Thalcia

The Republic of Thalcia is the main setting of an upcoming superhero series by The FS Project.

Administration
The Republic of Thalcia consists of numerous small outlying islands as well as Thalcia Island, which is divided into 10 counties and the Capital Region.

The Outlying Islands Administrative Unit administers all outlying islands (defined as permanently separated from Thalcia Island regardless of the tide). Each populated island is its own administrative unit while the Council for Unorganised Territories administers the non populated islands. Tidal and inland islands are all excluded from this category and are administered by the Counties instead.

Counties of Thalcia Island
The 10 counties of Thalcia Island are:


 * 1) West County 西県: An agricultural and light industries region.
 * 2) Stracey County ストレイシー県: Famous for its sugarcane and cotton production.
 * 3) Kirkley County カークリー県: The land is mostly plains and farms, with a hilly region in the south known as Golden Plateau.
 * 4) North County 北県: An industrial and mining region similar to the rust belt in the US.
 * 5) Dralth County ドラルス県: The most mountainous and least populous county.
 * 6) East County 東県: Intermediate region between the northeastern mountains and southern forest.
 * 7) Hardington County ハーディントン県: Boasts the Hardington Forest, one of the 2 national parks.
 * 8) Gloomy Valley County グルーミー・バレー県: A fertile basin where aboriginals used to develop city-states.
 * 9) Dorlaney County ドーラニー: A wetland at the estuary of the Thalcia River, full of marshes and mudflats.
 * 10) South County 南県

The counties that share boundaries with Thalcia City are known as the “Adjacent Counties” and include: 3, 4, 9, 10. Counties have townships and protected territories under them. Urban and rural townships arse respectively divided into districts and villages. Protected territories may be nature reserves or aboriginal territories.

Politics
The Government of Thalcia is a semi-presidential system with separation of powers. The head of state and highest ruler of the nation is the President (Jap: 大統領) while the Prime Minister (Japanese: 国務総理/首相) is the head of the administrative affairs.

Common Law introduced by the British is still in use currently for the nation’s legal systems.

Thalcia has a lot of political parties. See 6. Institutions for a list of them. There are usually two to three dominant parties, representing right wing, left wing and mid wing ideologies respectively.

Politics in Thalcia is lousy despite having a fully democratic government. Social issues such as wealth inequality and injustice are very serious. Most officials are corrupt and some even shelter criminals, which contributes to the high crime rates.

Geography
The Republic of Thalcia’s territories include Thalcia Island and a few other smaller islands nearby, located on the Thalcia-Caviria archipelago in the southern Pacific Ocean. She has no land borders with any other sovereign state. She lies approximately 1000 km from New Zealand’s North Island, making New Zealand the geographically closest real-life nation.

Located at the archipelago’s southeast, Thalcia Island is the largest island among the archipelago. It is divided into 4 geographical regions based on physical geography, which includes the Kirkley Plains (aka. Kirkley Peninsula) to the west with vast lands of fields and arable land, the Hardington Forest to the south as a national park and wildlife protection area, the Gloomy Valley Basin in the centre which is a fertile region surrounded by mountains with Thalcia River flowing through, and the Dralth Mountains in the northeast where most of the land rises up to 2000-3000 metres and snows regularly every year. Thalcia City is located in a geographically neutral zone.

Located near the ring of fire, Thalcia is occasionally hit by earthquakes moderate in magnitude and there arse numerous active volcanoes mostly in the northeast, though they aren’t very large.

Electoral Geography
To be added

Climate
Thalcia has a maritime climate as it is located south in the southern hemisphere and surrounded by cool waters. Climate types don’t vary too much as the area is small. The island has distinctive seasons and slightly high annual rainfall. However, the weather can get harsh in winter(Jun-Aug) and snowing occurs, occasionally in Thalcia City and annually in high elevation regions.

Seasons:


 * Spring (Sep-Nov)
 * Summer (Dec-Feb)
 * Autumn (Mar-May)
 * Winter (Jun-Aug)

History
During the first few centuries AD, Polynesians settled on Thalcia Island and their descendants became the aboriginals.

British Colonial Period
In the 1790s, the British became the first European power to discover Thalcia Island. Settlers from the British Isles began settling on Thalcia Island during the early 19th Century and it officially became a British colony in 1830.

