also bring about a massive spike in tourism to the commonwealth. Thanks to Teschego's natural beauty, it being advertised much more throughout the world by the Imperial Government, along with including the already popular Saukhins in its borders, millions of visitors from different countries around the world would flock to the commonwealth during the northern hemisphere's winter months. From 1964 to 1976, Teschego was the most visited commonwealth in all of Tierrador. However, Teschego had also became the site of various nuclear weapons tests by the TDF, which was authorized by Gomez from 1963 to 1966, much to the discontent of the Teschegan people. After threatening to cut the mainland off financially which resulted in a four-week long standoff in the Tataía Harbor, Pedro Gomez agreed to stop nuclear testing in the commonwealth's waters on December 2, 1966. Teschego was also largely unaffected by the South Cronan Narco Wars, as being as far as it was from the mainland led to logistical difficulty in transporting troops and resources, though they still played a large role in manufacturing goods and services to make up for the shortened supply back in the mainland. During the 1970s, the settlement of Tataía, named after Woqali Tataía III, began to increase rapidly in population throughout the Walakee State. It overtook Apin Tascaí as the most populous city in Teschego on July 6, 1972, and there was even an effort to move the capital from Apin Tascaí to Tataía, though this never occurred.

On January 1, 1975, Gomez signed the Saukhin Integration Act of 1975, effectively splitting the Saukhin Islands from Teschego and re-integrating the islands as their own autonomous commonwealth.

Contemporary Teschego

The 1978 discovery of oil in the Cape of Sudmoll, along with the completion of the Timbia-Teschego Pipeline System led to one of the largest oil booms in Tierradorian history. This led to another massive spike in the commonwealth's total revenues and median income for the average person. By 1988, Teschego had become the largest exporter of petroleum products in Tierrador, along with being one of the largest in the world. Tataía was one of the ten major cities involved in the Ten Cities' Uprising of 1989, which led to the deposing of the Walakee State, and the subsequent Woqelee Reinstatement returned the Tierradorian Woqalate. The newly-restored imperial state, along with the massive revenues from the 1980s oil boom, allowed for Teschego to significantly upgrade their infrastructure. By 1998, Teschego had doubled its motorway system, connecting every major city within the commonwealth and eventually becoming integrated into the national Autorótsai system.

Teschego was largely unaffected by the 1993 Tierradorian financial crisis, though it began to see a major difference in trade from the mainland, which was at the center of it. With tourism more vital to the economy, environmentalism also rose in importance in Teschego. The Teschego Land Preservation Act of 2002 added 49.4 million acres (200,000 km2) to the Heartland Development Board's land conservation system, including tributaties of 16 rivers to its river conservation system, 3 million acres (12,000 km2) to Imperial Forest Service lands, and 46.4 million acres (188,000 km2) to the National Parks Authority lands. This act has allowed for strict preservation of Teschego's natural beauty, and Teschego also contains the most Imperially-owned land of any commonwealth in the Woqalate.

Today, Teschego is very well-known throughout the world as a staple of Tierrador's vast natural beauty and biodiversity. It has historically also been one of the most visited commonwealths in the country.

Geography

Teschego takes up a sizable chunk of the western/eastern Peratra mainland. It is the largest of all 26 commonwealths of Tierrador, almost doubling the size of Ulunkheria, the second largest. Teschego is a very mountainous region, with the massive Tula’au o Tina mountain range taking up around three quarters of the commonwealth’s land. Because of this mountain range’s location, Teschego is home to various climate types, ranging from a subtropical Mediterranean-like climate in the coastal areas of the commonwealth, to a much more cold, glacial climate in the southern and eastern border regions. Of the commonwealth’s 4 million inhabitants, approximately 75% of them reside in the flatter, coastal areas, and the commonwealth’s five largest cities are all coastal.

Teschego’s borders are with Timbia to the north and west, Samalosi to the south, and the Polynesian Sea to the east. Most of its borders are derived from natural boundaries, such as the aforementioned Tula’au o Tina range along with some rivers and lakes along the border. Teschego’s boundary with Timbia also serves as Tierrador’s only national border outside of Crona. The difficult border geography of Teschego has given it a geographical advantage against other hostile Peratran nations. Along with being very mountainous, Teschego is also home to an abundance of rivers and lakes, which allows for lush, arable land to add to its booming agricultural industry. Almost all of Teschego’s rivers empty out into Lake Wapu’ana’asi, the largest in the commonwealth.

Climate

Along with being the largest commonwealth, Teschego is also the coldest commonwealth on average, due to its very close proximity with the antarctic Australis continent. On the coastal east, Teschego enjoys a quite humid continental climate. During the summer in this region, temperatures are usually expected to reach an average of 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit), the lowest average summer temperature of any Tierradorian commonwealth. Meanwhile, in the winter, temperatures can drop as low as -15 degrees Celsius (5 degrees Fahrenheit), though there have been lower temperatures recorded before. In the more mountainous west, year-round temperatures do not typically rise above 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit), and winter temperatures have almost never risen above -20 Celsius (-4 degrees Fahrenheit).

