Denton

Federal Republic of Denton
Flag
Anthem: Unity under one star
Capital	St. Catherine
Largest	Lock Haven
Official languages	Engligh, German
Recognised national languages	Maori, Gaelic
Demonym	Dentonite
Government
• Premier	Anna Kirsch
Legislature	Parliament
• Upper house	Senate
• Lower house	National Assembly
Establishment
• Independence from Salide	14 December, 1813
Area
•	559,040 km2 (215,850 sq mi)
Population
• 2017 estimate	39,122,774
• 2010 census	37,048,082
Currency	Denton Sterling Pound (£) (DSP)
Time zone	GMT (UTC+6:30)
Date format	dd-mm-yyyy (CE)
Drives on the	right
Calling code	+83
ISO 3166 code	DEN, DI
Internet TLD	.den, .di

Denton, officially the Federal Republic of Denton, is a semi-presidential constitutional republic located on an island group in the Indian ocean, about 400 miles Southwest of Australia. It comprises of 4 City-States, 12 States, 3 Territories, and a Special Autonomous Territory covering an area more than 230,000 square miles and home to nearly 38 million people. Its capital city is St. Catherine and the largest city is Lock Haven, with nearly 4 million people in the combined metro area.

Denton is a founding member of RAZDDA and the South Pacific Space Program

Denton was created by Ethan Goin and is a part of Austellus Hemisphaeria.

History

A Salidan explorer by the name of John H. Denton sailed around the islands in 1712. Denton's ship encountered a storm off the northern coast of Motunui (East Island) which snapped the formast. After landing in what is now St. Catherine, the ship and crew spent several weeks fixing the mast, as well as exploring the area. As they prepared to leave, a feud broke out with the trading Māori, with Denton and three other crew killed, and the remaining crew sailed back home to Salide.

The second expedition of the Denton Islands was done between 1734 and 1736 by Captain Erinn Hughes. Claiming them for Salide, Hughes spent the next year and a half mapping out the islands, as well as establishing relations with the Māori. Hughes named the islands after John H. Denton.

The Earliest Settlers

The Salidan Colonial Offices saw the potential for a high-income colony in the Denton islands and in 1748 sent four ships to land and create the first colonial town, Elisabethtown (later Bristol). Later settlers arrived in 1751, 1756, and 1763, creating the towns of Loch Haven*, St. Catherine, and Scipio Bay. Several small outposts were created around Moturoa (West Island), but most of the attention was focused on Motunui (East Island). Lock Haven was originally spelled Loch Haven in reference to the lake it was settled on. When the first dam, canal, and locks system was opened in 1833, the town was renamed Lock Haven.

Due to low interest in the islands, Salide offered incentives to any person who would settle. This effectively doubled the population growth, starting in 1775. The population grew from the 1 million estimated Māori in 1748 to about 2.1 million total in 1809.

The Revolution

The Salidan civil war (1811-1814) turned all of the attention from it's colonies to it's home islands. The civil war consumed most of the divided naval forces, and therefore removed any sense of protection for Salide's colonies. This in turn led to the conquering of many Salidan colonies by the British, the Spanish, the Dutch, and the French. Denton revolted. Using the civil war to their advantage and leaving Salide unable to respond with full force, Dentonite revolutionaries and Maori supporters were able to overthrow the loyalist Salidan forces with relative ease.

Denton officially announced it's independence on 14 December 1813. In rapid succession, the newly formed government drafted it's constitution, elected it's first president, Ciaran Pol MacNair, formalized it's name as the Federal Republic of Denton, and created the Denton Armed Forces made up of two branches, the Army and Navy. The war lasted for a little over 10 months, after which the Dentonites and Maori were able to defeat Salidan forces on the islands.

For several years after the final Salidan forces were defeated, Denton enjoyed relative peace. The aftermath of the civil war had left Salide to focus on rebuilding its navy to retain its dominance around its home waters, but it wasn't likely that it would be able to regain the strength it once had. Salide still had several colonies in Africa, Asia, and the South Pacific, although these were slowly being wrung from their grips. With too much to focus on and ongoing issues with the British, Spanish, French, and Dutch, Denton was safe for the time being.