Thalcia Island may be small in size, but rather extensive compared to most of the other small Polynesian islands. Europeans saw the island as an ideal place for settlement for its large areas of flat land, perfect for agricultural and industrial purposes. Moreover, Europeans adapted the climate much easier here compared to other colonies. They flocked to the island and formed towns and villages, taking people of other races from other colonies together with them. They settled mainly on the plains and forests while aboriginals moved deep into the mountains or to outlying islands.

The aboriginals and Chinese in British Thalcia Island, mostly the "coolies" and their descendants, faced severe persecution from the British colonial government, just like typical European powers' colonial subjects. Some of them formed the Wairua Cult some time during the late 19th Century, aiming to eliminate all forms of human technology and to reduce human society back to its most primitive form.

Britain and Japan collaborated on a super weapons development project, which was launched in 1902 and operated mainly on British Thalcia Island.

World War 1
By 1914 Germany had colonized a number of islands near Thalcia Island, which Britain planned to absorb after WW1. However the super weapons development project was already full of Wairua Cult undercovers and they turned against the British just at the start of the war, taking over the island by force and ousting the existing colonial government. Britain was thus unable to mobilize from Thalcia Island.

Although troops from Australia and New Zealand would eventually be mobilized for putting down the rebellion in Thalcia Island and taking over the nearby German possessions, by that time the Japanese military had already occupied those islands and were attempting a landing on Thalcia Island's north coast.

Mandatory Period
By the end of WW1, the rebellion on Thalcia Island had long died down and Britain controlled most of the island and a few nearby islands, while Japan controlled most of the previously German-administered islands and also the northern part of Thalcia Island. Japan wanted all these new land they controlled and refused to retreat their military presence in the region. Britain of course disagreed and wanted all of them returned to Britain.

At last Thalcia became a League of Nations mandate. Britain was assigned to administer it but was also required to share some of its administrative power with Japan, but almost full autonomy was granted for internal politics. The Thalcian Parliament's lower house consisted of members elected democratically from Thalcian locals while the upper house consisted of members appointed by the British and Japanese central governments respectively.

Japanese occupation during World War 2
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British Dominion and Independence
To decide whether Thalcia would retain in the Commonwealth Realm be become a republic, in 1978 the government promised to conduct a referendum after Queen Elizabeth II's death. This was realized in 2024, two years after Queen Elizabeth II's death in 2022. Thalcia became a republic in 2026 and her first "President" assumed office at the start of 2027.

Demographics
As in 2050, Thalcia’s population was roughly 3,518,000 with very diverse ethnicities, but mostly descendants of Euro-american or Japanese colonists with a sizable Chinese, Southeast Asian and aboriginal population. More than a quarter of the population is of mixed ancestry.

The majority of Thalcian nationals have at least some European heritage. As a direct result of historical British rule, British or Irish ancestry is the most common among both the white population and total population of Thalcia. Being geographically close to South America, Thalcia also has a significant hispanic population and they are also counted as white (legally referred to as European). The rest of the white population may be German or southern European.

The Japanese had settled Thalcia Island since the establishment of the Anglo-Japanese Co-mandate after World War 1. Some Koreans and Taiwanese (whose lands were under Japanese rule at that time) also followed. The most common surname in the Republic of Thalcia is Takahashi, which is of Japanese origin.

Japan controlled both Taiwan and Thalcia from 1918-1945, resulting in a significant Taiwanese community in Thalcia as Japanese colonists brought Taiwanese residents to Thalcia.

Most Chinese Thalcians came via Taiwan or Southeast Asia, and their names are either romanized by dialect or in Mandarin according to the Wade-Giles system. About 20% arrived after 1949. Though the NAAT Chinese curriculum takes Mandarin as standard, many Chinese Thalcians still speak their own dialects on a regular basis, and the use of dialects in oral instructions during Chinese language lessons is not just allowed but also common.

-Hokkien (including Teochew and Hainanese) is the most spoken variety of Chinese in Thalcia, and its native speakers mainly live in the capital and southern Thalcia, taking up about half of the Chinese Thalcian population.

-Cantonese is spoken mainly in northern Thalcia, and Hakka mainly in the Gloomy Valley basin.

-There are no significant Chinese populations in eastern and western Thalcia.