The highest and lowest recorded temperatures in Teschego both happened in the interior mountains of the commonwealth. The highest temperature occurred in Ata’oqa, where it reached 36 degrees Celsius, or 97 degrees Fahrenheit, on January 12, 1917, during the southern hemisphere’s southern season. The lowest recorded temperature in Teschego is -51 degrees Celsius, or 59 degrees Fahrenheit, which occurred in Tatchikala on August 1, 1997. Typically, Teschego receives a fair amount of precipitation, though never more than 100 centimeters per year. However, the commonwealth receives almost double the amount of snow per year, and during the winter months of June, July, and August, the Commonwealth is usually covered in snow all throughout.

Demographics

As of the 2030 Tierradorian census, Teschego’s population is approximately 4,058,552, a 4.7% increase from the 2020 census figures of 3,867,801. Teschego is the 6th least populous commonwealth, ahead of Oazralk, Tawakee, Saukhin Islands, Ozalaz, and Sonaxa. Teschego is the least densely inhabited commonwealth, at 4.41 inhabitants per square kilometer. Teschego is divided into four provinces, known as qoyalets: Akúsatine Qoyalet, Central Teschego Qoyalet, Katatiq Qoyalet, and Aipasía Qoyalet. The qoyalets are further divided into several parishes, with the entire commonwealth being divided into 39 total parishes. The most populous of the qoyalets is Akúsatine, with a population of about 2.3 million inhabitants. The commonwealth’s largest city by population, Tataía, is located on the eastern coast of Akúsatine, and has a population of a little over 1.1 million inhabitants, making it the 22nd most populous city in Tierrador, ahead of Qéner but behind Anloiya. In total, there are nine cities in Teschego with a population above 100,000; the aforementioned Tataía, the commonwealth’s capital of Apin Tascaí, along with Ashburn, Atalokaliq, Matuunta, Cape Sudmoll, Olašico, Astocaí, and Nu’uqalik.

Ethnically, Teschego is 53% Polynesian, with 26% being ethnic A’ulele, 11% being ethnic Kaeoto, 7% being ethnic Mo’ukakai, along with 5% being ethnic Tapkoii and another 4% reporting as “other Polynesian,” which includes Tainean and Loa. Other ethnic groups of Teschego include 24% as ethnic Qabóri, 12% hailing from a mainland Abio Nation, 7% reporting as “other,” and 4% as ethnic Ængle. Teschego has sizable numbers of Daxian, Coscivian, Metzettan, Caphiric, and Umardi communities within its borders, typically originating from mainland Tierrador or their respective home regions. Similar to the Saukhins’ immigration policies, Teschego is very strict on who can enter the commonwealth, as it is typically used as an entry point for illegal immigrants attempting to enter the Woqalate.

Teschego is the only commonwealth to not have more than 40% of the population learning Qabóri as a primary language. Despite this, Qabóri is the official language of Teschego’s government and commercial activity. The A’ulele, Kaeoto, and Mo’ukakai languages are the other three official languages, and are the most widely spoken languages of the commonwealth. Due to those three languages having similar origins, along with all three being mutually intelligible amongst each other, they are sometimes grouped as the “Teschego languages.” Families of A’ulele, Kaeoto, and Mo’ukakai backgrounds are encouraged to teach their children their respective languages at home in order to preserve them, while Qabóri is typically taught in their first few years of schooling. More in-depth courses in A’ulele, Kaeoto, and Mo’ukakai are also offered by schools in Teschego.

Economy

Teschego has one of the highest per capita incomes in the Woqalate. Its GDP per capita is $76,552, which is the third-highest in Tierrador, behind only Taisgol and Las Rozas. As of November 2031, Teschego had an unemployment rate of 2.1%, the lowest in Tierrador. Its total workforce is about 2,957,882, working for approximately 197,192 total employer establishments, as of 2033. Teschego’s economy is dominated by mineral extraction and livestock, with more than 70% of the commonwealth’s revenues deriving from both livestock agriculture along with the extraction and exportation of rare and base-earth minerals, such as gold, zinc, precious metals, and coal. Besides mineral extraction, Teschego’s main exports include oil and natural gas, wool from sheep, seafood, such as salmon, cod, and crab, Polynesian fruits and vegetables, Polynesian timber, and livestock. Tourism is also a very large industry in the commonwealth, as it is one of the most visited commonwealths in Tierrador. Most employed Teschego residents work for the government, along with industries such as mineral extraction and in tourism organizations. TDF military bases also play a large role in the commonwealth’s GDP, and as of 2034, most active TDF personnel are based in Teschego. The commonwealth also receives a large sum of federal subsidies, allowing for lower taxes in the commonwealth, making it an ideal place to live. Teschego has the lowest cost of living of any Tierradorian commonwealth.

