Tortuga

From TEPwiki, Urth's Encyclopedia
Revision as of 17:36, 5 September 2021 by Nordenpunto (talk | contribs) (started history)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
The Independent Isles of Tortuga

Las Islas Independientes de Tortuga (Impelanzan)
კუს ქვეების დამოუკიდებელი კუნძულები
k’us kveebis damouk’idebeli k’undzulebi
(Salovian)
The Flag of Tortuga
Flag
The Seal of Tortuga
Seal
Motto: "¡Las tortugas son el alma de nuestra nación!"
Capital
and largest city
Cáscara
Official languagesImpelanzan
Recognised national languagesSalovian
Staynish
Ethnic groups
List of ethnicities
Demonym(s)Tortugan/Tortuguese
GovernmentParliamentary Constitutional Monarchy
Samuel III
• President
Fernán Candelario
LegislatureConsejo Nacional
Establishment
• Ketevanidze Plantations Begin Operations
1402
• Annexation into Salovia
1433
• Slave Revolt
TBD
• Independence
1954
Area
• Total
1,256 km2 (485 sq mi)
• Water (%)
negligible
Population
• 2021 estimate
150,000
• 2019 census
148,973
SDIIncrease 0.796
high
CurrencyKirib (♅/KRB)
Time zoneUTC+5 (TTT)
• Summer (DST)
UTC+5 (not observed)
Date formatDD/MM/YYYY BCE/CE
Driving sideleft
Calling code+537
ISO 3166 codeTTG
Internet TLD.tor

Tortuga (/toɾˈtu.ɡa/), officially known as The Independent Isles of Tortuga (Impelanzan: Las Islas Independientes de Tortuga; Salovian: კუს ქვეების დამოუკიდებელი კუნძულები k’us kveebis damouk’idebeli k’undzulebi), is an archipelagic island country in the Packilvanian Ocean, off the coast of Peregrinia. It consists of 199 islands, of which most are clustered around Isla Nublar. Its closest neighbour Justelvard is located 221 kilometres to the east of Isla Pico. Peregrinia, Bai Lung, and the Morstaybishlian territories of the Necraties, Frorkstolm and the Seligeze Islands are also located nearby. Its population of roughly 150,000 is dwarfed by most of its neighbours.

The lack of human presence prior to Salovian rule created a prosperous environment for the ancestors of the Gallegos tortoises to grow in numbers and evolve. They are an often-cited and prominent example of insular gigantism. The turtles have developed an extensive sign language based on a variety of body movements and a writing system, making them one of the most intelligent animals on Urth. They form complex social ties between each other and are considered equal to humans under Tortugan law. All these factors lead most Tortugans to consider them as the native inhabitants of the islands. Knowledge of Gallegian history is limited due to the difficulties encountered while attempting communication with them and is mostly interpreted through fossil records and artifacts.

The first human presence was rather brief, only being intermittently and briefly explored by a variety of nations. More permanent settlement began in the 15th century, with the establishment of a series of slave plantations by Irakli Ketevanidze, a prominent Salovian trader. Its absorption into the Grand Republic of Salovia later followed. The majority of slaves brought to the islands were from several Impelanzan-speaking nations in Arcturia, a legacy still observable to this day. It was the site of one of the few successful slave rebellions, making the slaves free men much earlier than most other places in the world. Tortuga gained full independence in 1954.

Today, Tortuga boasts a relatively high GDP per capita due to its low population and profitable tourism industry. Its Human Development Index is very high, due to its highly educated population and elevated high life expectancy.

Tortugan culture is a mix of Impelanzan, Salovian and nearby cultures. The vast majority of people living on the islands speak some variation of Impelanzan, but the teaching of Salovian is somewhat controversial due to the history of the nation, and not therefore not universal. The nation is a member of the International Forum and the UNAC.

History

It was long believed that the Tortugan Isles were devoid of sapient life until the arrival of explorers in later recorded history. We now know this to be untrue. Gallegos tortoises (Chelonoidis) are known to be far beyond the point of sentience. Research has proven that they are sapient creatures, capabale of critical thought, language, and forming complex social bonds. Their means of communications is composed of a variety of gestures and noises, making it very different from any other known language. Some markings made by the tortoises have also been interpreted as a written form of this language, but research has remained inconclusive.

The lack of structures built by their civilisation can be explained by a lack of any predators on the islands, elimating the need to contruct any forms of shelter and allowing them to flourish. This has also been proposed as a reason for their advancement compared to other animals, being able to expend more time and energy to socialising and thinking.

The Ketevanidze Plantations

According to archeological digs, Homesian lifeforms started visiting the archipelago for brief periods of time long before recorded history. The first verifiable account of a visit to the isles is from the journals of ___, an ___ explorer. He, as most after him were, was quite fascinated by the tortoises. turtles curious