Portas Gemeas
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Sovereign Kingdom of Portas Gemeas
Reino Soberano das Portas Gêmeas (Cartadanian) | |
|---|---|
 Location of Portas Gemeas in Castadilla | |
| Country | Castadilla |
| Before Castadilla | Portas Gemeas |
| Founding of Porto Natal | 25 December 1498 |
| Founding of Porto Quaresma | 20 March 1503 |
| Union of the Ports | 17 May 1523 |
| Avizian Reforms | 5 March 1702 |
| Monarchy proclaimed | 18 August 1820 |
| Joined Delepasia | 21 May 1976 |
| Named for | portas gêmeas ("twin gateways") |
| Capital | Porto Quaresma |
| Largest city | Porto Natal |
| Government | |
| • Type | Parliamentary elective semi-constitutional monarchy |
| • Body | Parliament |
| • Upper house | Lords' Chamber |
| • Lower house | Commons' Chamber |
| • King | Pedro II |
| • First Consul | Dilma Fragoso |
| Area | |
| • Total | 31,985.60 km2 (12,349.71 sq mi) |
| • Rank | 15th |
| Demonym | Gemean |
| Language | |
| • Official | Cartadanian |
| • Minority | Pelaxian, Reform Tainean, and Caphiric Latin |
| Postal abbreviation | PG |
| Area code | 383 |
| ISO 3166 code | CS–PG |
Portas Gemeas (Cartadanian: Portas Gêmeas), officially the Sovereign Kingdom of Portas Gemeas (Cartadanian: Reino Soberano das Portas Gêmeas), is a state of Castadilla. It is bounded by Inaua to the northwest, Kauabimini to the southwest, and Rosaria to the southeast, sharing a maritime border with Trescolinia to the northeast. Portas Gemeas is the smallest first-level division to be designated a state, with a total area of 31,985.60 square kilometres (12,349.71 sq mi).
The first Romance people to have settled in what's now Portas Gemeas arrived in the late 15th Century as privateers sponsored by local rulers to take advantage in the rise of trade in St. Brendan's Strait. Many of these rulers were soon overthrown by their wealthier privateers during that time as well, thus leading to the rise in piratocracies in northern Vallos, often establishing new settlements such as Porto Natal by captains Antonio Moseisley, Henrique Aviz, and Alberto de Sousa. Porto Natal would soon unite with neighbouring Porto Quaresma in 1523. Portas Gemeas would soon take further land, ultimately taking Trescolinia in 1602 as a dependency.
The 18th and 19th centuries saw Portos Gemeas transition away from piracy and towards more legitimate trading enterprises. This started when First Captain Pedro Aviz transitioned Portos Gemeas into a merchant republic in 1702, with Captain of the People Miguel de Sousa declaring Portos Gemeas an elective monarchy in 1820, with the next 150 years democratising the new monarchy by 1949, and eventually becoming a signatory of the Pact of Eighteen in 1976 and federating into Delepasia.
Today, Portas Gemeas holds the largest amount of people of Cartadanian ancestry in Castadilla, and its economy mainly relies on cruise ship tourism and hospitality, itself being holding most of the headquarters of major Castadillaan cruise lines, most notably the Midway Cruise Line.
History
The earliest humans to have settled in what is now Portas Gemeas arrived at around 12,000 BC. These early settlers are hypothesised to have come from what is now Pelaxia based on similarities in material culture between the two groups. A predominantly rural folk, all that remains of their culture is their pottery and small urban centres, having had no writing system even after the arrival of foreign culture groups. The indigenous Vallosi no longer exist due to countless generations of intermarriage and colonisation, a trend which started with the arrival of the Heaven Ships and the emergence of the Taineans prior to 1000 BC.
Asides from the Taineans. there was also the Latin settlers who hailed from Adonerii. These people first arrived in around 650 BC. It was with the Latins that proper urban centres were established on Vallos, many of which are still in existence to this day, alongside the emergence of city-states that were governed by coastal cities that lined the coasts of eastern Vallos facing both the Tainean and Kindreds Seas. By 1 AD, there were numerous polities throughout Vallos, with Tainean and Latin realms in great numbers in the north. This ushered in a period of warring states and multiple attempts at garnering support from powerful nations on mainland Sarpedon, thus culminating in Caphiric involvement by the year 600. Initially Caphiria, then under its First Imperium, chose to align itself to any and all states in Vallos regardless of ruling culture, this soon changed by the year 702 when a proper military intervention was launched to place the subcontinent under a loose Caphiric hegemony with eleven tributary states created based on geographic features.
The Undecimvirate brought forth a period of relative stability in Vallos which lasted for centuries. During this time, Christianity became the dominant religion in northern Vallos, tributes were paid to Caphiria on a regular basis, Caphiric armies were often deployed whenever a subordinate king attempted to revolt or failed to pay tribute on time, and cultural diversity amongst the Taineans and Latins was at its highest, something which would never be repeated to such an extent in latter centuries. In 1172, the Second Imperium had ended, thus removing the one thing standing in the way between the Undecimvirate and complete and utter chaos. By the late 13th Century, five royal dynasties were extinguished and a vast majority of the eleven kingdoms had fractured into multiple polities once more.
By the end of the second period of warring states, the volume of Occidental oceanic trade had increased dramatically in the wake of Aster's expedition, and the petty kings, having had plundered each other to the point of destitution, saw an opportunity to embark on a lucrative enterprise. In 1450, these petty kings began to sponsor the public privateering of trade ships in St. Brendan's Strait. The results were a massive financial success for these realms and for the privateers themselves, the latter of which were able to amass vast amounts of wealth that were far greater than the income their sponsors were getting. Deciding to just remove the middle-man and keep all the money for themselves, certain ambitious captains began to take over various coastal settlements, often establishing one themselves.
One of the most notable examples of the latter case happened in 1498 when Cartadanian Captain Antonio Moseisley, alongside fellow captains Henrique Aviz and Alberto de Sousa, overthrew their Tainean sponsor and established Porto Natal, forming a plutocratic pirate republic with Moseisley himself becoming the First Captain from 1498 until 1508. His successors would continue to make a lucrative living off of piracy, soon uniting with Porto Quaresma in 1523, introducing an additional four enterprising captains into the ruling class, taking inland settlements as their collective wealth increased, and ultimately taking the island of Trescolinia as a dependency in 1602.
By the 18th Century, piracy was beginning to lose its lustre as the Levanto-Cronan trade declined. First Captain Pedro Aviz, in an effort to adapt to the times, embarked on a series of reforms to legitimise the regime and to get on the major Occidental powers' good side. This resulted in a lucrative escort contract, and sponsors for anti-piracy convoys against neighbouring Oustec. The influx of legitimate wealth allowed for investments into trading enterprises, thus cementing the end of the pirate republic as it transitioned towards a merchant republic. The title of First Captain soon became Captain of the People in 1702.
As the 18th Century wore on, the newly-legitimised great houses of Portas Gemeas began to take on certain royalist trappings in an effort to distance themselves from their swashbuckling ancestors, eventually culminating in the Act of Gemean Regality in 1820 by Captain of the People Migual de Sousa which turned the merchant republic into an elective monarchy as well as establishing a federative union between Portas Gemeas and its dependency of Trescolinia. The next 150 years saw Portas Gemeas democratise and eventually become a consitutional monarchy in 1949 as well as becoming a signatory of the Pact of Eighteen in 1976 and joining Delepasia, with Trescolinia becoming an autonomous island.
Geography
Government
Demographics
Culture and Society
Economy and Infrastructure