Brazoria

This country is part of the Altverse universe.

Kingdom of Brazoria (en) Reino de Brazoria (es) Königreich Brazorien (de)
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "One and Indivisible"
Anthem: Brazos, Our Brazos
Royal coat of arms
Location of Brazoria (prussian blue) and the Brazorian Realm (light blue)
Capital	Austin
Largest city	Houston
Official languages	English, Spanish, German
Ethnic groups (2010)	48% Anglo 19% Texan 17.6% Tejano 8.4% Latino 4% Afro 3.5% Cajun 1% Other
Demonym	Brazorian
Government	Unitary constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system
• Monarch	John Charles II
• Chancellor	Wendy Delaney (Prog.)
• Deputy Chancellor	Robert Whitmore (Dem. Soc.)
• Senate President	Michael Herbst (Prog.)
• Diet President	Alexander Ortega (Prog.)
Legislature	Parliament
• Upper house	Senate
• Lower house	Diet
Independence from Mexico
• Declared	2 March 1836
• Recognized	2 February 1848
• Claims fulfilled	11 May 1861
Area
• Total	1,007,935 km2 (389,166 sq mi) (29th)
Population
• 2017 estimate	49,381,440 (29th)
• 2010 census	48,991,327
• Density	48.993/km2 (126.9/sq mi) (161st)
GDP (PPP)	2016 estimate
• Total	$2.725 trillion (11th)
• Per capita	$55,184 (12th)
GDP (nominal)	2016 estimate
• Total	$2.656 trillion (5th)
• Per capita	$53,795 (8th)
Gini (2016)	0.322 low
HDI (2016)	0.897 very high · 13th
Currency	Dollar ($, B$) (BAZ)
Time zone	BST (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	BDST (UTC-5)
Date format	DD-MM-YYYY
Drives on the	right
Calling code	+1
Patron saint	Saint Mary of the Annunciation
ISO 3166 code	BAZ
Internet TLD	.bz
Website home.gov.bz

The Kingdom of Brazoria is a sovereign state located in central North America, composed of 39 cantons and 2 crown territories. Brazoria is bordered to the north by the Great Plains, to the east by Acadiana, to the west by Sierra, to the south by Mexico, and to the southeast by the Gulf of Mexico. Alongside its contiguous territory on mainland North America, Brazoria holds the territorial possessions of Puerto Rico and the Brazorian Antilles, and furthermore, a crown union exists with the other members of the Brazorian Realm: Central America and Cuba. Brazoria has a total land area of about 389,200 square miles, making it the world's 29th largest country by land area, and with an estimated population of 49.381 million people as of 2016, Brazoria is the 29th most populous nation in the world.

Brazoria is a unitary constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy. The 39 cantons which make up continental Brazoria are subjugate to the Crown Government. The sovereignty of the nation is vested in the Monarch, who is the physical embodiment of the powers of state and is considered the foremost representative of all Brazorians. For this reason, the Monarch, who is the primogenial head of the House of Carlotte, is a neutral, ceremonial figure in governance, and real political power is indefinitely granted by the Monarch to the Chancellor and the Parliament. The Chancellor is elected through a direct national STV election, with the elected Chancellor then forming a government by selecting an equal number of Ministers from both houses of Parliament. The Parliament is called into power by the Monarch every four years through national elections; the lower house, the Diet, is composed of representatives who are allotted to each canton per their population, and the upper house, the Senate, is composed of an equal number of representatives from each canton. The perpetual sovereignty of Parliament is guaranteed by the Crown Charter of Governance, a document which outlines the procedures through which the Monarch may govern the realm, which also serves as the national constitution. This form of government, based centrally upon the Monarch, is derived largely from the Brazos Compact of 1836, in which Juan Carlos de Carlotte was declared King-on-the-Brazos in defiance of the Mexican colonial administration.

The earliest inhabitants of Brazoria were various indigenous tribes scattered across the country, with hundreds of different cultures and languages flourishing in the period before European exploration. Spain was the first European nation to enter into and explore Texas, doing so as early as 1526 with the expedition led by Pánfilo de Narváez along the Gulf Coast of the country. The most prominent of early Spanish settlers was John of Austria, a bastard son of Charles V who was escaping the increasingly demanding rule of his half-brother Philip II. John's role in the early settlement of Texas saw the rise of the Carlotte family as the predominant political power in the region. Despite strong initial claims by Spain, the French would attempt to challenge them with the establishment of Fort Saint Louis in 1685, and although this attempt failed, it led to the formal declaration of Spanish claims over Texas in 1690. With the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, the Carlotte family decentralised the settlement process through the granting of land to empresarios, who would be granted special privileges in return for bringing many new settlers to the region. The empresarios would see their successes increase with the creation of the Intendancy of Texas in 1787, which was followed by another period of success with the outbreak of the Mexican War of Independence in 1810. However, once authority was established over all of New Spain, the new, locally unpopular Mexican administration attempted to crack down on Anglo settlement in Texas, causing a revolt which would lead to the outbreak of the Brazos Revolution in 1835 and see the creation of the Kingdom-on-the-Brazos the following year. While the Kingdom was victorious in securing its initial independence, the Mexicans would continue to see the fledgling as a province-in-rebellion until the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848 with the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. That same year, the Crown Charter of Governance took effect and transitioned the realm into its current political organization.

Brazoria quickly funded colonial expansion into its vast territorial claims, an action which resulted in the New Mexico Crisis and the ensuing Pact of the Rockies with Sierra. Cooperation with Sierra expanded into a full alliance with the outbreak of the War of Contingency, a conflict which largely assured the continued domestic growth of Brazoria without foreign intervention and had large implications on the economic direction of the country in the government-sponsored rise of domestic industralisation. The thrust of the country into the industrial age of prosperous urbanism gave it grand colonial ambitions, culminating in the Central American War, the Brazorian-Dutch War, and the Brazorian-Spanish War. Progressivism would come to the realm as a result of monopolistic business practices, and the discovery of oil at Spindletop ushered in an era of prosperity that became characteristic of the turn of the century. Brazoria took an active role as a strong ally of the United Kingdom by coming to its side in the First World War. The Great Depression and the Dust Bowl both caused massive economic and societal chaos for the country, especially in more agriculturally-oriented cantons. Tens of thousands emigrated into neighboring countries, prompting the government to introduce stricter economic controls that would ultimately see the end of true lasseiz faire economics. Brazoria joined the Second World War in 1939 alongside the Allies, permanently solidifying the bond between itself and other Western nations. Brazoria co-founded NATO in 1949, signalling the nation's opposition to the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Brazoria was a foremost participant of many of the conflicts caused by the war, and economic growth throughout the later half of the twentieth century would lead to a strong economy into the twenty-first century. Brazoria was only moderately affected by the Great Recession, and the nation recovered relatively quickly from the crisis.

The economy of Brazoria is considered to be a developed free market with generally high standard of living and a moderate cost of living, and Brazoria itself is considered one of the world's more affluent developed nations. Brazorians enjoy a great deal of individual economic freedoms, and government regulation is focused mainly on the prevention of monopolies, harmful industrial practices, and the keeping of a fair market which puts citizens and their communities before corporate interests. Corporate taxes remain generally low, and many multinational companies are attracted to Brazoria for its central location in North America and its historical pedigree as a railroad and shipping hub for the continent as a whole. A resource rich country, Brazoria has a diverse economy that is largely based upon a mixture of services and manufacturing. Agriculture has played a significant role in the history and culture of the country, and continues to do so in the contemporary period, yet the economic importance of agriculture has dwindled with the growth of the modern urban, industrial economy. Standards of education, sanitation, health, and general livability are relatively high, while mortality, disease, and crime rates are generally low. Brazoria is considered to be a politically and economically free society, and the human rights of its citizens are protected through the Crown Charter of Rights.

Brazoria enjoys warm relations with most other western countries, and the nation has held a strong, lasting alliance with the neighbouring Kingdom of Sierra since the early 1860s. Other nations with which Brazoria holds close relationships with are Canada, Central America, Cuba, Rainier, Britain, Germany, and Spain. Brazoria was a founding member of the League of Nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the Brazorian Realm, and the Conference of American States, and it is also a member of the Organization for Cooperation and Economic Development, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the Organization of American States.

Etymology

The word Brazoria comes from a combination of the word Brazos, a river of certain importance to the history of the country, and the Latin suffix -ia, meaning land or country. The name for the kingdom came from the title held by the monarchs before the Crown Charter of Governance in 1848, whence beforehand the nation was known as the Kingdom-on-the-Brazos. Another early name for the country was Texas, which stems from a Caddo word meaning friendship that was translated as Tejas in Spanish. The name Texas is still sometimes used to refer to the country in a poetic manner, especially significant as a cultural image of Old Western frontiers and revolutionary spirit. The name Texas was not adopted by the government due to its association with foreign colonial rule, and the early national government hoped to encourage the aggressive innovation of national ideals and increase the appeal of the country to non-Spanish immigrants.

Geography

Mount Elbert is the highest point of elevation in Brazoria.

