Samudra

Samudra, officially the Democratic Republic of Samudra, is a sovereign state in South Nakasu occupying the large island of Tanah Raya, the Senjakala islands as well as parts of the Selatan archipelago. It is bordered directly by Nusantara in the Selatan archipelago, and is bordered navally by Ayutthaya and Shonan-to. Samudra covers 1,405,231 square kilometres and has a population of 60,380,000.

Early civilisations in Samudra include the Pelaut city-state and various Tanah Rayan and Senjakalan tribes. In the 9th century, the Ular people in Senjakala began entering the rest of the islands and, following the establishment of the Ular Kingdom in the 1050s, the Selatan language, culture and Islam slowly became dominant in the country. The early 16th century and the Ayutthayan invasions saw the spread of Phudthaism and Ayutthayan culture to the islands, with the near-destruction of the Ular civilisation. The Britannians conquered Samudra briefly in the 19th century before ownership was handed over to Yashima, which aggressively modernised the country. Samudra became an independent nation in 1946, initially as a democratic nation and then, following a coup in 1958, a military dictatorship.

Samudra is a country rich in jade and gems, oil, natural gas and other mineral resources. In 2013, its GDP (nominal) stood at 円56.7 billion and its GDP (PPP) at 円221.5 billion. The income gap in Samudra is among the widest in the world, as a large proportion of the economy is controlled by supporters of the former military government. As of 2015, according to the Human Development Index (HDI), Samudra had a low level of human development.

History
Samudra is a military dictatorship in South-East Nakasu (given that Bamar is officially under a civilian government). It might as well be a North Korea-like Singapore with higher crime. The military coup occurred in 2007, and replaced a relatively ineffective government which greatest achievement was the building of the national highway system at the expense of nearly everything else. Samudra was formerly a colony of Yashima up to 1952.

Samudran Revolution and independence
Following the end of World War II and the beginning of the decolonisation period, Matayog Panay's SACL formed an alliance with the

Matayog Panay (Samudra Anti-Colonial League) and Ng Choon Seng (Samudra People's Liberation Army) formed an alliance to take out the colonials through fighting and politics, with the SACL's polticial wing eventually winning. But then Matayog betrayed the communist and began fighting them, resulting in instability and in 1958 Matayog declared martial law that was never lifted.

Panay Regime
From 1958 to 2015, the Panay family held a stranglehold on politics, first with independence fighter Matayog Panay (who changed his name to "Exalted") and subsequently his son, Pandak Panay after Matayog (who kept up a facade of democracy and did build the country, albeit still totalitarian) was assassinated by local communists. Under Pandak's rule the country was damaged greatly due to bizarre policies (detaining foreigners in 1998 for "crimes against Samudran Culture" etc). Pandak also built such massive gestures to himself like the Wajah Rama fortress, which was intended to be his main secure residence but he never used it.

2015 Coup
In 2015, the Samudran military launched a coup, deposing Pandak Panay and placing him under house arrest before moving him to the Kastelo Singa facility. The military never looked back, and as of 2050 is still in power.

Redistrubute
Sumudra’s government boosts economic growth through FDI, tourism and the export trade, though they focus on this to the point of neglecting and oppressing their own citizens. Income divide is massive between the urban and rural areas, and numerous nationalised state-owned enterprises exploit the locals for competitive foreign trade. For example, Samudran rice prices are amongst the lowest in the region, compared to Ayutthayan and Haiphongese rice, though of a lower quality. This is due to the government firms buying the rice for dirt-cheap prices from farmers through coercion, intimidation and threatening to take away their land. Inflation is rampant in the rural areas and poverty levels are high. A gambling law prevents locals from entering the Samudra Falls Casino, the region’s third-largest. On the other hand, people living in major cities enjoy a high standard of living and income on par with neighbouring Nusantara as most spending goes here. There is a national highway system and somewhat well-developed economic infrastructure, though must villages and towns are still serviced by mere dirt roads. Irresponsibly, the government has also spent billions on a space program, building facilities in hopes of becoming a regional space hub in the mid-2030s, though they ran out of funding and the entire program is now a white elephant.

Corruption is extremely high and crime is rampant in the rural areas, with armed tribal gangs in the jungles and a known communist insurgency known as the Samudran Red Guards. Urban gangs also exist, as well as branches of south Zhonghuan triads and Haiphongese mobs. Samudra is infamously known as the drug capital of Nakasu, with a massive volume of drugs passing through Samudra. The government itself is also involved in such activities, as revealed by the Yashimese IIA investigation into suspicious Samudran state-owned agricultural and fertiliser firms that were illicitly producing marijuana and opium.

