Azazia
22-04-2005, 18:43
ooc: I say semi-IC because while the exact details of the report at the end of this post, and the actions of the PM would not be public knowledge, in general anyone with half a brain who can read published census figures from any nation can determine problems concerning the human geography of a nation. I figured to try a new twist in RPing at least for myself, dealing with a significant issue and problem, but more of the domestic sphere, that will possibly lead to the foreign sphere... because as of yet... after many days of contemplation, I still don't have a solution to this problem outside of... well rather unintersting solutions. So I guess we'll see where all this goes...
ic:
The Pacific Ocean
From space, the quiet chain of islands, from large to small, sat isolated from most major landmasses – which throughout time had led to limited foreign intervention, and conversely little power projection. In the passing centuries, however, immigrants from Europe had boosted the populations of the long-lost colonies, which were not truly lost, but merely difficult to access. The continuing isolationism left the population with little knowledge of the outside world, and so outside of minor emigration to allies and friends, long since lost after the cataclysmic civil war, during which the entire modern history of the islands was lost, the whole of the population stayed within the confines of the islands surrounding the Sea of Azazia.
The growing markets brought with them growing investment and redirection of foreign capital. Although isolated, as trans-Pacific trade grew larger with each passing year, port cities on the islands expanded in their roles as refueling stations, cargo transfer ports, and in general as the windows to the outside world. The subtropical and mid-latitude climates, largely pristine in the interiors of the larger islands, attracted untold numbers of individuals, and cities began to spread from their coastal locations upriver towards the mountains and central hills. Vast networks of rails and highways began to link the urban settlements on the islands, whilst ferries and bridges began connecting the islands. Telegraph and telephone lines, soon replaced or supplanted by fiber optic and even newer cable lines spread like a weed over the landscape. In a mere century the archipelago had developed a highly sophisticated infrastructure, the envy of many smaller nations in the Pacific.
With the rapid development came further capital, and more people. Emigration continued to be low, leading to a rapid growth in population from immigration outside of the net birth rate. By the beginning of the 21st century much of the archipelago had been consumed by concrete, steel, glass, and stone. Trees had fallen to be replaced by higher monuments to the god-like abilities of man to recreate the Earth is his image. Rails had supplanted for many the highway, and a complex and intricate system of rapid mass transit had allowed for quick access to the whole of the nation, even faster for information that spread through telecommunication networks. The small canoes for inter-island trade had been surpassed by massive supertankers and freighters. The war canoes by superdreadnaughts and massive carriers the likes of which could not have even been comprehended by the initial settlers and inhabitants of the islands.
Yet, underneath the rapid growth and development, underneath the largely peaceful existence and the prosperity enjoyed by many, there lingered a single unavoidable fact of life that threatened to destroy the entirety of the nation. To destroy decades if not centuries of progress.
Land.
The United Kingdom of Azazia occupied a chain of islands, an archipelago, an isolated location in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. She did not occupy a place on the continent and she was far from a continent in and of herself. Since early grade school, Prime Minister Alistair Tetley had been raised to be acutely aware of this problem – as had theoretically all of his colleagues and peers. Yet to this point little had been actively done to attempt to rectify the situation. Civil unrest and the cataclysmic civil war of years past had substantially setback the foreign policy of the nation, then known as the Commonwealth. Tetley had approved a few stopgap measures. Before Tetley’s administration and before the civil war, had come the annexation of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, from an enemy whose name was mostly forgotten. Yet the small size of the land made the islands practically worthless in regards to population growth. The islands had little underneath of them to support massive skyward building programmes, and the environment provided little necessary natural resources – such as fresh water and plentiful fruits, vegetables, and meat.
Tetley had subsequently come to power and although aware of the problem, had admittedly done little to solve the problem. One of his most important steps, however, had been the acquisition of Juristan from the nation of Golencia for cash considerations. After a small problem of insurrection, quelled through diplomatic means, the territory, largely under-populated, had come to be a prime source of migration within the nation. Although less-developed than the home islands, the government had dedicated funding to the development of a sophisticated infrastructure, which had bred the stability and situation desirable for businesses – which had accordingly flooded the territory. Small port cities had been claimed in the nation of Lindim, although being mostly military in purpose they did little to aid in lessening the burden.
The last significant territorial acquisition had been in the Verdant Archipelago; where long lost European colonies had, until the arrival of the then Commonwealth, struggled against a fearsome and imposing natural environment. Through treaties and friendship, and secured during slight conflicts, the land acquired by the United Kingdom now sported growing cities and ports that would sustain perhaps several hundred million people if governed effectively and efficiently. The land had bought the state several years of further growth.