The territorial shape of Brazoria is a result of the stipulations of the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819 between Spain and the United States, in that the far northern edge of the country is defined by the 42nd parallel north. The Rio Grande is the other major defining point of the Kingdom's territory, and hence, the western boundary of the nation is defined as all lands south of 42nd parallel north to the headwaters of the Rio Grande, but with the eastern extent of this northern expansion being the Arkansas River. The Arkansas River then serves as the northern border until the 100th parallel west, which runs south from the Arkansas River to meet the Red River. The Red River also serves as the northern border, running east until meeting the point rising from the intersection of the 32nd parallel north and the Sabine River, the latter of which then serves as the eastern border until entering the Gulf of Mexico. The Rio Grande serves as the western border until also emptying into the Gulf of Mexico, albeit at the 25th parallel north.

Brazoria is an environmentally and geographically diverse nation that spans a great deal of central North America. There are five primary geographic regions which make up Brazoria; those being the eastern Piney Woods, the semi-arid Southern Flats, Pecos Valley, and Rio Grande Valley, the central Hill Country, the north-central mixed grass Great Prairie and shortgrass Staked Prairie alongside the more eastern Coastal Prairie, and the western New Mexican and New Canaan alpine regions. Each geographic region can be further subdivided into a total of ten separate ecological zones in the Kingdom.

The Brazorian climate varies specifically depending on location in terms of precipitation and humidity, though most of the country has similar monthly temperatures, with summers being very hot and winters being mostly mild in all non-alpine regions of the nation. The Piney Woods, Coastal Prairie, Southern Flats, and Rio Grande Valley all experience a high amount of humidity and precipitation all year round, with spring being especially prone to strong rains which often create flooding conditions. Furthermore, flooding like rains in the springtime are also common in the Hill Country and some more eastern parts of the Great Pairie. These eastern geographic regions also experience the risk of hurricanes, which occasionally make landfall in Brazoria after crossing the warm Gulf of Mexico. The Great Prairie and Hill Country otherwise experience a moderate amount of precipitation for a continental climate throughout the year, and humidity is relatively low. The Stake Prairie and Pecos Valley regions of the country in the west receive a much lower amount of year-round precipitation than eastern regions, resulting in their relatively arid climates which are prone not to flooding but rather to tornadoes, whose presence in the country also overlap in the flood-prone regions of the Great Prairie and Hill Country. The alpine New Mexican and New Canaan regions have much more mild year-round temperatures than other parts of the country, and snowfall is common in the alpine winter.

History

The land of Comancheria, where the Comanche maintained a hegemony of power.

Early period

The lands now making up Brazoria were originally inhabited by various bands of Native American peoples who arrived over the Bering Land Bridge approximately 20000 years ago. While the vast majority of the native peoples in the pre-Columbian period were related to the Bering-originated Clovis and Folsom cultures, the Pueblo cultures in the far west of the country are derived from the southern Uto-Aztecan peoples. The most eminent tribe in the region shortly before the arrival of Europeans was the Comanche, who spread out across a vast part of the plains making up the modern-day northern part of Brazoria. The Comanche held hegemonic power over the other peoples of the region in an area known as Comancheria by the time the Spanish arrived in 1526.

Early colonial period

The first Europeans to explore the lands now composing Brazoria were Spanish conquistadors, the first of such being under an expedition originally led by Pánfilo de Narváez in 1526. Narváez did survive the journey, but one of the men of the expedition was Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, who became responsible for the first identifications of the tribes and landscape of the region which became known as Texas. This original expedition was followed by that of Francisco Vázquez de Coronado, who searched the western and central parts of Texas in order to find the fabled Seven Cities of Gold in 1540. Although these explorers laid claimed to all the of lands of the region for Spain, the area was largely ignored by early Spanish colonial authorities and settlers.

The first major settlement effort by any non-missionary group in Spanish Texas was undertaken by Lord John of Austria, a bastard son of Charles V, who came to the territory with his family, many retainers, and a large number of civilian settlers in 1571 in order to escape the precocious tyranny of his brother, King Philip II. John of Austria would establish the town of Villa-de-Nobia and the fort of Port Velasco, both of which would remain the only Spanish civilian, non-missionary settlements in the territory until the 18th century. The prominence of the early township and its importance to the administration of the region insured the rise of the Carlotte family as the most prominent political force in the region, with its members deriving their legitimacy as nobility through their founding patriarch John of Austria. Rodrigo Pacheco, 3rd Marquis of Cerralvo, then Viceroy of New Spain, would come to recognize this in 1628, appointing prominent members of the family into perpetual and inheritable positions of the local administration, an honorary gesture which would be continued by all Spanish viceroys to come.

Francisco Coronado in search of the Seven Cities of Gold.

The first challenge to Spanish control over the region transpired in 1684, when a group of French settlers led by René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle settled at Fort Saint Louis near Matagorda Bay, despite originally intending to settle at the mouth of the Mississippi River. While the fort was destroyed by disease and native attacks as soon as 1689, the Spanish would see the settlement as the sign of encroaching French interests into what they had claimed as Spanish territory, and began to fund further expeditions and missionary settlements throughout the region, also returning to the territory of the Pueblo indians from which they had been ousted. Alonso de León founded the first Spanish mission in the more eastern part of the Texas region, near present day San Antonio in 1690. The mission was at first unsuccessful, with the priests leaving after a year, and after twenty years of Spanish disinterest in the area, Spain would only sponsor further eastward settlement when the missionary Francisco Hidalgo and the Carlotte patriarch Carlos Pascual de Nobia threatened to ask for French help in building new settlements in 1711. The second Spanish settlement composed of mostly civilians was San Antonio, serving as a way station for new immigrants heading towards different parts of Texas.

The War of the Quadruple Alliance in 1718 saw brief tensions between the French and the Spanish in what was to become San Jacinto, but overall, no blood would be shed because of the conflict in Texan boundaries. The Spanish fought with the Lipan Apache in 1746 due to Spanish ties with the Hasinai, but later, in 1749, negotiated a peace with the Apache that angered the larger Comanche tribal confederacy. Although preoccupied with the Comanche in the north, the end of the Seven Years' War saw the leave of the French from the eastern reaches of Texas in 1763. The Spanish government ordered a relocation of many settlers to San Antonio in order to consolidate Spanish civilians and free the troops guarding them for dedication towards conflicts in the north, but many ignored Spanish commands and remained in the east, flocking to Villa-de-Nobia in the southeast and founding the town of Nacogdoches around an older mission in the area. The raids from the north came to an end when, in 1785, the Comanche agreed to a peace treaty, and soon after, a lasting alliance was forged between the Comanche and the Spanish colonial authority.

Intendancy period

The Spanish colonial authorities created the Intendancy of Texas in 1787, after a great deal of lobbying from the Carlotte family, which had grown extremely wealthy due to the necessity of their protection for Texan settlers over the past decades due to consistent raids from the native tribes. With the creation of this new political unit, the power of the Carlotte family was officially cemented into colonial administration, and they began to sponsor a policy of more intense settlement by inviting nearby English-speaking Anglo settlers from further east into the territory instead of attempting to encourage Spanish settlers to migrate to the far edges of the Spanish Empire. By 1790, native raids on Spanish settlements came to an end with Comanche assistance, and in 1793, the mission at San Antonio was secularized. Both developments further encouraged white, English-speaking protestants to migrate to Texas, as at the time they only arrived in small numbers; rarely at a rate of more than five families every month. Immigration to the territory subsequently reached its highest level ever, and the Spanish colonial administration continued to overlook the domestic governance of the intendancy, despite such a high growth rate.

In 1799, Spain returned Louisiana to France, but neither properly defined the border between Louisiana and Texas, and as a result the Louisiana Purchase would lead to a border dispute between the United States and Spain. The dispute continued until 1819, when the Adams–Onís Treaty was agreed upon by the two countries, which defined the Sabine River as the Spanish-American border. While Spain retained de jure control of New Spain following the 1808 transfer of power to Joseph Bonaparte, the colony as a whole would begin to fall into disorder. The lack of administrative oversight in New Spain during the Peninsular War only encouraged the intendant government of Texas to become even bolder in its attempts to bring foreign settlers to the territory. Colonial oversight had become minimal, and the Carlotte family exercised a high degree of autonomy, and in commanding a great deal of respect from locals, they had begun to act as the sovereign nobility of the area in all but name. If the Spanish colonial authority had its way, the entirety of the new, English-speaking population of Texas would be expelled, but almost all local power was vested at the time in the Carlotte family and the administration of the intendancy.

The small population of the territory would be completely isolated from the Mexican War for Independence, and while the government of the intendancy was technically royalist, there existed no real support for the Spanish crown beyond that of a recognition as to where the Carlotte family had acquired its heritage from. The territory would continue to be overlooked by the changing authorities of the times, as the Spanish were slowly losing control of New Spain to Mexican rebels and the strategic value of Texas at the time was low. There would be no serious attempt to establish any real control over the intendancy until the Mexican victory in 1821, when the Mexican government merged the local government with that of a neighboring territory, a move that was intended to curb Texan influence in government, and was subsequently met with extreme resistance from the locals.