The military is a massive force, comprising a large slice of the population and military spending is bizarrely high, justified by the government as necessary to combat crime and insurgents, as well as the memory of an attempted Allied invasion in World War IV. The military has a high rate of recruits due to large propaganda and coercion of the peasants through promises of high pay and higher standards of living. Following the Yashimese IIA investigation in 2036, it is also known that the military also deals drugs, mostly opium, and also recruits drug addicts through dealing to them. Reportedly, the Samudran military also occasionally makes money by providing soldiers as mercenaries. The military is known to harass civilians, though they are also responsible for the aggressive creation of infrastructure in those areas where locals may be resistant to the modern technology. Due to the wide prevalence of armed gangs and criminals, the military maintains checkpoints on major roads in rural areas, though some areas are beyond their control. It is estimated the government realistically controls only 68% of the country.

Yashima owns a small island off the Samudran coast, a holdover from Colonial times, and uses it as a weather station and minor Imperial Navy waypoint. It is rumoured that there is an IIA station located there. Samudra has repeatedly attempted to take the island back both politically and otherwise, including an armed invasion in 2019 that was repelled following stern warnings and threats of sanctions and embargoes.

Fried Grasshopper, known locally as Land Shrimp, is a common food sold both by streetside vendors and luxury restaurants.

Foreign relations
Yashima owns a small island off the Samudran coast, a holdover from Colonial times, and uses it as a weather station and minor Imperial Navy waypoint. It is rumoured that there is an IIA station located there. Samudra has repeatedly attempted to take the island back both politically and otherwise, including an armed invasion in 2019 that was repelled following stern warnings and threats of sanctions and embargoes.

Administrative divisions
Samudra consists of nine territories in three regions, with each territory overseen by an appointed governor and an elected legislature and administrative bureaucracy. Each territory further consists of various cities, towns and villages. At present the only settlements large enough to be considered cities are Samudra City, Bandar Baru Nipah and Kota Pantai Kuala.


 * Tanah Raya
 * West Tanah Raya
 * Ramai Rakyat
 * Berawan Besar
 * Panau Tengah
 * South Tanah Raya
 * East Tanah Raya
 * Senjakala
 * North Senjakala
 * West Senjakala
 * Selatan Archipelago
 * Selatan Archipelago

Geography
Samudra consists of three major geographical regions, consisting of the island of Tanah Raya and the Pelaut Archipelago, the Senjakala Islands and the Ramai Rakyat Islands, and part of the Selatan Archipelago, where Samudra shares a land border with Nusantara on the island of Selatan.

While the climate is primarily tropical, the high Berawan Besar Mountains in Tanah Raya are tall enough to experience very slight snowfall phenomena during winter months, though this is a rare occurrence. On the other hand, the island of Senjakala is dominated by arid, desert-like conditions due to a lack of water and much of the island's former river valley being located below sea level.

Economy
Samudra is one of the poorest nations in Southeast Nakasu, suffering from decades of stagnation and mismanagement. The lack of an educated workforce skilled in modern technology hinders Samudra's economy, a problem that has lasted for close to a century despite the efforts of various non-state actors due to the lack of cooperation from the government.

Samudra has a well-developed infrastructure base due to near-constant use of government spending to boost economic growth, though such development lacks proper maintenance. A paved national highway system links the entire nation, with bridges crossing most gaps in the archipelago where possible. In contrast, numerous roads in rural areas remain unpaved, with some settlements completely unserviced by official roads. Energy shortages are common throughout the country besides in major cities and towns despite a strong energy production infrastructure and the widespread use of wind turbines in rural areas, mainly due to a lack of attention to power grids and cabling.

The military government has the majority stakeholder position in all of the major industrial corporations of the country, from oil production and consumer goods to transportation and tourism. The main sectors of the economy are petrochemicals, mining and tourism, with a major illicit drug trade also fuelling the economy.

The national currency is the NuSa Rupiah, which suffers from high inflation. Between 2040 and 2048, inflation averaged 56%. Inflation is a serious problem for the economy, to the point where some rural communities resort to bartering or use foreign currency.

Sports
The Kendama, a traditional Yashimese toy introduced in the colonial times, is very widely popular and youths can be seen playing with them everywhere. Kendama championships exist.

Samudra has one race track known as Bandar Selekeh.