Guenung

Guenung, officially the Republic of Guenung (Kigbenung: Ŋhurhǝɽhǝhaɲa Gbenuŋ) is a country in the Miligbekojongu Archipelago in Nesiondalsa. It lies in the Indian Ocean, west of Tsanakarun and Usheigep, north of Eruchimpep, and south of Faibatkintra; it shares maritime borders with the aformentioned countries. Kumbop is the country's capital and largest city. The country's population, estimated at 43 million, is composed of 5 main ethnic groups: the Vavamanesa who comprise the majority of Guenung'a population, the Vagbenung who are historically dominant in politics and culture, Vakatrabilasa, Vayanyalyambe, and the Vamaimaivelre.

Humans have lived in Guenung for over 50,000 years. The Tawlic peoples were the first people to migrate to Guenung around 7,500 BCE, naming the island "Gbenung", meaning "water land". The Ma'anyan people, who were slaves and laborers, reached Gbenung at 250 AD. Due to its strategic location in the Indian Ocean, Gbenung became a major center for maritime trade in the Indian Ocean, with Omani Arabs, Austronesians, Bantus, and Nytans massively migrating to Gbenung Island, causing the Gbenung Kingdom to become the wealthiest and most prosperous country in Nesiondalsa after its formation in 913. The Portuguese also established ports and even converted some people to Christianity in the 1550s, but the ports were abandoned as they were not permanent settlements.

In 1560, the Vanchajayuje and Vaifaibatkintra rebelled against Gbenung, causing socioeconomic chaos across the country. Eventually, 6 more ethnic groups rebelled against Gbenung due to poor treatment, creating the Vamanesa, Maimaivelre, Katrabilasa, Ganangamisa, Panragbiwanrano, and Yanyalyambe. In 1645, the Dutch East India Company invaded Gbenung, the Krunghom Kingdom, Camatanam Sultanate, and the Sultanate of Gezirnus to wrestle control of the spice trade. The Dutch conquered Gbenung and created the colony of Kueneng. In order to avoid annihilation, the 6 kingdoms united to form the Kingdom of Lahibavamanesa, which would defeat the Dutch in 1718 by annexing Kueneng. After King Vamanesanosi V refused to allow Europeans to exploit the resources and trade with Europeans, Lahibavamanesa was annexed in 1880 after a two-year long war. During British rule, mass atrocities were perpetrated, due to extremely high demand for gold, phosphate, and iron. Decades of mass exploitation led to the Ugbenung Liberation War, which began in 1946 and ended in 1955 when a peace treaty was signed in Kumboo.

The People's Republic of Guenung declared independence from Britain and it was established on 29 December 1955. Ugbenung nationalist Phajosa Mesraṉin was elected the President of Guenung. Even though Mesranin claimed that Guenung was democratic, it was run as a dictatorial one-party state, with his Ugbenung Communist Party being the sole legal party. After Mesraṉin's death in 1964, his son, Phajosa Khuos̱in, took power. In 1965, Guenung attempted an invasion of Usheigep in order to establish a communist dictatorship there, which caused the Gbenung Strait Crisis. Guenung surrendered and the provinces of Tsana and Karun were annexed by Usheigep, but Vizhutua forced Usheigep to grant independence to the buffer state of Tsanakarun in order to avoid future conflicts. Due to fears that Guenung would face a revolution, Phajosa liberalized Guenung's economy in 1986 and it dissolved the People's Republic on 1 September 1989. Since then, Guenung has become one of the most liberal and free democracies in Nesiondalsa.

Guenung is a developed country with an advanced, high-income social market economy; it has the 7th-largest economy in Nesiondalsa. It provides very high standards of living, safety and economic freedom, as well as free university education and a universal health care system. Guenung is a founding member of the Federation of Nesiondalsan States, Group of 192, the Organization for Economic Cooperation, Trade, and Development, the AANOA Development Bank, and the Non-Aligned Movement, and the Economic Community of Miligbekojongu.

Etymology
Guenung is a British corruption of the Kigbenung words for water and land, gbe and nuŋ. The pronunciation may come Omani Arabs who played a major role in Guenung's ancient economy. The Dutch called the historically dominant Mugbenung people "Kueneng".

Prehistory
The first homo sapiens migrated to Gbenung Island around 50,000 BCE. Gbenung used to be part of an island now called Atyragyturidiha, which split from what is now Nesionyta in 12,000 BCE, forming Gbenung Island, which split into several islands around 11,000 BCE due to rapidly rising sea levels.

As part of the, the were brought as laborers and slaves by Malay and Javanese people in their trading fleets, which reached the Miligbekojongu Islands by 1 AD. Even though there is evidence of Austronesian settlement of Nesionyta, it is likely that the Ma'anyan migrated to Nesionyta to escape slavery and that nearly all of the Ma'anyan were forcibly deported to the Mapuan Archipelago or Gbenung Island.

