Meridianica

Meridianica (/məˈrɪdɪənɪkə/), officially the Socialist Republic of Meridianica, is a country in the North Sea. It is located between Northumberland and Denmark, with the eastern tip being parallel with London. Its capital city is Omega City, which was built in the late 19th century.

There are 12 counties in Meridianica, which are each known for a different industry (for example, Argentum Fjord is the sole provider of minerals and, previously, coal for the country; whereas Ingoe provides fish, seaweed and lobsters).

During the late 20th century, the country had the same levels of waste and emissions of carbon dioxide and methane as the UK, but a change of leadership and a rapid escape plan cut them down to a negligible and almost natural level by 2002. However, due to other nations’ lack of haste in the matter, Meridianica became slightly carbon negative, employing large banks of carbon capture machines to help everyone else.

History
Meridianica was first discovered by Vikings in the year 843 CE, when they were trying to reach Britain from what is now Denmark. Discovering quickly that this was uninhabited land, they stopped briefly to collect supplies before continuing around the northern coast, eventually reaching what is now Northumberland.

The nation was later rediscovered by the Vikings in 976 CE, by which point they were looking for new lands to colonise. However, these Vikings were approaching from the west side, and came across the previously unheard of Merid people, who were indigenous to the land and had cultivated the now-iconic rolling heaths. They were soon pillaged and moved into the east, where they stayed until the Vikings evolved into more peaceful settlers.

It was around this time (in around 1050 CE), when Byzantine Romans discovered Meridianica again (by accident). At last, they decided to write it onto their maps and end the cycle of rediscovery and abandonment. They brought with them the Greek alphabet (which led to the Merids renaming their former refuge "Omega Habitaculi", meaning something along the lines of "Final Dwelling"), grape vines (which quickly perished in the frost) and wine (which was a lot of fun).

After the wine ran out, however, the Merids began using the stamens of the heather to make a fragrant-but-bitter alcohol, which became known as "Juk" when the soft C was dropped from the Meridian alphabet.

At the same time, the Norse people of the west were creeping east and happened across the Merids by chance, drunken and decimated. These people were, however, not here to pillage and helped the Merids get back on their feet.

Pretty much nothing happened for a while after that, besides basic development and (somehow) a complete aversion of the Great Plague.

In 1565, the Meridians got bored and decided to see what lay beyond the thick fog and vast ocean to the west. They intended to sail back to Northumberland, but great storms blew them off course and, as a result, they landed in Norfolk, but immediately undocked and sailed further south to Essex. Only a quarter of the crew survived. Thankfully, the English were amazed (rather than angry) and sent for Queen Elizabeth I, who reportedly fell in love with one of the surviving crewmates. He, however, did not return this; and they left for the south of Meridianica the following summer.

In the year 1765, a Scottish explorer named Leighton Gunn decided to map Meridianica and assess its resources, and introduced a number of modern concepts to the island. These included, but were not limited to:

- and -
 * Permanent housing, built from stone bricks instead of wood
 * Farming of animals (this practice was continued for eggs, milk, feathers and leather, but not for meat)
 * Gunpowder
 * Tea
 * Tobacco
 * Whiskey

Precisely 75 years later, a British explorer sailed to the country and attempted to colonise it under the British Empire, but one of the descendants of Gunn had cottoned onto the idea and sailed for Meridianica two weeks ahead of the expedition to warn the Meridians; at the age of only fifteen, I might add. His attempt was successful and they used a precursor to guerilla tactics to take the expedition out; and they did a good job, too. The expedition was believed to be simply "lost" until 1968, when archaeologists uncovered their ship and found no human remains within.