But the problem remained, and so Tetley had instituted the United Kingdom of Azazia, reminiscent of the British Empire responsible for much of the state occupying the islands of Azazia. A liberal empire dedicated to expanding her economic sphere of influence for the betterment of all parties, she also had as a key tenet the expansion of the territory physically controlled by the government centered in the over-populated city of Imperium. But wanton invasion and hostile annexation led only to conflict and war, which would threaten to damage the nation’s infrastructure, and thus economic security – something that needed to be avoided at all costs.
The economy of the nation, still growing at breakneck speeds, was frighteningly powerful – and it was only this power that managed to provide the government with the funds needed to maintain the Royal Navy, which secured the territorial sovereignty, and the social welfare programmes that maintained the internal stability and structure of the Azazian society. New lands meant new peoples, which meant new markets. New friends and allies meant new homes for new exports, which would serve only to continue to grow the GDP, which would keep the government afloat.
But in the Citadel on a day clear of clouds and rain, clear of any metaphor of foreshadow, sat a small and concise report before Prime Minister Alistair Tetley. “Collapse of the United Kingdom” was its title.
Tetley could only sit in silence, cautiously sipping his tea, diligently underlining key passages and statistics for future in-depth analysis. The report summarized the greatest fears of the intellectual elite in the Kingdom, and the private fear of Tetley from when he had been a mere child in a private school. The United Kingdom was running out of land, and prospects for obtaining land were limited.
Any new acquisitions would need to be large, increases on the margin with port cities, and the lands imagined in Jipangunesia – currently being re-colonized by the Kingdom after decades of British and Azazian absence – would only provide a few years of relief. The importation of large amounts of foodstuffs would need to be continued, and the importation of critical strategic resources would further increase. Fortunately, the island state was blessed with some access to offshore oil and gas reserves, which provided most of the nation’s need. The colonization of Juristan and the Verdant Arcipelago further alleviated such immediate concerns for petroleum, as would the lands and seas in Jipangunesia. However, without a large territory – relatively thinly populated and capable of supporting large numbers of individuals – the United Kingdom would experience the endgame seen by many Malthusian-esque philosophers. An end limit to the population of the nation would be achieved, and for all intents and purposes economic growth would cease or diminish greatly, and the ever increasing costs of maintaining the state would become far too burdensome for the government to handle. The end result would be that in the decades and centuries following the stop of population growth, the Kingdom could be expected to utterly collapse into several independent nations each faced with the problems of overpopulation and extremely high population densities – and without large scale access to resources available to larger states which benefited from economies of scale, the new states too would collapse and billions of individuals would exist in absolute chaos.
Without a doubt, the state had finally reached its breaking point. Tetley withdrew a pad of legal paper from his desk and a small black pen. He scribbled a small note and buzzed in his secretary. Without words, in solemn silence, he handed the note over to the secretary who sent the call out to the ministers of the government, and to King Michael. The time for half-measures had ended. The nation needed a solution.
ic:
The Pacific Ocean
From space, the quiet chain of islands, from large to small, sat isolated from most major landmasses – which throughout time had led to limited foreign intervention, and conversely little power projection. In the passing centuries, however, immigrants from Europe had boosted the populations of the long-lost colonies, which were not truly lost, but merely difficult to access. The continuing isolationism left the population with little knowledge of the outside world, and so outside of minor emigration to allies and friends, long since lost after the cataclysmic civil war, during which the entire modern history of the islands was lost, the whole of the population stayed within the confines of the islands surrounding the Sea of Azazia.
The growing markets brought with them growing investment and redirection of foreign capital. Although isolated, as trans-Pacific trade grew larger with each passing year, port cities on the islands expanded in their roles as refueling stations, cargo transfer ports, and in general as the windows to the outside world. The subtropical and mid-latitude climates, largely pristine in the interiors of the larger islands, attracted untold numbers of individuals, and cities began to spread from their coastal locations upriver towards the mountains and central hills. Vast networks of rails and highways began to link the urban settlements on the islands, whilst ferries and bridges began connecting the islands. Telegraph and telephone lines, soon replaced or supplanted by fiber optic and even newer cable lines spread like a weed over the landscape. In a mere century the archipelago had developed a highly sophisticated infrastructure, the envy of many smaller nations in the Pacific.
With the rapid development came further capital, and more people. Emigration continued to be low, leading to a rapid growth in population from immigration outside of the net birth rate. By the beginning of the 21st century much of the archipelago had been consumed by concrete, steel, glass, and stone. Trees had fallen to be replaced by higher monuments to the god-like abilities of man to recreate the Earth is his image. Rails had supplanted for many the highway, and a complex and intricate system of rapid mass transit had allowed for quick access to the whole of the nation, even faster for information that spread through telecommunication networks. The small canoes for inter-island trade had been surpassed by massive supertankers and freighters. The war canoes by superdreadnaughts and massive carriers the likes of which could not have even been comprehended by the initial settlers and inhabitants of the islands.
Yet, underneath the rapid growth and development, underneath the largely peaceful existence and the prosperity enjoyed by many, there lingered a single unavoidable fact of life that threatened to destroy the entirety of the nation. To destroy decades if not centuries of progress.