Revolutionary period

After the independence of Mexico in 1821, the lands of the contemporary country of Brazoria officially became a part of that country. In particular, Texas became apart of the state of Coahuila y Tejas in 1824, although the region could opt to become its own state when the Mexican central government deemed such an action feasible, citing the low population at the time. The same year, the new government implemented the General Colonization Law, allowing for foreigners to settle in Mexico without hindrance in order to bolster immigration and population, especially in the more sparsely populated areas of the nation as to bolster self defense from constant Comanche raids, which had flared in reaction to the loss of Spanish authority in the region.

Stephen F. Austin, the Father of Brazoria.

The Mexican government aimed to continued the Carlotte-backed colonization of the region by targeting immigration from the United States. While there was still general resentment of the Mexican government among locals, the Carlotte family used the opportunity of support from the central government to begin granting huge parcels of land to new settlers from the United States. The first such empresarial grant was given to Moses Austin, whose son, Stephen Austin, commonly considered to be the Father of Brazoria, followed through with his fathers plans and brought three thousand families to settle in Texas along the Brazos River. Twenty-three other empresarios would bring tens of thousands of settlers to the territory. The vast numbers of foreign settlement surprised the Mexicans, who did not expect such vast numbers to flock into Texas, and in wanting to avoid the complete cultural conversion of the northern lands into English-speaking regions, Anastasio Bustamante, then President of Mexico, outlawed any further immigration from the United States in 1830, and he also implemented stricter tax and custom laws, whose enforcement was made possible the construction of many new presidios and military fortifications in the territory. The measures, which many new immigrants considered reactionary, led to widespread civil unrest in Texas, with one notable revolt, the Anahuac Disturbances, becoming the prelude to outright rebellion against Mexican rule in 1832. Mexican troops would flee Texas after the Nacogdoches Revolt that same year, and at the Convention of 1832, settlers, supported by the Carlotte family, demanded that Mexico grant Texas statehood. Stephen Austin was sent to Mexico City to negotiate with the Mexicans in 1833, but he was jailed on arrival and held on suspicion of treason. When Antonio López de Santa Anna began reforms aimed at centralizing the Mexican state and abolishing regional autonomy, local authorities in Texas ended attempts at negotiations and called for an armed revolt against Mexican tyranny, signaling the beginning of the Brazos Revolution in 1835.

The first full-scale, armed action against Mexican authorities took place at the Battle of Gonzales, which is considered the first engagement of the actual revolution. On March 2nd, 1836, representatives at Washington-on-the-Brazos declared the Brazos Compact of 1836, which established the Kingdom-on-the-Brazos with John Charles of the Carlotte family as the first monarch. The compact to establish a new monarchy was justified in that the Mexican government had failed in its promise to preserve their security from native raids that the colonists had enjoyed in Pre-Revolutionary times, and that the Mexican government had violated the federal pact preserving the rights of the individual states of Mexico that existed during the time of their initial arrival Texas. After the decree, many colonists mistakenly believed the war was over and left the Army of the Brazos to return to their homes. The soldiers left in command for local authorities were filibusters from the United States, and because of this, the Mexican congress clarified that any foreign-born peoples fighting against the federal government was to be executed, declaring it would not take prisoners of war.

The surrender of Santa Anna after defeat at San Jacinto.

President Antonio López de Santa Anna personally led 6,000 troops north to quell the revolutionaries, leading the bulk to besiege the Alamo Mission in San Antonio. General Jose de Urrea led a contingent of soldiers up the coastline under orders from Santa Anna, a move which culminated in the Goliad Massacre, where 300 revolutionaries were executed. After a thirteen-day siege, Santa Ana was victorious in overwhelming and annihilating the near 200 defenders of the Alamo, all of whom were either killed in the fighting or executed afterwards. News of Mexican brutality and defeats for the rebels influenced the Runaway Scrape, in which many settlers fled to the east, with most rejoining the Brazos Army and some returning to the United States. After several weeks of maneuvering through the countryside, the revolutionaries were able to catch the Mexican Army off guard in the Battle of San Jacinto, capturing Santa Ana and forcing him to sign the Treaties of Villa-de-Nobia, which effectively ended the war. The Mexican government, however, would continue to refuse to recognize the independence of the Kingdom, never formally ratifying the treaties in its own legislature.

Old Kingdom period

The newly created Kingdom was first based out of the capital city of Villa-de-Nobia, and the capital was later moved to Houston in 1837 and then finally to Austin in 1839, where it remains today. The first Chancellor of the State Privy Council was Sam Houston, who was elected in 1836 and at first pursued a foreign policy which sought to build a strong relationship with the neighbouring United States. Although Houston's efforts were largely unsuccessful cementing an outright alliance, he began a lasting state policy of openness towards Anglo-American neighbours. In 1838, with the election of the nationalist Mirabeau Lamar, the state effort to create a strong political bond with the United States was abandoned, and instead, the primary foreign policy goal of Lamar became the realisation of territorial claims against Mexico. Lamar also authorised the beginning of state-operated universal education, composed a standing army to realise territorial goals against Mexico, and signed a treaty with the United Kingdom which vowed to outlaw slavery by 1840 in exchange for general monetary and logistics backing. Lamar organised the Santa Fe Expedition in 1841, which saw the rise of Brazorian power in New Mexico, much to the ire of the Mexican government.

Chancellor Mirabeau Lamar, prominent nationalist.

In 1841, popular nationalist Garrett Langley was elected into office as Chancellor, and unlike Houston and Lamar, who tried to woo and deter the United States respectively, Langley viewed the United States as a potential defensive ally for its powerful army, near location, and strong cultural similarities with Brazos settlers. Hence, the Chancellor arranged for the Treaty of Nacogdoches in 1845, in which the United States vowed to come to the defense of the Brazos if its territorial sovereignty was threatened, and in exchange, merchants and colonists from the United States would be given favourable tariff cuts and land grants respectively, which the US saw as a prelude to eventual annexation, once the domestic issue of slavery had calmed considerably. This arrangement infuriated Mexico, as the territory of the Brazos as recognised by the United States included the disputed lands north of the Rio Grande. When a contingent of American-Brazos troops moved into a defensive position south of the Nueces River in 1846, in the disputed lands, the Mexicans responded by sending their own defense force, and the two eventually met in what became known as the Thornton Affair, the battle which caused the outbreak of the Mexican-American War.

The Brazos launched its own New Mexico Campaign with professional soldiers and American volunteers in the summer of 1846, which won a swift series of victory and eventually opened western routes into the rebelling California Republic by that same November. The Kingdom thereafter became a staging point for an American invasion of Mexico, and two years later, after intensive fighting in the Mexican homeland, Mexico surrendered at the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. The treaty caused the formal recognition of Brazos sovereignty by the Mexicans and the establishment of American military installations in Mexico, and it also allowed for the independence of the neighbouring California Republic, which was to later become Sierra. Following the surrender of Mexico, and the realisation of formal, internationally-backed territorial sovereignty, the King, John Charles I, held a series of constitutional conventions in the capital which resulted in proclamation of the Crown Charter of Governance; a document that established the modern system of administration through the Chancellor and Parliament, and reorganised the Kingdom on the Brazos into the contemporary Kingdom of Brazoria.

Gilded period

In the time after the end of the Mexican-American War, Brazoria's economy grew rapidly as immigrants from Central Europe poured into the countryside, most of whom were German socialists and anarchists escaping the after effects of the German Revolution of 1848. Through organizations such as the Adelsverein, thousands of immigrants came to Brazoria, settling across the plains in the central and northern portions of the Kingdom. Although many held radical political ideologies, they were welcomed by officials due to their high average education and general affluence. Germans would continue to be the largest immigrant group to Brazoria until the very end of the 19th century. Czechs also made up a considerable portion of new immigrants to the country, many of whom fleeing for the same reasons as the Germans, albeit with less radical ideals. The ability to become a citizen of the Kingdom was made easy for all new immigrants to the country, and immigration processing centres in Galveston and Corpus Christi were expanded multiple times throughout the 19th century to handle the ever increasing flow of people entering the country. Large swaths of land were settled in mere decades in the central plains, and towns continued to be founded further and further west. As immigrants settled in the New Mexico territory, ambiguity between Brazoria and Sierra over what defined the border between the two countries realised into small skirmishes along the Rio Grande, as Brazorian settlers attempting to cross the river were often intercepted by Sierran military police and sent back to Brazorian lands. The Massacre of San Jaun Crossing took place in 1861, which triggered the New Mexico Crisis between the two young kingdoms. Large scale hostilities were avoided after diplomats between the two parties agreed to the Treaty of Santa Fe, which set the Rio Grande as the official border between the two nations.