Land Grants, Immigration, and Industrialisation

As a new country with an abundance of land and a small population, the Denton government offered land grants to anyone that would settle, starting in 1821. This was the beginning of three-quarters of a century of mass immigration to the Denton islands.

Despite being a new country and having a small population (1.38 million 1820), Denton had a lot in the way of land area and natural resources. With the arrival of skilled and unskilled laborers, attracted by the soon-to-be booming of the Dentonite industrial age and free land, new towns popped up and cities grew. Mining and manufacturing industries began to grow.

The diversity of Denton continued to grow through the 1870s as immigrants were still flooding in, in even large numbers now, with the advent of large steam powered ships. Immigrants and natural-borns from German and Austria still proved to be the largest demograpic. The large amount of German speaking people thus prompted the Denton government to add German as an official language, alongside English, in 1874. This action found an unlikely ally in the new German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Economically and militarily, Denton recieved know-how and assistance and after several years, a trade deal was brokered, with raw resources being shipped to Germany and tools and equipment being shipped to Denton. As well, the impressive perfromance of the Prussian military in the Franco-Prussian War encouraged the Denton to contract a military training mission to reorganise and update their miltary.

Traces of gold were found in the three peaks region, sparking a major gold rush in the central highlands region of Denton, a relatively sparsely populated area at the time. The resulting influx of +100,000 people into Fort Albany and Fort Crassna quickly turned them into sizable cities. The gold rush of 1887 was short lived, only lasting for 2 years, but the large scale mining opened up several new veins of ore, further increasing the scope of the mining economy.

A couple thousand miles southwest, a new country sprung up overnight. New Coburg Gotha, founded in 1877, was in a difficult location, the barren landscape and the remoteness requiring much assitance from its nearest neighbor, Denton. A large order of natural resources (timber being the most significant) and construction equipment provided a sizable boost to Denton's economy. Over the next couple of decades, workers and new emigrants moved to New Coburg and Gotha to help develop it into a sustainable country. To ease the new country's wallet, many of the exports were in the form of 99 year leases.

Even 75 years after the Revolution, relations between Salide and Denton were bitter. In an effort to reduce tensions and attempt to make peace, Isabella IV met with William Murphy in Cappach in 1888, and signed the Salidan-Dentonite Treaty of Friendship of 1888. The treaty officially restored relations between the countries and signified the beginning of closely knit relations between the two

A New Century

Denton's second constitution was written up in 1910, as an extension of the original constitution of 1814. This included the abolishment of the land grants, as the population had grown to nearly 16 million people, and the addition of more stringent immigration laws.

The first assembly plant for the mass production of cars and trucks was built in 1912, by the Oshiro Motor Co. (a division of Oshiro Machinery Factory), spreading the influence of commercial and personal motor vehicles.

Interbellum and the Golden Age

The end of the Great War brought about the Golden Age. As co-victors of the war and not faced with any sufficient re-construction challenges, Denton enjoyed prosperity and steady economic and military growth. Immigration laws were passed to strictly limit new entries.

The Great Depression

With the crash of the stock market in 1929, the United States and the rest of the world plunged into the Great Depression. Denton, however, had a relatively isolated economy and high protective tariffs. While industrial and mineral exports decreased drastically, causing a slump in the economy, it did not suffer near as bad as other countries. To make up for the decrease in exports, the government created multiple works programs. Major works projects include: the damming of lakes in the Speer river valley; the expansion of Lake Albany to it's current size; and the expansion of the highway system to reach nearly every major city with ease.

World War II

Main Article: South American Campaign

New Territory

Plagued with severe financial troubles, New Coburg and Gotha found itself in a tough spot. In 1976, the first of the 99 year leases were to be repaid to Denton. Since New Coburg and Gotha was still operating in a deficit, there was no way for it to pay Denton back. After 5 years of talks and structuring, New Coburg and Gotha was officially absorbed by Denton as a Special Autonomous Territory. New Coburg and Gotha retained many of it's governing powers, with the exception of those at the national level, such as protection and diplomacy.