Energy

Teschego has the largest energy reserves of any Tierradorian commonwealth. However, its petroleum reserves have become somewhat depleted around the late 2020s to early 2030s, and the commonwealth had fallen to second in petroleum production after Ulunkheria. In the mid-2010s, the commonwealth's Energy Department began to diversify its energy sources, including the subsidization of nuclear, wind, and hydroelectric energy sources. While nuclear and hydroelectric power plants have existed in the commonwealth, they were only used for major population centers, such as Tataía and Apin Tascaí. In 2009, TDOE announced a new power grid, with a main focus on hydroelectric power with a few nuclear plants, with it spanning the entirety of the commonwealth. The Peratra Interconnection was completed in Teschego in 2028, with plans to expand it to Timbia by 2042. Teschego is one of two commonwealths to use its own, deregulated interconnecting energy grid.

Despite these advances in energy and the depletion of oil and gas reserves in the commonwealth, the petroleum industry still dominates the energy sector of Teschego's economy. Until 2029, Teschego was the largest producer of petroleum in Tierrador, now it being second, but by a very close margin. The commonwealth’s refineries are able to process 4.5 million barrels of oil per day, about 31% of Tierrador’s oil yield. The Cape Sudmoll Refinery off the commonwealth’s eastern coast is the largest refinery in Tierrador. Teschego is also home to 120 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves, the most in Tierrador. Many energy companies are based in Teschego, including TescheCo, POLY Energy, Sudmoll Refining, and Natukala.

Agriculture, fishing, and mining

Much like the rest of Tierrador, Teschego’s agriculture and mining industries are very important to the commonwealth’s GDP. The commonwealth has the 10th-most farms in the country, and has the 6th most acreage. Teschego’s agriculture industry is mainly focused on livestock, of which it represents $5 billion worth, or half of the commonwealth’s agriculture sector. This number mostly consisted of sheep, as their wool was one of Teschego’s largest exports for most of the 20th century. The rest of Teschego’s agricultural yields include Polynesian timber, which represents $2.1 billion worth, Polynesian fruits such as guava, mangoes, papayas, pineapples, and coconuts, and dairy products, which represent $1.1 billion worth. Teschego also has a very strong fishing industry. The commonwealth has seen a massive abundance of seafood, and has several large fisheries along its Polynesian Sea coast. Teschego exports large numbers of salmon, crab, cod, shrimp, and tuna, and the fishing industry in the commonwealth accounts for 18% of its GDP. Teschego also takes advantage of its vast mineral resources, with the mining industry taking up a large majority of its GDP.

Tourism

Tourism also plays a large role in Teschego's economy. Some notable tourist destinations include old cities such as Tataía, Apin Tascaí, Ashburn, and Atalokaliq, along with the famous Obrina Island, which is located 90 miles from the mainland. There are also numerous ski resorts scattered across the Tula'au o Tina mountains, which are very popular during the winter months, along with the various lush beaches along its eastern coast, which are popular in the summer months. 21% of Teschego's workforce is employed in tourism, and the commonwealth attracts more than 8 million visitors per year, mostly from mainland Tierrador but also from countries like Timbia, Daxia, Alstin, Arcerion, and Urcea.

Government & politics

Commonwealth government

Teschego is governed in similar form to a republic and has three main branches of government; the executive branch, which is headed by the Commonwealth Governor, a legislative branch, which consists of the Commonwealth Legislature, and a judicial branch, which consists of the unified Teschego Imperial Court. The Governor of Teschego is directly elected via popular vote and serves a five-year term, with a two term limit. The current governor is Taiya Ani, who is currently serving her second term. The next election for Teschego's governor will be in 2037. The unicameral Teschego Legislature consists of 56 delegates, who are elected from fifty-six constituencies across all four qoyalets, which are based primarily on the population of said qoyalets. Legislative bills and resolutions are mainly biased towards more populous areas, due to the number of delegates representing those districts as opposed to less popular rural areas. The judicial branch of Teschego consists of the Teschego Imperial Court, along with the Teschego Appeals Court. Judges at all level of the judiciary are selected by partisan vote, with the remaining vacancies being appointed by the Governor. Teschego is very conservative, with the far-right CuT party consistently holding a lot of political positions in the commonwealth over the years. Most Teschegan voters lean towards fiscal conservatism and hold mostly socially conservative values.

In the Imperial Government, Teschego is represented by 16 delegates in the Qangreč.