The American Civil War benefited Brazoria financially as Brazoria became a valuable middle ground for trade between Confederate States of America and the outside world, as the United States kept a heavy blockade of the Confederacy in place for a large part of the war. Although the Confederate States was militarily defeated, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and nearly all other high ranking officials of the Union's presidential administration by Confederate agents resulted in the withdrawl of the Union army from the South and resulted in the fracturing of the United States into several smaller nations after the foundation of the Brazorian-Sierran alliance in the War of Contingency in 1865. With the demise of the United States, the continued influx of new immigrants, and the economic phenomenon of the Second Industrial Revolution, Brazoria quickly became one of the leading independent nations in North America. Relaxed urban planning restrictions and low taxes, alongside a favourable central location on the continent, Brazoria became the literal centre of the many railroads which connected the east and west coasts. The railroads would allow for the better exploitation of the natural Brazorian agricultural bounty, which further amplified the regional economic importance of the nation due to its high food production. By 1885, a shift from agriculture to industry became very pronounced as shipping and shipbuilding became core sectors of the economy. This mass industralisation also brought along consequential uncontrolled monopolistic practices, and as the political spectre of the nation became entrenched in the hands of a small number of business elites, many Brazorians began to feel disenfranchised and as if the economic freedoms their predecessors once enjoyed had begun to be usurped by wealthy industrialists. As a result of widespread corruption in the public body, the new political sensation of progressivism swept the growing middle class, which would soon become affixed as the centrepiece of the Brazorian economy.

Empire period

Chancellor James Hogg, major progressive politician.

The rapid rise of Brazorian industry and ensuing wealth gap resulted in an eventual lapse into populist progressivism as the growing middle class became increasingly dissatisfied with the entrenched, monopolistic industrial elite. A defining moment in the rise of the middle class was the election of James Hogg as the Chancellor of Brazoria, as, for the first time in the Kingdom's history, a political party had won a major electoral victory and formed a government; that being his own-formed Progressive Party. While before the 1892 elections there was relatively little interest in voting, the expansion of the voter base and voter rights through the Great Reform Act of 1890 caused the huge middle class portion of the population to begin voting, and with the coming of the election, the massive sweep of progressive support from the middle class gave the party a super majority in both houses of Parliament. Alongside their rhetoric of ending corruption and taking Brazoria back for the people, Hogg and his administration had grand colonial ambitions, idealised in the Hogg Doctrine, which outlined the creation of a Brazorian Empire in Latin America and the Caribbean. Thus, in 1893, Hogg manipulated the beginning of the Brazorian-Dutch War, the first of the three Brazorian Caribbean Wars which aimed to fulfill the Hogg Doctrine.

The extreme success of the Brazorian-Dutch War would see the creation of the first Crown Dependencies in Guiana and the Antilles. Furthermore, it would instigate Brazorian action against Spain in the Brazorian-Spanish War, and see the capture of Cuba and Puerto Rico in 1898. The final aggressive imperialistic action of Brazoria was also its greatest military triumph in the near-complete conquest of Central America in the Central American War of 1899, thereafter establishing the colonial unified authority loyal to the Crown in 1900. Hogg even led a joint project with Sierran supporters to construct the Nicaragua Canal, a western-Anglo canal to compete with the eastern-Anglo United Commonwealth in control of the Mesoamerican naval passage. The Spindletop Gusher of 1901 only compounded the growing regional economic dominance of Brazoria during the turn of the century, and the oil boom that followed catapulted Brazoria into becoming the world's largest oil producer at the time, surpassing even the enormous Russian Empire. The death of James Hogg in office the next year would essentially signal the end of Brazoria's aggressive imperialism in the Caribbean, but the legacy of his creation would long surpass his time in office due to projects such as the Nicaragua Canal, completed in 1912, and the Brazorian Realm, established in 1980.

Brazoria signed the Bridgetown Accords with the United Kingdom in 1908 under the government of Charles Culberson, with a vow to no longer pursue territorial expansion through aggressive means in exchange for the preservation the empire which had Hogg had created. At that time, the Crown Navy began to tread into a similar power capability as possessed by the Royal Navy, and although Brazoria maintained only a light defensive army, its naval abilities far outmatched any near nation in North America at the time. The prosperity of the Kingdom made it a key ally in the region, and the desire to avoid a costly war with each other only pushed the United Kingdom and Brazoria closer together. For this reason, with the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Brazoria would be one of the first North American nations to join the Triple Entente opposing the German Empire in 1917, even with the support of its large and influential domestic German population.

Interwar period

Brazoria at first held back from involving itself in the foreign, continental European war that was the First World War when it broke out in 1914. Although the United Kingdom was a staunch ally of Brazoria, Chancellor William Hobby held a policy of pacifism, defense-only military action, and internationalism, all of which placed emphasis on diplomatic solutions to foreign challenges. However, it was the German immigrants themselves, who Hobby wished to not isolate from the Progressives, that instigated the Brazorian entry into the war when a number of ethnically German members of Parliament in both houses made an appeal to the government to intervene on behalf of the Entente in order to expedite the fall of the German Empire, whose government and political autocracy caused the flight of immigrants into Brazoria in the first place. In order to secure the German vote for the Progressives and responding to intense public pressure due to the revelations of the Zimmerman Telegram, Brazoria joined the war effort on the side of the Entente in 1917. As Brazoria committed a large, general mobilisation towards the war, many women found themselves in positions of relative power in the socioeconomic vacuum left by the leaving of a large number of men to fight in Europe. This only hightened calls for increased equality for women, which was realised when the Progressive government legalised women's suffrage in 1918, subsequently resulting in the election of the first female Chancellor of Brazoria in 1920 and one of the first female leaders in the Western world: Miriam Ferguson.

Neiman Marcus, a Dallas-based high-end retailer, was the one of first of its kind in Brazoria and Anglo-America.

Brazoria took an active role in the peace conferences that lead to the Treaty of Versailles, with the Kingdom becoming a founding member of the League of Nations in support of the internationalist spirit which was prevalent in the foreign policy of the Progressive Party at the time. Brazoria became one of the world's richest nations following the First World War, a result of the large trade deficit with European powers due to the commitment of their industry to the war effort and the general destruction of a large number of factories and infrastructure. Mass consumerism became rampant as Brazorian goods became cheap, and Brazoria entered into an economic boom unparalleled in the previous history of the nation. The economy of the Kingdom began to pivot towards the automation of industrial labour, as retail and service industries grew to unprecedented sizes in relation to the rest of the economy. A large amount of money was being poured into the stock market by wealthy citizens who simply saw it as a simple tool to make money, and the values of listed companies began to swell into a price bubble. The meltdown of this bubble and the mass chaos and loss of assets overnight is one of the primary causes of the largest financial crisis in history, which became known as the Great Depression. Banks simply had no money in their vaults due to lending too much to consumers, and as a result the savings and bank accounts of many people simply vanished. Unemployment and homelessness spiraled out of control as people lost their jobs and their houses due to the lack of profit from a capital-less consumer base and the foreclosure of banks on mortgages in an attempt to make back their lost profits. Although she was extremely popular, Ferguson proved ineffectual at offering a solid solution to the crisis, and after the 1932 elections, the Whig Party, which advocated for a relaxation of government economic regulations, would take power from the Progressive Party for the first time in Brazorian history.

Although commanding a strong rhetorical argument as an economic policy-based party and their appeal at pushing a new idea for a new problem helped the Whigs win the election, the first Whig government under Wilbert Daniel failed to ever properly alleviate the problems faced by the poor and impoverished citizens of the Kingdom. Deregulating the market only caused more chaos among financial firms, which became even bolder and ruthless in their attempts to collect debt from penniless consumers. As Brazoria continued to suffer from the dire economic situation, the drought of 1934 brought about the beginning of what became known as the Dust Bowl, a massive agricultural crisis in the plains of the country which resulted in mass crop failures and the general desertification of the once fertile Great Plains due to the overworking of the soil. The 1936 elections saw a massive electoral defeat of the Whigs and the resumption of Progressive authority in government, this time with an incentive to begin the full scale interventionism under the Chancellery of Allan Linz, the first German-speaking Chancellor ever elected into office. The emergency economic relief agencies established such as the Civilian Labour Programme and the General Civic Development Agency by Linz were highly effective in providing temporary jobs with decent wages for young adults, and more stable jobs were presented for workers thereafter through the nationalisation and re-expansion of several essential industries such as steel, rail, and shipbuilding. The initial worldwide outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 only further permitted the government-sponsored expansion of the military-industrial complex, as Brazoria entered into a lend-lease programme with other nations allied against the fanatically fascist Axis Powers. The defense industry of Brazoria was booming once again by the time of Brazorian direct entry into the war in 1942, and a full economic recovery in terms of unemployment was aided in part by participation in such a large-scale mobilisation. Brazoria played a key role in the Normandy landings of 1944, and Brazorian Blumberg Bull tanks were some of the first Allied troops to enter into mainland Germany by the end of the war.

Conservative period

The end of the Second World War left the balance of world power between two groups of nations, those of the capitalist West, organised into the NATO alliance, of which Brazoria became a founding member, and the opposing bloc of the communist East, led by the Soviet Union and China. The defense economy that Brazoria had developed during the Second World War left it as one of the world's leading military powers during the transition into the Cold War, and although Brazoria contributed a great deal to the alliance's early defensive actions in Western Europe, the military power of Brazoria was reduced by nearly two-thirds as the Kingdom was a democracy in a time of an uneasy but seemingly lasting peace. Ground forces were scaled back to a smaller proportion, and the largest focus of the Crown Armed Forces was transitioned to mobile warfare in the use of main battle tanks, helicopter gunships, paratroops, marine forces, and naval supremacy tactics. The ability to project power was maintained in the guise of a rapid assault force capable of launching an invasion from any Allied port after only a few months of organisation; a system designed to value technology over sheer manpower in an effort to streamline and make efficient the henceforth rarefied use of conventional infantry forces.

