Antartique (An Honorable Retelling)

Republic of Antartique République d’Antartique Timeline: An Honorable Retelling
Flag Coat of arms
Motto:  Une nation en paix "One nation at peace"
Anthem:  Maison du Soleil Levant "House of the Rising Sun"
Location of Antartique (green)
Capital (and largest city)		Nouveau Villegagnon
Other cities		Pelouse, Port Heureux, Fort Coligny
Official languages		French • Guarani
Other languages		Korean • Italian • Castilian •
Religion		Waldensian Christianity
Demonym		Antartane
Government		Federal presidential constitutional republic
-	President	Louis Mermaz
-	Vice President	Olla Ramlan
Establishment
-	Formation of the Colony of Antartique	July 3, 1560
-	French Colony	1560-1919
-	Novanglian territory	April 8, 1919
-	Independence	May 27, 1948
Population
-	2022 estimate	16,834,500
Currency		Antartique franc (₣) (ANF)
Date formats		dd/mm/yy
Drives on the		right

Antartique, officially the Republic of Antartique (French: République d’Antartique) is a country in Muqaddas, sharing borders with Novanglia to the west, Al-Bayd to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Antartique has a population of 16.8 million inhabitants, making it one of the most densely populated countries in Muqaddas.

The area was first inhabited by groups of hunter–gatherers 13,000 years ago. The predominant tribe at the moment of the arrival of French were the Charrúa people. Other tribes such as Guarani and Chaná were also partially predominant when the French established the Colony of Antartique in 1560. Unlike the rest of the French colonial empire which was settled by French Catholics, Antartique was settled by the Waldensian French Hugenots. The French Empire would hold onto its colony through increasingly violent and suppressive means until the abolition of the Bonaparte monarchy following the Third Great War. The colony would be abolished after the Treaty of Antartique was signed shortly after the Third Great War that temporarily made Antartique a territory of the Dominion of Novanglia from 1919 until 1940, when the entire territory became independent as a democratic republic, with a president serving as the head of state.

The country experienced a large number of immigrations following the Fourth Great War, particularly from Korea, Italy, Castile, Portugal, and Italy. These immigrations would help shape most of Antartique's current culture. In 2014, Guarani has been recognized as one of Antartique's official languages, alongside French.

Antartique is ranked high among democracy indexes, and scores relatively high in peace, low poverty rates, and e-commerce. It also ranks high on global measures of personal rights, tolerance, and inclusion issues, being one of the first countries in Muqaddas to legalize gay marriage. Antartique is also a founding member of the League to Enforce Peace, and a member of the Western Hemispheric Community and the Francophonie.

History

Indigenous and pre-Colonial history (pre-1560)

Prior to the Malian arrival in the New World, various indigenous groups called what is now Antartique home. The first humans to arrive in the area were hunter-gatherers who were believed to have reached Antartique roughly 14,000 years ago. By the time of Malian contact in the 14th century, the most dominant groups in Antartique were the Charrúa, Chaná, and Guaraní who all had various settlements scattered throughout coastal Antartique. While not much is known about the early period of Malian-Indigenous relations, it is presumed by historians that relations between both groups were positive, as evidenced by Malian trading outposts found by archaeologists along the Villegaignon River. By the 15th century, the Malians had largely abandoned their settlements in Antartique and instead focused on expanding their territories in the north which eventually became Al-Bayd.

The Malian monopoly over Muqaddas would come to an end in 1380 following the Portuguese arrival to the New World. With Mali abandoning settlements in Muqaddas, early European settlement in Antartique began with the arrival of Portugese Catholic missionaries in 1420. Early Portuguese settlements included São Marcos in what is now Port Heureux which attracted many merchants and missionaries. By 1450, the Portuguese settlements in Antartique numbered around 10,000 collectively and saw the conversion of many indigenous people, such as the Guaraní, to Catholicism. However, these short-lived Portuguese colonies would be destroyed during the Pilgrim Crusades which would see Malian-aligned Indigenous tribes raid and destroy São Marcos in 1507. With São Marcos burned and their agriculture gone, the remaining Portuguese settlers in the region died of disease and starvation, with no survivors or descendants being found upon the French arrival in 1560.

Early French colonial history (1560-1804)

With the pilgrim crusades ending in 1553 and the Mali Empire being unable to continue its naval hegemony in southern Muqaddas, various European colonial powers had begun to arrive in Muqaddas including the English in 1548 who claimed the areas which would eventually become Novanglia. France, seeking to compete with their historic rival, sent Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon to claim lands east of the English colony for the French crown. On 1 November 1555, Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon had landed on the formerly Portuguese island of Serigipe and claimed the land for France. The island was ceremoniously renamed to "Villegagnon Island" and served as the first administrative capital of French Antartique. In 1556, French settlement on the island only increased and Villegaignon led campaigns inland to establish trading outposts and resume contact with the indigenous peoples of Antartique. French settlements, such as Pelouse, were initially founded in the 1550s as trading outposts which traded with both English, indigenous, and even Malian settlers. Due to its remote proximity from mainland France, Antartique began attracting Waldensian Huguenot settlers who sought to avoid persecution in the predominantly Catholic France. Fort Coligny, a large Huguenot settlement named after Catholic-turned-Waldensian priest Gaspard II de Coligny, was founded in 1557. Following the destruction of Villegagnon Island by Malian ships in 1600, a new administrative center would be built further inland and eventually became known as the city of Nouveau Villegagnon.

As the French Wars of Religion continued to rage on, the persecution of Huguenots in mainland France only intensified. As a result, Antartique experienced a population boom in the latter half of the 16th century. By 1600, it was estimated that roughly 500,000 French Huguenots and other continental European Waldensians had settled in Antartique, making it one of the most populous European colonies in Muqaddas. Due to a large Waldensian population in an otherwise predominantly Catholic French Empire, the monarchs of France chose to deliberately underfund and neglect Antartique throughout the 1600s, instead focusing their efforts on more prosperous colonies such as Champlain, New France, and Ribault. Due to a lack of French enforcement or lawmaking in Antartique, the colony got the nickname of the "Wild East" by colonial Novanglians and Malians, who would often venture to the colony to engage in gambling, prostitution, miscegenation, and cheaply purchasing enslaved people which were often regulated or outright banned in neighboring colonies. During a venture to the colony in 1740, the French philosopher Voltaire had described Antartique as being inhabited by "sodomites and bandits" while simultaneously praising it for its religious freedom. This neglect of the colony led to many Huguenots to call for independence from France, but these efforts were undermined when France began increasing its troop presence in the colony in the aftermath of the First Great War. The status quo of the “wild east” would continue until the French Revolution and rise of Napoleon swept France in the late 18th century.