Local government

Teschego's system of local government is complex and extensive, managing different public functions throughout the commonwealth. Similar to the other commonwealths, Teschego is further devolved into qoyalets, which do not have as much power and authority over a commonwealth government, however they do control some aspects of their jurisdiction in cooperation with parish governments. Teschego consists of four qoyalets, with the possibility of a new fifth qoyalet on Obrina Island being split from the Akúsatine qoyalet, though this has not been made official yet. Some qoyalets have a small legislature, of which 3 in Teschego have them. All of them elect a Qoyalet Premier, which serves as its head of state and government. Qoyalets typically provide services such as jails, health care, public safety, voter registration, flood control, agricultural regulations, and education departments meant to uphold commonwealth standards.

Qoyalets are further divided into parishes, of which there are 39 total in Teschego. Parish governments typically have the same amount of power as qoyalet governments, though parish governments have exclusive authorities over some services that qoyalets have little to no power in. These services include law enforcement, vital records, property assessment and records, tax collection, social services, libraries, fire protection, animal control, and building inspections. In addition, parishes also serve as the de facto jurisdiction of most unincorporated areas in the commonwealth. Parishes do not have a head of state or government, and are governed by an elected board of supervisors.

Law enforcement

Similar to the rest of Tierrador, Teschego has two types of law enforcement; local police, whose jurisdiction consists of their respective parishes, and the Teschego State Patrol, whose jurisdiction consists of the entire commonwealth. The State Patrol's jurisdiction regularly overrides the jurisdiction of the local police, which has caused some issues between both sides in the past. Like in most commonwealths, some have even called for the abolishment of all state patrols, with the argument that they are unnecessary and the local parish police stations are able to govern their jurisdiction without need for the commonwealth's help.

Culture

The mainstream culture of Teschego is mostly derived from Polynesian, South Cronan, and Daxian influences, varying in different areas of the commonwealth. Teschego is mostly personified by its cowboy culture, along with the presence of livestock towns, settlements that focus primarily on livestock, in the more inland areas of the commonwealth. As a border and coastal state, Teschego's culture is greatly influenced by that of immigrants, from different countries and continents including Daxia, Vallos, and Crona]].

Media

Tataía is a major global entertainment center, and is sometimes even regarded as the "Entertainment Capital of Polynesia," due to most Polynesian-influenced media originating from the city. A popular television series set in Teschego is Gold Rush, which is a documentary series that follows a crew of gold miners as they travel across Teschego and Peratra, attempting to find the mythical "Tula'ua Pot of Gold," which is said to have an infinite abundance of gold and other precious metals. The show first aired on October 8, 2009, and has ran for nearly 20 seasons.

The music of Teschego features a mix of various different popular and traditional styles, which range from the native Teschegan folk music to modern rock and pop music. Teschegan music features styles such as the slack-key guitar, which are very well-known across Polynesia and the world. Meanwhile, most modern folk songs are sampled for soundtracks of popular movies that feature a tropical setting. The traditional folk music of Teschego is very similar to that of the Saukhin Islands. The people of Teschego, who have inhabited the land for centuries, have retained much of their traditional musical knowledge, and most modern folk songs receive more popularity and success than more mainstream, Occidental music in the commonwealth.

Sports

Sports in Teschego are mostly influenced by decades of Tierradorian settlement. Some popular sports include both association and gridiron football, ice hockey, Saukhin wrestling, and baseball. Teschego has three main professional football clubs, who all play in the National League 1 and National League 2. No Teschegan club has ever made it past the second-tier of Tierradorian football, the NFL Championship, and none of them have made it past the semifinals of the Qopá Terranóc, either. The Teschego Cup is contested by every club in the Teschegan commonwealth and qoyalet leagues, along with the three main clubs of SD Apin Tascaí, UCD Rainbow Tataía, and Ashburn FC. SD Apin Tascaí is the most successful out of these three clubs, as they have won 21 Teschego Cups, and are also the only club to make the semifinals of the Qopá Terranóc.

Ice hockey is another popular sport in Teschego. There are not any professional clubs in the commonwealth, however it features six teams in the Polynesian Hockey League, along with six other teams from the Saukhin Islands. The PHL is a member league of the South Cronan Hockey League, which is a major-junior organization and serves as a direct feeder league to the OHL Draft.

On the collegiate sports level, the University of Teschego and the University of Teschego-Tataía sponsor the OIAA's main sports of gridiron football, ice hockey, basketball, and baseball, along with several other smaller sports. Both schools were formerly a part of the Polynesian Athletic Conference, along with the University of the Saukhin Islands and seven other schools, however, in 2023 both UofT and UTT joined the Orixtal-12 Conference for football, while USI joined the Songun Coast Conference for football. All other sports remained in the PAC. In 2021, University of Teschego's gridiron football team went 13–0 and won the 2021 PAC Championship, 70–32 over Ashburn University, and became the first non-Power 6 school to advance to the College Football Playoff. They would eventually lose to the Santa Maria Wildcats in a very close game.

See also

Saukhin Islands