Brazorian soldiers on patrol in Nicaragua in 1979.

Brazoria played an instrumental role in Operation Aquila, a plot which utilised the Crown Rangers in the covert installation of many Latin American dictatorships during the course of the Cold War. Furthermore, the Kingdom often volunteered a significant portion of its military forces in armed conflicts undertaken by NATO allies. The only fully committed combat situations undertaken by Brazorian troops were in the revolutionary conflicts in the Brazorian Crown Dependencies, namely the Cuban Uprising of 1953 and the Central American Uprising of 1978. While these proxy wars were fought as a part of the Cold War, they held deep effect on the underlying policies of Brazorian colonial governance which kept them as a part of the Brazorian Empire, and as such, near the end of the Cold War, a year after the end of the Central American Uprising in 1979, the newly elected Whig government of Mark White organised the implementation of the Crown Charter of the Realm, which transitioned Central America and Cuba into two sovereign members of a personal crown union with Brazoria, essentially insuring an indefinite bond with the Brazorian Crown and setting them under a Brazorian sphere of influence. With successes in almost all of its political, military, and covert endeavors, Brazoria kept a great deal of Latin America loyal to Western authority for most of the Cold War.

Alongside its status as a militarily significant member of the capitalist West, Brazoria played an important role in the development of technologies related to rocketry and the exploration of outer space through the Crown Atmospheric and Aeronautics Research Bureau, or CAARB, which was founded in 1958 in competition with the Soviet space programme and its propaganda victory that was the Sputnik satellite of the previous year. CAARB became one of the West's leading space agencies, and close cooperation with fellow North American nations saw a multinational team sent to become the first humans to walk upon the Moon. The space race and ensuing moon landing gained special cultural significance in Brazoria, especially as the first word to be spoken on the Moon was Houston, which was the location of mission control during the programme due to the central position of Brazoria as a contributor to the mission's success. Brazoria henceforth became a prestigious player in worldwide space exploration, a pedigree that is maintained to this day by a large amount of government funding for CAARB and a variety of active missions which are in progress in contemporary times.

Contemporary period

After the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War in 1991, Brazoria began to transition its foreign policy from a defensive standpoint to the strengthening of the Brazorian position in the world economic with the rising advent of globalisation. The coming of the Internet had a profound economic impact on the highly advanced economy that already existed, further unifying the country in terms of both culture and economy through the ease of communications over a long distance and increasing national interconnections. The Brazorian presence in the software and hardware computer industry expanded as several successful high tech businesses were founded throughout the country, such as Dell in Austin and Brazos Instruments in Dallas. The technological benefits of the Brazorian space programme gave Brazorian competitors a strong edge in the quickly developing market that was high technology in the late 1990s. The strong and independent Brazorian economy was well equipped to compete internationally, and the expansion of certain domestic businesses into multinational firms strongly benefited the wealth and prosperity of the Kingdom during the turn of the millennium.

As Brazoria and its economy underwent rapid change to meet the demands of the times, so did the enemies of the Brazorian nation, as terrorism became the preferred choice of action by extremists opposing the militarily and technologically dominant society, namely Islamic extremists from Al-Qaeda who set devastating bombs in various locations throughout the country and detonated them on 11 November 2001 as a part of a series of worldwide terrorist actions that year. Brazoria hence took part in the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, of which Brazorian involvement lasted until the Great Recession hit Brazoria in 2009 and put numerous economic and political constraints on the country. Although it was nowhere near as severe as its counterpart of the early 20th century, as the Great Recession only had a mild impact upon the Brazorian economy, but the primary result of the economic crisis was the cementation of the political shift from right to further left that had begun after the end of the Cold War two decades before. The 2012 elections saw the rise of Chancellor Eva Delaney as the shining star of the New Progressive movement, a political force which reconfirmed its dominance over Brazorian politics with its strong victory in the subsequent 2016 elections, which define the political administration of the present day.

Politics

Brazoria is a unitary constitutional monarchy with a semi-presidential parliamentary democracy. The government in its contemporary system was established by the Crown Charter of Governance in 1848; the proclamation serves in modern times as the national equivalent to a constitution, and insures the sovereignty of the Chancellor as the primary representative of the Crown and the bicameral Parliament as the primary representative body of the people. The Parliament is composed of the lower Diet and the upper Senate, with laws originating as bills in either house, and after being approved by both houses, bills are sent to the Monarch for their assent in the creation of law. The Chancellor, in turn, acts in the place of the Monarch and granting assent to bills from the Parliament, and furthermore, the Chancellor goes on to form the Privy Council of Ministers responsible for enforcing such laws by appointing an equal number of cabinet positions from the Diet and the Senate. The Crown Government is the administration over which the Privy Council holds authority, and in enforcing the laws passed by the Parliament, the Crown Government acts as the governing body of the nation.

Government

The Seat of Parliament building in Austin, commonly referred to as the Capitol building.

The Federal Congress of Brazoria is commonly seen as the indicator of the actions of the government that will be taken during the tenure of a certain seated Federal Congress. The Federal Senate, the upper house of the Congress, is composed of two Senators from each of the 46 cantons of the nation, meaning that there are 92 Senators sitting at any one time when the Senate is fully composed. The Federal Senate has the responsibility of the constitution and foreign interactions, meaning that constitutional amendments, treaties, and international agreements require a two-thirds majority vote of the Federal Senate before they can be signed and enforced by the Federal Council. The Federal Senate also serves as a chamber by which legislation must pass and be approved by a majority until it can be signed by the Council; although the Senate is not authorized to make alterations to a bill, it can deny a bill passage and return it to the Federal Assembly for reassessment. Elections for Senators are held nationwide every four years, and with each new Federal Senate, an in-chamber vote of confidence is held to elect the President-Senator, who decides the agenda of the Senate and is typically the most outspoken member of the majority party.

The Federal Assembly, the lower house of the Congress, is composed of Assemblers from each canton, with each province receiving a number of Assemblers equal to their size in population on a ratio determined by the size of the country as a whole with each Census. As of the 2014 elections, there are 350 Assemblers constituting the current sitting Federal Assembly. The Federal Assembly is charged with the creation, expansion, and amendment of the law through the process of passing bills by which will then pass into the Senate and eventually to enforcement by the Federal Council. Arguably, the Federal Assembly has much more interactive power than the upper house of the Congress, in that it can virtually create any law which it deems necessary or beneficial for the nation as a whole with proper backing from both the Federal Council and the people at large. Bills in the Federal Assembly are drafted and sponsored by Assemblers, and upon achieving a majority of votes in favor of a bill, it is passed to the Federal Senate, which upon approval, sends it to the Federal Council for their approval and enforcement. Bills created by the Federal Assembly are subject to constitutional checks by the Federal Court, which protects the rights of the people and monitors the actions of the government according to the rights and privileges given in the constitution itself. Assemblers are elected every four years, and with each new composed Federal Assembly, a President-Assembler is elected by a vote of confidence within the chamber, a position which decides upon the agenda of the Federal Assembly.

Chancellor Eva Kreuz.

The Federal Council is the collective presidency of the nation which serves as the head of government, and from the Federal Council, the Chancellor, the ceremonial head of state, is derived. The Federal Council has the power to enforce laws according to the jurisdiction afforded of the constitution and all legislation passed by the Federal Congress. The Federal Council is also responsible for the oversight of the cabinet of Ministers who make up the various departments of the federal government. All enforcement structures of the government fall under the responsibility of the Federal Council as a whole, and therefore, the management of all the Ministries of the government is a requirement of the Federal Council. In order to do so, the Council appoints a Minister as the leader of a specific Ministry, with the collective referral of the Ministers being the Cabinet. The Cabinet is the primary body through which the Federal Council works to achieve success in the enforcement of laws instated by the Federal Congress. The Federal Council is also the collective commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces and has the responsibility of defending the constitution and the Brazorian people. While a vote in the Federal Senate is required before the President can activate the Armed Forces for combat, the Federal Council still has overriding jurisdiction in some areas of the Armed Forces, specifically the Brazorian Rangers. The Federal Council is voted into office every four years by a vote of the Federal Senate in which any canton governor is eligible to run.

The Federal Court is the constitutional court of Brazoria, and it is responsible for the inspection of actions undertaken by the Federal Congress and the Federal Council to ensure that such actions are in accordance with the definitions offered in the constitution. The Federal Court has the power to block legislation based upon the constitutionality of a bill, impeach members of the government for breaking their oaths of office, and enact decision-amendments in cases where the actions of two entities might have infringed on either's constitutional rights. While the Federal Court is the smallest organ of the government, it is one of the most powerful in terms of ability, and the flexibility of its powers is given because of the lack of constitutional limits set on the powers of the Federal Court. For this reason, members of the Federal Court, known as Justices, cannot be elected by the people, and are instead appointed by the Federal Council with the approval of the Federal Senate. The leader of the Federal Court is the President-Justice, who is elected within the Federal Court itself through a vote of confidence, and whose only powers are to set the agenda of the court and to oversee the dissent of the Justices as a whole upon making a decision in cases. There are seven Federal Court justices at any given time, as even numbers are not permitted to ensure there is never a tie. Abstentions in the Federal Court are not allowed.