Land.
The United Kingdom of Azazia occupied a chain of islands, an archipelago, an isolated location in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. She did not occupy a place on the continent and she was far from a continent in and of herself. Since early grade school, Prime Minister Alistair Tetley had been raised to be acutely aware of this problem – as had theoretically all of his colleagues and peers. Yet to this point little had been actively done to attempt to rectify the situation. Civil unrest and the cataclysmic civil war of years past had substantially setback the foreign policy of the nation, then known as the Commonwealth. Tetley had approved a few stopgap measures. Before Tetley’s administration and before the civil war, had come the annexation of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, from an enemy whose name was mostly forgotten. Yet the small size of the land made the islands practically worthless in regards to population growth. The islands had little underneath of them to support massive skyward building programmes, and the environment provided little necessary natural resources – such as fresh water and plentiful fruits, vegetables, and meat.
Tetley had subsequently come to power and although aware of the problem, had admittedly done little to solve the problem. One of his most important steps, however, had been the acquisition of Juristan from the nation of Golencia for cash considerations. After a small problem of insurrection, quelled through diplomatic means, the territory, largely under-populated, had come to be a prime source of migration within the nation. Although less-developed than the home islands, the government had dedicated funding to the development of a sophisticated infrastructure, which had bred the stability and situation desirable for businesses – which had accordingly flooded the territory. Small port cities had been claimed in the nation of Lindim, although being mostly military in purpose they did little to aid in lessening the burden.
The last significant territorial acquisition had been in the Verdant Archipelago; where long lost European colonies had, until the arrival of the then Commonwealth, struggled against a fearsome and imposing natural environment. Through treaties and friendship, and secured during slight conflicts, the land acquired by the United Kingdom now sported growing cities and ports that would sustain perhaps several hundred million people if governed effectively and efficiently. The land had bought the state several years of further growth.
But the problem remained, and so Tetley had instituted the United Kingdom of Azazia, reminiscent of the British Empire responsible for much of the state occupying the islands of Azazia. A liberal empire dedicated to expanding her economic sphere of influence for the betterment of all parties, she also had as a key tenet the expansion of the territory physically controlled by the government centered in the over-populated city of Imperium. But wanton invasion and hostile annexation led only to conflict and war, which would threaten to damage the nation’s infrastructure, and thus economic security – something that needed to be avoided at all costs.
The economy of the nation, still growing at breakneck speeds, was frighteningly powerful – and it was only this power that managed to provide the government with the funds needed to maintain the Royal Navy, which secured the territorial sovereignty, and the social welfare programmes that maintained the internal stability and structure of the Azazian society. New lands meant new peoples, which meant new markets. New friends and allies meant new homes for new exports, which would serve only to continue to grow the GDP, which would keep the government afloat.
But in the Citadel on a day clear of clouds and rain, clear of any metaphor of foreshadow, sat a small and concise report before Prime Minister Alistair Tetley. “Collapse of the United Kingdom” was its title.
Tetley could only sit in silence, cautiously sipping his tea, diligently underlining key passages and statistics for future in-depth analysis. The report summarized the greatest fears of the intellectual elite in the Kingdom, and the private fear of Tetley from when he had been a mere child in a private school. The United Kingdom was running out of land, and prospects for obtaining land were limited.
Any new acquisitions would need to be large, increases on the margin with port cities, and the lands imagined in Jipangunesia – currently being re-colonized by the Kingdom after decades of British and Azazian absence – would only provide a few years of relief. The importation of large amounts of foodstuffs would need to be continued, and the importation of critical strategic resources would further increase. Fortunately, the island state was blessed with some access to offshore oil and gas reserves, which provided most of the nation’s need. The colonization of Juristan and the Verdant Arcipelago further alleviated such immediate concerns for petroleum, as would the lands and seas in Jipangunesia. However, without a large territory – relatively thinly populated and capable of supporting large numbers of individuals – the United Kingdom would experience the endgame seen by many Malthusian-esque philosophers. An end limit to the population of the nation would be achieved, and for all intents and purposes economic growth would cease or diminish greatly, and the ever increasing costs of maintaining the state would become far too burdensome for the government to handle. The end result would be that in the decades and centuries following the stop of population growth, the Kingdom could be expected to utterly collapse into several independent nations each faced with the problems of overpopulation and extremely high population densities – and without large scale access to resources available to larger states which benefited from economies of scale, the new states too would collapse and billions of individuals would exist in absolute chaos.
Without a doubt, the state had finally reached its breaking point. Tetley withdrew a pad of legal paper from his desk and a small black pen. He scribbled a small note and buzzed in his secretary. Without words, in solemn silence, he handed the note over to the secretary who sent the call out to the ministers of the government, and to King Michael. The time for half-measures had ended. The nation needed a solution.