Geography

Denton's land mass comprises just over 215,000 square miles of land resting on the Finnin Plateau, just south of the Diamantina Escarpment. The Finnin Plateau is a Large Igneous Province (LIP), which was formed separate from the Kerguelen LIP. When Australia and Antarctica started to separate, the Finley LIP was separated from the Kerguelen LIP by the Southeast Indian Ridge. The Finnin Plateau/LIP is different from other areas of oceanic crust, in that it has a crustal thickness that ranges from 13-25 miles thick, compared to the typical 4.3 miles of normal oceanic crust. It is slightly smaller than the Kerguelen LIP (480,000 square miles), at about 390,000 square miles.

There is speculation among scientists that the East and West Islands were at one time a whole and were separated just after the Finnin LIP separated from the Kerguelen LIP. Possible evidence of this can be seen clearly on maps and hydrographic surveys, which show of a 'stretched' area just between the two islands. There is some geologic evidence to support this theory, but further information is being gathered.

The landscape of Denton is varied, but is primarily mountainous, with the western half of Waotunui (west island) and the majority of Otuhua (east island) covered with mountains. The eastern half of Waotunui is covered in Highlands and Plains.

Climate

Denton has a mild and temperate maritime climate (Köppen Cfb), although some areas experience a cold-semi arid climate (Köppen BSk), primarily in areas where mountains are on all sides, creating a rain-shadow effect. This is climate type is experienced in Fort Crassna and Hukanui, although the central highlands (Fort Albany) area experiences this climate as well.

Politics

Government

Main Article: Government of of Denton

Denton is a federal semi-presidential constitutional republic.

The federal government is broken up in to three branches, Executive, Judiciary, and Legislative.

Legislature

Bicameral Legislature

Upper House: Senate - 63 members

Lower House: National Assembly - 413 members

Executive

The head of state is officially the Premier, however the powers traditionally associated with premiership is distributed between three people, a triumvirate. The Premier is responsible for all domestic affairs, the Chancellor is responsible for all foreign affairs, and the National Defense Minister is responsible for homeland defense and military operations. The Premier is an elected position, while all other positions in the triumvirate and cabinet are chosen by the Premier upon election.

Working with the Premier, there are 15 cabinet members (including the Chancellor and National Defense Minister), each representing a government department.

• Minister of Foreign Affairs (represented by Chancellor)
• Minister of National Defense (represented by National Defense Minister)
• Attorney General
• Minister of Agriculture
• Minister of Culture and Heritage
• Minister of Education and Research
• Minister of Energy
• Minister of Health
• Minister of Human Resources and Social Development
• Minister of Industry and Labor
• Minister of the Interior
• Minister of Justice
• Minister of Territorial Affairs
• Minister of Transport, Building, and Urban Development
• Minister of the Treasury

States and Territories

City-States

• Lock Haven City-State
• St. Catherine City-State
• Fort Albany City-State
• Komorn Piaski City-State

Territories

• South Pacific Territory

Special Autonomous Territories

• New Coburg and Gotha

Territorial Claims

• Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica, claimed 90°W to 150°W

Foreign Relations

Main Article: [[Foreign Relations of Denton]]

Salide

After the Denton Revolution, there was much animosity between Salide and Denton. James III and Isabella VI sought to reduce this hostility and increase diplomatic relations. In 1888, Isabella VI and William Murphy, Denton's 16th president (1881-1889), met in Cappach to sign the Salidan-Dentonite Treaty of Friendship of 1888. The treaty remained intact even through Salide's communist years (1922-1951).

Texas

The Republic of Texas

Rio Grande

The Rio Grande Republic

Armed Forces

Main Article: Denton Armed Forces

Denton boasts the 2nd largest military in the Indian Ocean area, with 175,000 active personnel and another 131,000 reserve (reserve and national guard).