Law and justice

The Brazorian justice system uses common law as a means to establish precedents over the actions undertaken by certain suspects in a court of law. As such, there are no set limitations for how much a certain infraction of the legal system, only seperate decisions made based upon the extent of the act committed and the action at hand. There is no codified system of penalties in place for the application of law, as such system might treat different levels or actions the same, when in actuality, in the respect that every person is motivated by a specific desire, the Brazorian system allows for a mediation of standing through the interactions of a court which then find specific areas of an action to be justified. If such actions are justified, and the justifications for said action persist within the boundaries of simplistic human nature, then the penalty incurred by a person may be reduced or even dropped altogether. While there is no set standard of penalty enforced for any crime in the country, a code of criminal and civil law does exist and is only utilized in its recommendations of penalties when such a precedent for action must be set in a court of law or for in the case as to where one must be charged with a specific violation of the law.

Federal Policemen in ceremonial uniform.

The Federal Police are the primary instrument through which the laws of the nation are enforced. Acting as a unified national body of law enforcement, the Federal Police are bound in service to the enforcement of civil and criminal law within the nation, and those considered to be acting in violation of the law are liable to be arrested by the Federal Police. Upon arrest, the Federal Police have forty-eight hours to identify the crime committed by the suspect and to bring sufficient evidence to indict the said suspect with charges based upon their infraction of the law. The suspect is then tried in a court of law by a jury, if they so opt to have one, who decides upon the guilt of the suspect. Upon the verdict by the jury, the presiding judge may either declare the verdict as stated by the jury or decide upon their own accord the actions of the suspect. Should the suspect be found not guilty, they are acquitted of the charges, and should the suspect be found guilty, the judge will order a punishment based upon the degree of the charges pressed and the precedent set by other judges in acting within this penalty. Should the accused believe that their rights are at stake, they can sue for action in a higher court, to which it will be brought, but this suit, however, is typically only applicable in cases of civil law, where one entity is suing another for a violation of rights afforded by either the law or the constitution. Should the suit reach through the local court, to the provincial court, to the circuit court, to the Federal Court, the decision of the Federal Court will become constitutional in its value, and such a decision can only be overridden by an amendment of the constitution itself.

Administrative subdivisions

Brazoria is divided into 46 cantons; semi-sovereign constituencies which are largely autonomous from the Federal government in terms of their self administration. As the powers of the Federal government exist to insure the proper functioning of the nation as a whole, the cantons serve themselves in their application of governance, with limited intervention from the Federal government in order to insure the equality of the people to best suit their liberty. The status of the cantons is that of a confederation, in which the Federal Republic as a whole is viewed as a federated entity of various smaller states, in which the cantons are those states and they exercise a great deal of home rule. As the Federal government is responsible for the administration of the interior, the treasury, diplomacy, defence, law, and federal standards, all other aspects of governance are left to the cantons to manage themselves. The 46 cantons of Brazoria are further divided into counties, of which there are 364. In most cantons, counties are the smallest of subdivisions, however, some allow for further devolution in incorporated cities and designated places.

Diplomacy and defence

Brazoria has a network of 227 diplomatic missions abroad and maintains relations with more than 190 countries. Brazoria is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the League of Nations, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Organization of American States, and an observer of the Council of Europe. Brazoria maintains a "Special Relationship" with the United States, the former's closest and oldest ally. Both countries maintain a system of freedom of movement, freedom of trade, defense intelligence, and political alignment, with Brazoria joining the United states in many of its foreign endeavors. Brazoria also maintains a strong relationship with Sierra, with which it shares an open border and free trade agreement. Other important allies of Brazoria include Germany, Britain, Argentina, and Japan.

The Armed Forces of Brazoria are the collective branches of the military service of the country who act to protect the people and the government from attacks by threats from foreign nations. The Armed Forces are divided into three branches and two special services; the Army, the Air Force, and the Navy are the branches, while the Brazorian Rangers and the Brazorian Militia are the special services. The Armed Forces employ a total of 205,157 active service members, with 130,050 in the Army, 55,050 in the Air Force, 15,050 in the Navy, and 5,007 in the Rangers. Alongside these active service members, there are an additional 246,178 registered members of the Militia, who would be immediately authorized to join active combat duty roles in the event of a direct foreign invasion. Alongside these registered members of the Armed Forces, up to forty-two percent of the civilian population of Brazoria own personal firearms which they would be willing to take up in the event that the nation as a whole was threatened.

Economy

The Houston Ship Channel is one of the busiest ports and one of the largest concentrations of chemical and petroleum industries in the world.

The Economy of Brazoria is the 10th largest economy in the world, with a diverse market structure created by a strong economic history. The national economy is made up mostly of a mixture of secondary and tertiary sectors, with manufacturing and services representing a large part of the economic output of the country. Small businesses which produce artisanal goods also represent a large part of the economy in urban areas, contributing to the economic diversity of the country as a whole. Although no longer the largest part of the economy, primary economic activities such as ranching, farming, mining, exploration, and fishing represent major cultural and base economic significance. The official currency of Brazoria is the Brazorian dollar, which is pegged in value to the United States dollar. Brazoria has a high standard of living and a moderate cost of living, with housing, goods, land, and other items being relatively cheap in comparison to most other developed economies. The largest industries by contribution to the GDP are oil refinement, chemical manufacturing, financial services, telecommunications, food processing, retail, and various forms of goods manufacturing.

Energy

Wind power in the rural flat lands of Brazoria are increasingly prominent in the nation's electric supply network.

Brazoria is a world leader in the refinement of petroleum, with the Houston Ship Channel being the largest concentration of petroleum industry companies and related products in the world. Oil represents a major cultural and financial figure for Brazoria, as ever since the Spindletop boom of the early twentieth-century, the nation has been heavily associated by other countries as the capital of the oil, petroleum, and petrochemical industries in North America and even across the globe. While petroleum itself represents less than 1% of energy generation in the country, its byproducts are important everyday commodities for the people of the country. Gasoline remains the largest single source of automobile fuel in the country, although through heavy government initiatives, the percentage of cars that run on clean diesel has increased to represent almost 40% since the beginning of the initiative in 2004.

The largest production source in terms of electrical energy is natural gas, which produces nearly 60% of energy in the country. In terms of economic composition, natural gas has recently undergone a boom in production that was largely set into motion through government initiatives in 1997 aimed at increasing the use of natural gas and renewable resources instead of coal sources. Since then, natural gas has nearly completely replaced coal along with solar and wind power, with natural gas making up about 60% of the nation's energy supply, solar and wind making up 35%, and coal making up the remaining 5%. By as early as 2025, the government of the country hopes to have coal be removed entirely from the production of power in the country and have the majority of energy be produced by solar and wind alternatives.

Transportation

The E10 and E45 interchange in Houston is an example of the sophisticated highway constructions prevalent across the country.

Brazoria has over 1.057 million miles of paved roadway, making it the third highest developed country in terms of per capita public roadway to population size in the world. In terms of public highways, three classifications of networks exist: the Federal Expressways, the Federal Highways, and the IC Roads. The Federal Expressways are the largest, most well-maintained road networks in Brazoria, and the majority of these roads lack a speed limit. The Federal Expressways largely exist to connect major cities to one another, and they are integral pieces to the larger North American international highway network. The Federal Highway system is much larger in terms of mileage than the Expressways, although the Highways are not direct, inter-city connections. Instead, the Federal Highways are speed limited, and exist to connect towns across the nation with other populated areas and the larger Expressways. The Inter-Canton Roads, or simply IC Roads, are less highway-like than the two preceding categories of roadways, and these roadway networks are the result of a federal takeover of the older farm-to-market roads which were previously administered by the individual provinces. Most other public road networks across Brazoria are managed directly by the canton governments, with many provinces holding eligibility for federal funding to road networks in terms of the categorical grants allocated to provinces for local infrastructure development.

There is a total of 19,794 miles of railway in Brazoria, down from a peak of over 25 thousands miles in the 1940s. Although there have been several federal initiatives to rebuild the national rail network with the beginning of mainstream environmentalism, these moves have been seen has highly inefficient and very costly, leading to their unpopularity with the general public. The physical rail tracks of Brazoria are managed by the state-sanctioned Federal Rail monopoly, while the actual operations of the railways are managed entirely by private companies. Very few passengers use rail transportation, and the system exists almost entirely for use by freight carriers. There are approximately two thousand public airports in Brazoria, of which thirty-two are given commercial primary designation. About a third of all airports in the country have paved runways. Over 25 million people annually travel in Brazorian airports, and the vast majority of these passengers travel through the five largest airports in the country, of which two are based in Dallas, two in Houston, and one in Austin. Two major airlines are based in Brazoria, those being BZC Air and Old Western Airlines.