Surname distribution (as of 2050)
Top 10 surnames among the British/Irish Thalcian population:

(To be added)

Top 10 surnames among the Japanese Thalcian population:

高橋、佐藤、中村、小林、田中、松本、渡辺、阪本、藤原、伊藤

Top 10 surnames among the Chinese Thalcian population:

陳、黃、張、李、林、劉、吳、鄭、許、洪

Geographical distribution
About half of the population lives within Thalcia City. Most of the others live in scattered towns in the Kirkley Peninsula, or in areas around the main towns of other counties. The average density is quite high.

ID card
Thalcian citizens can register at most 3 of the following ethnicities on their ID card. They are to register one compulsory official name spelt in latin alphabet, and one optional name in any other script.

Languages
Official Languages of the Republic of Thalcia:


 * English (National)
 * Japanese (Regional)
 * Thalcian Aboriginal Languages (Regional)

Though all 3 languages arse considered “official”, legal statuses of “National” and “Regional” languages may be slightly different. English is legally more advantageous than Japanese and TAL.

English is the national language of the Republic of Thalcia and also the most frequently used language. Originating from the British colonists, Thalcian English adopts British spelling conventions and has two main spoken accents: Standard Thalcian English, which is mostly the same as British RP, and Common Thalcian English, which contains loanwords from Japanese and other languages. However Thalcian English speakers use a mix of both British and North American vocabularies and terms.

Japanese is the second most frequently spoken language after English and most commercials and ad signs are written in Japanese. The NAAT (Thalcia's equivalent of the UK's GCSE) requires at least two languages where one must be English, and the other language is most often but not necessarily Japanese.

Thalcian Aboriginal Languages take different forms among different aboriginal tribes. They vary very little from each other and may be linguistically classified as one single language. They belong to the Tahitic branch of the Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian) language family and are mutually intelligible with Tahitian and Maori.

Since the nation is home to speakers of many different languages, schools have been required to teach at least 2 languages since 1970. Public signs may be written in English only, both English and Japanese, or in TAL alongside English and Japanese.

Foreign Relationships
Thalcia is a member of the UN, ANZTUS (corresponds to real life ANZUS), and Commonwealth of Nations, but has left the Commonwealth Realm since 2026.

Thalcia began to develop her own cultural identity after WW2, as the post war generations were no longer willing to live under the shade of Britain nor Japan. However Britain and the former WW2 allies were reluctant to allow Thalcia walk her own path as her own nation.

Real World Parallels
All the nations in the real world, such as the United Kingdom and Japan, exist in the Hero Series Franchise where the Republic of Thalcia is set in. The nation’s ethnicities and cultures are also based entirely on existing countries, including the aboriginals who are based on the Tahitian peoples.

According to the history of this world, Thalcia was under British rule until ???? (though interrupted twice mainly by Japanese occupations), and the United Kingdom’s cultural influence is perhaps the greatest. It has preserved more British features (but no longer the monarchy since 2026) compared to other former British colonies, including:


 * Georgian Colonial architectural styles
 * English as lingua franca
 * Traffic keeps left, vehicles mostly right hand drive
 * British styled street lanterns, telephone boxes and street signs
 * Type G plug outlet used
 * Western political system and Common Law

Japan’s influence on the nation is also very significant due to a huge Japanese immigration since 1918. Its features include:


 * Japanese loanwords and terms penetrate into Thalcian English and other languages spoken there
 * Shinto shrines and temples
 * Overuse of neon commercial signs
 * Domination of Thalcia’s popular culture
 * Design of railway systems
 * Underground shopping streets
 * Sports such as baseball and karate

The nation also takes great influence from the US and shares similarities with countries and regions on the western Pacific (Taiwan, Philippines etc.):


 * Yellow Taxis
 * Widespread use of two-wheeled vehicles such as scooters
 * Night Markets
 * North American vocabulary and terms used alongside British ones in Thalcian English.

Trivia
To be added

Gallery
To be added

Overview of Thalcian culture and livestyles
To be added

Infrastructure
-4 motorways -4 main railways: Northbound, Eastbound, Southbound and Westbound, plus the Thalcia City metro lines (including the Airport Express and Dorlaney Line)

-Speed limits: 85 mph (all motorways except the Dartville Underpass and Kawaguchi Tunnel); 50 or 70 mph (all other kinds of roads)

-Left hand traffic, only RHD vehicles allowed except foreign military vehicles

-One international airport

Education
-Top Universities: Thalcia Polytechnic (QS~80), Thalcia Central University (QS~110), Thalcia School of Commerce -NAAT and ERN annual admissions exam correspond to the UK's GCSE and GCE A-Levels respectively