Denton Army

The Denton Army was founded in 1859, alongside the Navy, and is the largest of the three branches. The Denton Army has 946 tanks, 1799 APC/IFVs, 738 artillery pieces, and 388 aircraft.

Denton Air Force

The Denton Air Force was founded in 1914 and was originally named the Army Air Force. The DAF has 412 aircraft.

Denton Navy

The Denton Navy was founded in 1859, alongside the Army, and is the smallest of the three branches. The DN has 196 ships and 226 aircraft.

Denton Coast Guard

The Denton Coast Guard is the primary maritime law-enforcement organization. The DCG is tasked with customs duty, border control, enforcement of maritime law, search and rescue, safety of vessels, maintenance and upkeep of navigational aids, and mapping of all waters within the Denton EEC.

The DCG has just over 6000 personnel and operates 146 vessels and 80 aircraft. Despite being an "armed force," the coast guard does not operate within the Ministry of National Defense, rather it is managed by the Ministry of the Interior.

Denton Armed Forces Flight Training School

The Denton Armed Forces FTS is the flight school for all branches of the Armed Forces, including the Coast Guard. The DAF FTS has two schools, Basic and Advanced, and uses 276 aircraft.

Economy

Units of Meausurement

Denton is one of the only remaining countries in the world that uses Imperial Units. Denton's Imperial Units were brought over from Salide (which were brought from England) and have been the primary source of measurement since.

Denton is not a signatory of the International Yard and Pound Agreement (1959); a yard is defined as being 3600/3937 meters and a pound is defined as 432.59237 grams (which incidentally is the same as the international pound).

Transport

Main Article: Transportation in Denton

Road Transport

Road Trains

While Denton possesses an extensive rail network that provides a hefty percentage of the freight transport, there are still a large number of over-the-road trucks that provide a necessary service. While in the cities, a tractor-trailer combination is hard to maneuver around the tight streets, but in the wide open spaces between cities, multiple trailers could be had. After the Oil crisis in 1973, transport companies looked for a way to reduce fuel usage while transporting goods, leading to the first road trains being used.

Rail Transport

Major Common Carrier railways in Denton use 3 rail gauges, 5'3", 3'6", and 2'0".

The major rail companies in all three gauges were merged into one operating company, Denton Railways, a private joint-stock company, with the Federal Republic of Denton being its single shareholder.

High-Speed Rail

Denton Railways has developed an extensive network of high speed passenger services, using the existing infrastructure in railyards and stations, but building dedicated lines solely for operating at high speeds. The maximum operating speed for these dedicated lines is 225mph (362kmh), with a standard operating speed of 200mph (321kmh).

There are 5 high speed lines in Denton:

• Eastern Great Circle Line (a loop around the East Island)
• Saarbrücken-Glasport Line via Innsbruck and Fort Albany
• Concord-Abbeville Harbor via St. Claire and Kotuku
• Abbeville Harbor-Glasport via Komorn Piaski
• Komorn Piaski-Carrick via Innsbruck

The trainsets are built by Canniff Rail Systems, with oversight from GEC-Alsthom and Siemens. Trainsets are either 14, 10, or 8 car articulated sets. There are power units at either end of the train, but all bogies are powered, giving good acceleration and stopping power. The top speed of the trainsets is 225 mph, although the track is constructed to accept speeds up to 240 mph.

Like many other high-speed systems around the world, the Denton high-speed lines have had no fatalities, although multiple serious injuries have occurred in two past derailments.

Water Transport

Merchant Marine

There are 318 ships in the Merchant Marine.

Demographics

Immigrant Population

Ancestry

European - 79%

• 26% - German & Austrian
• 19% - Salidan, Irish, & Scottish
• 13% - English & Welsh
• 6% - Italian & Greek
• 4% - Polish, Czech, & Hungarian
• 3% - French
• 6% - Other European

Indigenous - 11%

• 11% - Maori

Other - 12%

• 4% - Chinese
• 1% - Japanese
• 7% - Other Nationalities, Non-European

Denton Links

• Denton Antarctic Survey