Science and technology

Duenes Space Center, outside of Marfa, is known for its large observatory complex.

Brazoria has an extensive network of publicly funded university and college campuses, namely through the Brazorian University System, with the flagship campus located in the capital, at the University of Austin. Education and research is one of the largest expenses as a percentage of the federal government's total expenditures, and more than $20 billion is allocated annually to scientific research and development grants for private individuals and organizations. As a result of extensive government incentive and support, many technology companies have campuses on various science parks located across Brazoria. Prominent technology firms headquartered in Brazoria include Dell, BT&T, and Brazos Instruments The Houston Medical Center is the large agglomeration of medical care and research facilities in the world, with many patients from across North America and even the world at large taking up residence in the city for the duration of their illness or injury.

The most prominent feature of the scientific community of Brazoria is the emphasis on outer space research, especially so in the fields of astronomy and space exploration. The Federal Outer Space Exploration Service is one of the most advanced governmental space exploration programs in the world, with more than $26 billion annually granted to the program by the federal government. As governmental spending on FOSES is the largest in the world, the capabilities of the program are representative of its heavy funding. Konstanz Space Center in Houston is the flagship complex of the program, with other important locations including Gruber Space Center on Mustang Island outside Corpus Christi and Duenes Space Center outside Marfa. Major ongoing programs of FOSES include the Nyx III program, a study of Ceres and other bodies in the Asteroid belt, the Hemera II program, an extensive stellar observatory initiative, and the Concordia program, a study of Mars and the development of a system to land the first humans on the planet. FOSES is an active participant in the International Space Station, and cooperation with foreign space agencies is heavily encouraged and supported by the federal government.

Demographics

Cinco de Mayo is one of the largest annual festivals held by Hispanic Brazorians.

A census is held every ten years in Brazoria, and as of 2010, there was a designated population of 33,124,522 people. As of 2015, there are an estimated 33,465,561 people living in the country, making Brazoria the 39th largest nation in the world by terms of population. More than six percent of the population is estimated to consist of undocumented immigrants, the vast majority of which come from Mexico. This is one of the highest percentages in the Conference of American States, and illegal immigration continues to be a pressing topic of domestic federal government. Nonetheless, under amnesty programs implemented by more recent governments, immigration continues to contribute to a large portion of the nation's growth rate. Brazoria has a relatively low population density of 72.74 people per square mile, and despite a plentitude of land, the over three quarters of the country's population resides in the ten largest urban areas.

In terms of ethnic composition, about 58% of the population consists of White Brazorians, with the two largest ethnic groups making up the majority being British Brazorians and German Brazorians. British and German Brazorians make up 49% of the total population, with the remaining 9% composed of a mixture of immigrants of Czech, French, Italian, Polish, and Russian heritage. The second largest ethnic group of Brazoria are the Hispanic Brazorians, who constitute around 27% of the population. Hispanic Brazorians are mostly Mexican Brazorians at 26% of the total national population, with the remaining 1% made up of various smaller national groups. Hispanic Brazorians are the fastest growing ethnic group in Brazoria, and by 2050 it is estimated that they will represent over a third of the total population, creating a minority majority in the country. The Native Brazorians are the third largest ethnic division at 8% of the population, and they are the descendants of native inhabitants of the North American continent, and various smaller tribal distinctions exist within the larger definition. The vast majority of Native Brazorians reside in the provinces of Gila and Osage, in the western and northeastern extremities of the country respectively. Black Brazorians are the descendants of former runaway slaves and later black immigrants from the east, and they are the fourth largest distinct ethnic group in Brazoria at 6% of the total population. The remaining 1% of the total population is made up of a mixture of East Asian, South Asian, Middle Eastern, and African immigrant groups.

Language

Language status by province

  English primary

  English and Spanish bilingual

  English and German bilingual

  Officially trilingual

  English and Other bilingual

  Special case

Brazoria is an officially trilingual country, with three mother tongues predominant across the nation; those being English, German, and Spanish. While English is not officially recognized as any higher than the other two, it is the most commonly used lingua franca across the country, with more than 86% of the population reporting fluency in the language. Of the remaining 14% of the population not fluent in English, Spanish makes up the nearly majority of those who are unable to communicate fluently in English, and only a fractional percentage of German speakers record non-fluency in English. In public education, students are required to take at least five years worth of all three official languages, and after that, at least two languages must be taken for every year in school, with most students choosing to take English and Spanish classes. Around 64% of the population records bilingual fluency in any two of the official languages, and only a further 21% records trilingual fluency. English is used in the governments of 15 provinces, with only two provinces opting for Spanish before English. Less than 2% of the population communicates in a mother tongue other than English, German, or Spanish. The federal government of Brazoria is required by law to be able to operate in all three official languages of the country, though most public officials communicate primarily in English.

Religion

The Brazorian federal government maintains an official policy of secularism which is held as universal throughout the entire country, meaning that, alongside the federal government, no individual province or any associated organization endorsed by the Brazorian government in a manner of law can establish a religion or discriminate based upon the person's practicing religion. However, there is an exemption in the federal government made towards the status of any organizations posing as religious institutions, which, in actuality, function in the manner of a cult insofar as they deprive emotionally unstable individuals of their freedom unwillingly. Hence, while no religion is specifically banned, any organization classified by the federal government as a cult is banned from public practice or promotion and does not receive federal tax breaks. Only three currently practiced belief systems are classified as cults: Scientology, Santeria, and Baahgulism.

The majority of the Brazorian population practices Catholicism, with Catholics representing around 71% of the population. The heavily Catholic population is a result of the historical immigration of Catholics to the country, with Brazoria's percentage of Catholics being the highest among the Anglophone nations of North America. The next largest religious group are the various Protestant denominations, which collectively represent about 17% of the population. Of the Protestant denominations, Lutheranism, Methodism, and Baptism are the most prevalent denominations, with each group historically tied to a specific collection of ethnic groups which migrated to Brazoria over a large period of time. The designation of Irreligious is reported by about 11% of the population, which includes, among that category, the identification of "spiritual but not religious", atheist, and agnostic. The remaining 1% of the population is classified as other, with that being a collection of various belief systems which are tied to specific communities across the country; this category includes Judaism, Islam, Canaanism, and different eastern religions.

Welfare

Brazoria maintains a large social security system comparable to most other developed welfare states around the world. Alongside Canada, the Brazorian social service system is one of the most extensive in terms of coverage in North America, and although elements of a capitalist system are built into its framework, the Brazorian welfare system has largely been developed under a program more akin to a socialist system of operation. The Brazorian system includes universal education, universal healthcare, unemployment benefits, state pensions, food and housing assistance, and nationalized sanitation and water management. Unlike most other North American countries, Brazoria has a strong history of social services entrenched into the cultural impacts of its constituent citizens. The concepts of a strong hand in helping the disadvantaged citizens of the nation comes from the strong national sense of solidarity despite social class, within which economic needs are placed second to humanitarian needs. This system comes from the strong influences of German utopian socialism and Mexican familial bonds created by decades of heavy immigration from both groups, and it is a persisting feature of the distinctly Brazorian national identity.

Education

Rice University is one of the most renowned institutions in Brazoria.

In the Brazorian federal system, the administration of universal educational programs is a responsibility of the provincial governments, although national standards are set for what material is required to be taught, and federal grants are given to the provinces in order to insure equality among the quality of education provided in accordance with the federal policy of equal opportunity. About 38% of the population of Brazoria holds any form of college degree, one of the highest percentages in the world.

Among the provinces, there are two primary systems of education utilised. In more densely populated urban provinces, the independent school district system is used, in which the school district is a separate government entity from any local level of government within the province, and the school district is responsible for setting a level of local property taxes to support themselves. Independent school districts are common among urban provinces because of their flexibility in terms of administration and non-dependence on city government, as the independence of school taxes means that city or county officials are never required to cut funding for schools in order to provide other essential services. The independent school district system is used in seven of the 17 provinces, although it represents approximately three quarters of the population of the country. The second system utilized in Brazoria is the unified school district, in which both elementary and high schools are operated at county levels alongside the local county government. The unified school district system is employed in rural areas, as the local governments of counties in rural areas is not as often pressed for financial support as urban governments can be. Often times, in counties were the population is especially sparse, multiple counties might make up a single unified school district.

While education is only mandatory by a federal standard at both elementary and high school levels, a large percentage of the population prefers to continue onwards to higher education. There are 201 federally accredited institutions of higher learning in Brazoria, with some of the most prominent public schools of those including the University of Austin, University of Lubbock, National Agricultural and Mechanical University, and the University of Oklahoma. Important private universities include Rice University, Baylor University, and Brazoria Christian University.

Healthcare

The Houston Medical Center is the largest agglomeration of medical research institutions in the world.