Contact with traders
The Arabs migrated to Gbenung at the mid-7th century, establishing several trading ports around Gbenung. The most important trading port was the Port of Ngoyotrngugbikeguluyambimitnchanjo. The Arabs also introduced Islam, the Arabic script (formerly used to transcribe the languages of Guenung), Arab astrology and other cultural elements. The Bantu people, being mostly held as slaves owned by the Arabs, Persians, Nytans, and Austronesians, migrated to Gbenung in the 9th century.

Due to trade, the Sultanate of Gbenung was formed in 913, and it quickly became one of the most important prosperous kingdoms in Nesiondalsa, with the Arabs, Persians, Nytans, and Austronesians trading on the Island. Gbenung expanded to Ncajayuja Island and Faibatkintra Island, with many new major ports including Uzhambaw, Ungawmbalr and Kitano being established on those islands in the 10th century.

European contact began in 1501, when Portuguese sea captain sighted Gbenung, naming the island Guenoum. After its sighting, several Portuguese settlements were established in the 1550s. At the same time, Gbenung began to struggle from rebellions by the Vanchajayuje and Vafaibatkintra because they were mostly kept as slaves by the other ethnic groups. The rebellion was successful, and in 1560, the kingdoms of Nchajayuje and Faibatkintra were established. Eventually, due to internal instability and poor treatment of other ethnic groups, the Sultanate of Gbenung was dissolved.

Seven Kingdoms era and Lahibavamanesa
In 1561, the Sultanate of Gbenung was dissolved and it was broken into 7 kingdoms: Vamanesa, Maimaivelre, Katrabilasa, Ganangamisa, Gbenung, Panragbiwanrano, and Yanyalyambe. Even though Gbenung was divided, the Sultanate's successor, the Kingdom of Gbenung, was still a major trading center in Nesiondalsa.

In 1645, the invaded the Camatanam Sultanate, the Sultanate of Gezirnus, and the Krunghom Kingdom, in order to gain a monopoly on trade in Nesiondalsa. The Kingdom of Gbenung, which had already been devastated by the rebellions, was quickly defeated, and it was annexed in 1647 as Dutch Kueneng. In response to the Dutch colonization of Gbenung, the other kingdoms united to form the Kingdom of Lahibavamanesa, which defeated the Dutch in 1713 by conquering Dutch Kueneng. Immediately after, King Vamanesaninosi I, which refused to participate in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, made a treaty with Britain, which forbid Europeans from capturing slaves in Lahibavamanesa in exchange for Vamanesaninosi allowing Christian missionaries to convert people there and trade relations being established. However, growing discontent between the missionaries and the ethnic groups led to Vamanesaninosi expelling the British off the territory in 1727.

Lahibavamanesa continued to be one of the most prosperous kingdoms in Nesiondalsa, even after Hazavaninosi disestablished trade relations with Britain. However, a punitive expedition to Gbenung Island occured in 1877 due to the persecution of British missionaries and the rapidly rising demand for natural resources in Lahibavamanesa and its surrounding islands. This sparked the Anglo-Ulahibavamanesa War between Vamanesaninosi V and British colonial forces. Eventually, Lahibavamanesa was defeated by Britain when the capital Kumbop was captured in 1880.

Colonial era
After Lahibavamanesa was annexed, it became part of the newly-formed crown colony of Guenung. Immediately after, the British Southwestern Nesionytan Company (BSNC) was formed to administer exploit the natural resources of Guenung. Mass settlement was also encouraged, but very few British settled in Gbenung because most of them eventually migrated and permanently settled in Australia as most of the gold ran out.

To faciliate the extraction of gold from Guenung, all of the land was nationalized in 1881 and and sold to the BSNC. After a concession was granted to all of Gbenung Island, the BSNC began to forcibly recruit the Ugbenung and even Aboriginial Australians as unpaid laborers to maximize gold mining. Refusal to mine gold was punishable by death and forced labor, with millions of indigenous peoples dying due to poor health conditions in the forced labor camps. Indigenous peoples unwilling to work were usually slaughtered or raped. Numerous famines occured due to BSNC excaberating the effects by stealing the food of laborers who refused to work. The British government refused to disclose information about the mass abuses, meaning that the exact number of deaths remained unknown. Eventually, nearly all of the gold had been mined by 1890, so the BSNC was dissolved and Guenung was placed under direct rule of the British government in 1891. The British forced the Ugbenung peoples to farm rubber. During the decades of forced labor, numerous rebellions perpetrated by the Ugbenung occured, especially during World War I when demand for rubber rapidly increased. Even the Ugbenung rebelled against the Japanese cilent state of Cadasa during World War II because Cadasa wanted to exploit the phosphate and iron in Guenung.