Brazoria is one of the world's largest centers of private medical research, and this is complimented by a national health insurance program which is mandated by the federal government and administered by the provinces. Unlike most other countries with universal healthcare, no government institution pays directly for medical centers, their staff, or their equipment. Instead, medical institutions are privately owned and managed, in order to foster competition and a high quality standard of care for patients. In turn, the federal government manages the Federal Health Insurance Service, or FHIS, in order to pay these private health companies for their provision of service to the public. Each individual province manages their own programs of payment to the healthcare industry, and in turn, the government allocates funding for the FHIS system according to how much a province owes in payments to health service providers. The FHIS system is paid for through federal taxes, and there is rarely a personal cost to healthcare provision depending on the level of care required by a patient. The Brazorian system is well ranked among the world, with the World Health Organization giving it 23rd place in terms of efficiency among the world. Prominent private health care institutions in Brazoria include Memorial Hermann, MD Anderson, and Brazoria Children's Hospital.

Subsidies

In Brazoria, there is a comprehensive program of federally backed social security through the Federal Accommodation Insurance Service, or FAIS. Through the FAIS system, the federal government manages all pensions for the elderly and subsidies for the unemployed, disabled, homeless, and impoverished. Like the sister program FHIS, FAIS is instituted through a system of general federal taxation, in which the funds are then redistributed for administration by the individual provinces according to how much each province needs in support. The disastrous effects that the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression had upon the Brazorian economy made the FAIS system a necessity during its implementation in the late 1930s. Originally, the system was employed through a means of general monthly payments and tax breaks made to persons who required assistance in living, but gradually, after multiple reforms in 1962, 1981, and 1994, the FAIS program became a monthly series of payments which are administered through provincial government officials and regulated and monitored in a way that protects the security of the program by preventing exploitation. The most controversial portion of the FAIS program is its assistance of the unemployed, which many fiscally conservative political groups in the country lambast as outright government intervention in the economy.

Culture

Brazoria is a multicultural society with a rich historical approach to the idea of a melting pot. Since the beginnings of mass influxes of German immigrants in the 1870s and Latin Americans in the 1910s, the country has been on a radically shifting cultural path than most other Anglo-American nations. Ultimately, by the beginning of the counterculture movements of the 1960s, the Brazorian national identity became a mixture of the three most prominent cultural groups in the country, with the British, German, and Hispanic influences on the country intermingling into common traditions shared by all. Brazoria has a philosophical tradition stemming from earlier American ideas of liberty and equality under law, which were further expanded upon by German socialist immigrant-thinkers, resulting in the common beliefs of freedom, civic responsibility, and brotherhood by the middle of the 20th century. This was further drawn upon as Hispanic Brazorians became more prominent in the 1960s, with the ideas of family and common identity creating a uniquely Brazorian outlook of American philosophy. The reflection of commonality in thought upon the tangible culture of Brazoria is profound, with the idea of mixing practices prominent in most material forms of national culture, such as food, holidays, music, and literature.

Aesthetics

Lilacs in a Window, an Impressionist piece of the San Antonio School.

The Brazorian artistic tradition is derived from the overall Western tradition of visual arts, with the first wholly Brazorian realizations of stylistic movements beginning with the Brazorian impressionist movement of the late 19th century. The San Antonio School was the most representative group of impressionism in Brazoria, and its constituent artists are regarded as some of the greatest in the country's history. Brazoria, however, shifted away from embracing American realism, developing its own artistic path due to differences in the urban societies of the two countries, and instead, followed upon the Fauvist movement as a successor to impressionism, with a gradual expansion of the Fauvist idea in the San Marcos School. The San Marcos School retained relevance in its later period by shifting to surrealism in the later part of the 1920s, a relevance which would largely fade after the embrace of the American Figurative Expressionism and Pop art movements in the 1950s. After the end of the Dallas School in the early 1970s, Brazorian art has transitioned from singular prominent artistic movements to a conflux of modern art movements, though minimalism has remained a prominent feature of art to the contemporary day.

In architecture, Brazoria has a diverse range of movements which, as opposed to visual art, have largely followed American styles in prominence over time. Italianate and Renaissance revival were the most prominent movements in the early history of the country, and these were followed by a trend in Romanesque revival which would last into the 1910s. After these movements, early modernist principles became more prominent around the country, and, as a substrate of modernism, Art Deco flourished in the wealth of the 1920s and lasted into middle of the 1950s. The International style began to take hold in the country in the 1960s, but more prominent was the impact of the postmodernist style upon skylines with its mainstream adoption in the late 1970s. Since the late 1990s and early 2000s, Neo-futurism has become the most prominent architectural movement in the country.

Brazorian fashion generally follows the trends of Western fashion, and otherwise, is considered to be, on a whole, largely casual and highly informal. As the country maintains a high standard of living and a highly urban society, fast fashion is by far the most common and influential form of stylistic impression upon contemporary Brazorian fashion, with foreign retailers such as Forever 21, H&M, American Apparel, and Zara being the largest, and most influential, companies in the mainstream Brazorian fashion industry. While casual fashions are largely influenced by foreign fast fashion retailers, there are a number of Brazorian haute couture designers, such as Tom Ford and Elaine Turner, who have become internationally famous for their designs.

Cuisine

Veal schnitzel is a staple in the Brazorian diet.

The most prominent display of the Brazorian culture is in its food. Brazorian cuisine is largely representative of the immigrant groups which made up the country, and relies heavily upon local sources of food for most of its composition. Akin to most other Western countries, wheat is the most widely consumed grained, but since the 1960s, rice has become almost as equally as popular due to its usage by Hispanic cultures. Beef and chicken are the most important sources of meat, with Brazoria being internationally famous for its large ranches which cover a great deal of the western provincs of the country. The Brazorian cowboy is derived from the prominence that beef played in the nation's history, making the meat one of the most important part of the Brazorian diet.

Characteristic dishes in the country are derived from the cultural mixture of the most prominent immigrant groups, with sausage and schnitzel derived from the Germans, burritos and tacos derived from the Hispanics, and steak derived from the British. These five forms of food are by far the most commonly consumed dishes in the country on a daily basis, with a great deal of emphasis placed on zest and savor adopted from the Hispanic tradition. Chile con queso, a dish with a great deal of significance in Brazoria, is typically added to most casual meals, though it is not as common in formal settings. Other important additions to dishes include guacamole and refried beans, both from the Hispanic cultural group. The most common beverage in Brazoria is beer, which is widely popular throughout the country and stems from a necessity of clean liquids to drink in the colonial era. Non-alcoholic soda is also important to the country, with the most popular brands including Dr. Pepper and Coca-Cola. Brazorians drink coffee four times more often than tea.

Stemming from an infusion of the British and Hispanic traditions, the most important meal of the day in Brazoria is lunch, eaten in the middle of the day. Breakfast and dinner are lighter than the large lunchtime meals that are consumed in the country. This stems from the colonial agricultural idea that lunch allowed for recuperation from work in the morning and supplied energy for work in the afternoon. As the nation became more developed, however, the idea of lunch as the most important social time of the day became popular. Before the advent of air conditioning, the siesta was a highly popular action undertaken following these large lunches, though it has now become far less common since climate control has largely allowed for aversion from the intense afternoon heat of the sun.

Holidays and sport

Dia de Muertos is one of the more prominent holidays in the country.

In Brazoria, cultural celebrations are held often through the course of a year, with specific times of the year being dedicated to the celebration of a particular holiday. The vast majority of Brazorian holidays come from the Catholic traditions of the country. In chronological order, New Years Eve and New Years Day are both celebrated at the very end of the preceding year and the beginning of the new year as a festival associated with recollection of the past and looking forward to the future. Constitution Day is celebrated on February 2nd, and Valentine's Day, a largely private celebration of love, is held on February 14th. The next celebratory season of the year is Carnival, a large celebration of individualism and hedonism before the more sanctified and holy season of Lent. Easter, at the end of Lent, is a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus, and is the end of the first religious season of the country. Independence Day is celebrated on March 2nd, and it is the largest celebration associated with the nation's secular history, and San Jacinto Day, celebrated on April 21st, is considered to be a public memorial day of those who died fighting for freedom under the auspices of the Brazorian government in any war throughout the nation's history. Cinco de Mayo, a celebration of Hispanic heritage, is held on May 5th, and Labor Day, a celebration of workers, is held on the first monday in September. Oktoberfest, a two-week long celebration of German heritage, begins on the third saturday in September, and is one of the more famous holidays of Brazoria for its travelling funfairs and beer halls. The Day of the Dead is celebrated on October 31st, a large street festival held in memory of the departed, and the celebration has completely eclipsed the more American Halloween in terms of celebration. Thanksgiving is held on the fourth thursday in November, and is a celebration of family and common North American heritage. Advent begins the season of Christmas four sundays prior to the day which celebrates the birth of Jesus, and the holiday, along with following Boxing Day, is one of the most widely celebrated holidays in the country.

Association football is the most popular sport in the country, followed by basketball, American football, and baseball. The Brazorian Football Association is the largest of its kind in North America, with 18 participating teams in the First League drawing in the largest number of spectators to any association football games in the English-speaking part of the continent. The Brazorian men's national team has consistently placed highly in the FIFA World Cup and has won the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 1991, 1996, 2005, and 2007. In basketball, Brazoria is a part of the larger North American Basketball Association, with five teams in the pan-American organization. Brazoria has two teams in the North American Football League and the North American Baseball Major League.

See also

• Altverse