Ca'onja

Ca'onja, officially The United Federation of Caroline and Ontong Java, is an Oceanian sovereign country comprising the major archipelago groups of Caroline and Ontong Java. The neighbouring countries are Micronesia to the north; Marshall Islands to the northeast; Kiribati and Nauru to the east; Tuvalu to the south-east; Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands to the south; and Indonesia and Palau to the west. Ca'onja's capital is Kota Wantaim and its largest city is Derosten. The country's other major metropolitan areas are Dataran Subur, Motuwei and Oaio.

Ca'onja is multi-ethnic and multi cultural, with a significant majority of the population are Oceanian people. East Asians, Europeans and Southeast Asians, as well as the mixed ancestry of Eurasians and Euronesians, form up the population minority. Ca'onja gained independence from Australia in 1958 and formed a federation of three countries: Bwanaba, Eauripik and Nukuoro. Sorol joined the federation as the fourth country in 2000 after gaining independence from Indonesia earlier in 1992. As a unitary federal parliamentary directorial republic, the leaders and representatives of each country co-governs the federation as the Federal Council.

Etymology
The name Ca'onja, is a portmanteau of the first syllable of "Caroline", "Ontong" and "Java". The apostrophe is added to symbolise the two archipelago groups sharing the same name. The name was adopted following the Caroline and Ontong Java Act 1949 which granted the nation's independence from Australia.

Ancient history
Small empires sprout up across the archipelago since the first millennium. At the dawn of the second millennium, the sphere of influence from a few empires begin to outmatch its neighbours, eventually resulting in the four great empires by the 16th century. Sorol invades Eauripik in 1519 to assert its dominance over the Caroline archipelago but was called off by 1591 following the Sultanates of Ternate and Tidore invading Sorolese lands.

Colonial period
The European involvement in the Ternate-Tidore conflict eventually led to the discovery of the Caroline and Ontong Java archipelagos from 1526, which later became fully colonised by the European empires by the 19th century. Eauripik was first colonised by the Spanish Empire in 1565. The [w:Dutch Empire|Dutch]] colonised Sorol in 1808. Nukuoro was colonised by the British colony of Queensland in 1883. Bwanaba is the last of the four Great Empires to be colonised, with the Germans colonising it in 1884. The Germans later obtain Eauripik from the Spanish from the German-Spanish Treaty.

Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German colonies of Bwanaba and Eauripik were seized by Australian and Japanese troops respectively and is made official by the Treaty of Versailles. Later in 1941, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, which kick-start the Pacific War as part of World War II. By 1942, the entire archipelagos of Caroline and Ontong Java fell to the Japanese, leading them to occupy the archipelagos until the end of the War. In 1944, The allied forces launched the Caroline and Ontong Java campaign in attempt to recapture the archipelagos, eventually liberating the islands from Japanese occupation by September 1945 after Japan surrendered.

Civil administration of Bwanaba is restored by the Government of Australia in 1945. Eauripik becomes a United Nations Trust Territory in 1947. Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom became the trustees of the territory, with Australia largely handling the administration.

Independence and Sorol Civil War
In an act to introduce self-governance to the archipelagos, the Parliament of Australia passed the Caroline and Ontong Java Act in 1949, which combine the administrations of the three territories into one. The local governments then decide to band together and start the process for eventual independence. The Netherlands Sorol was invited into the process given his historical linkage but declined to participate in order not to anger Indonesia. A federation, Ca’onja, is formed between the three territories and gained independence in 1958.

The Proclamation of Indonesian Independence sparked a 4 years conflict between the pro-independent groups and Netherlands from 1945 to 1949. Eventually, Netherlands acknowledges Indonesia’s independence, while Indonesia accepts the Netherlands’ sovereignty over Netherlands New Guinea and Sorol for a year, after which negotiations would reopen over its rightful sovereignty of the two territories. However, after a series of failed and unfavourable solutions, throughout the 1950s and 60s, Indonesia seized Dutch interests in the region and, with the help of the Soviets building up its military, launch a campaign to infiltrate Sorol and West New Guinea. Under immense pressure from the United States to avoid a Soviet-aligned Indonesia, Netherlands eventually agree to give up the two colonies under the New York Agreement. A UN trusteeship is then established in 1962, transitioning the administration to Indonesia in 1963. The Act of Free Choice plebiscite takes place in 1969 per the New York Agreement. The unfair plebiscite, however, resulted in maintaining Indonesian control over Sorol and West New Guinea.

Widespread protests sprung up across Sorol, rejecting the results and demanding for a proper referendum. The Indonesian Army and Police is called in to quell the protest, leading to clashes between the two sides. The clashes escalate into a full-scale civil war towards the end of the year as several groups of pro-independent militants fight against the Indonesian forces. This resulted in an influx of refugees fleeing into Ca'onja, which has been taking in Sorolese refugees since 1965 following the Communist Purge in Indonesia which target communists and ethnic Chinese. The outbreak of the civil war prompted the Ca'onjaian Government to get involved in order to provide support for Sorol.

The ballistic missile test conducted by Ca'onja in 1981, as well as vague remarks in producing nuclear weapons, prompted Indonesia to offer a ceasefire over the Sorol Civil War. By 1982, an armistice is signed between the all parties of the conflict. A joint Ca’onja-Indonesia administration was formed to govern of the territory. By 1992, a referendum was held to let the Sorolese decide its fate on self-determination. Despite some level of violence, there was an overwhelming support for independence from Indonesia, which was granted in the following year. Another eventful referendum in 2000, including the hijacking of Caroline Airways Flight 124, eventually led to Sorol joining the Federation.

Contemporary history
With the post-war population boom happening, the country enters into a period of industrialisation through numerous agricultural, economic and societal reforms. Transport and infrastructure works spring up across the country, beginning with the upgrade from pre-war technology. The discovery of uranium deposits in the Kapingamarangi Plateau help fuel the growing energy needs. However, the 1982–83 El Niño event caused a heat wave that swept across the region, resulting in widespread drought, crop failures and forest fires. It also caused a power outage in Derosten that affected 20 million people due to electricity over-consumption.

By the 1990s, the government begin to push for the mass production of high-technology products. However, the transport infrastructure failed to keep up with the economic and population growth. As such, a bill was passed in 1993, then amended in 1998, to nationalise and upgrade the transportation system of the Federation. After 20 years of positive transport infrastructure growth, the bill was amended in 2013 to allow some form of privatisation and the possible introduction of high-speed railways. The Act inspired the government to announce the 50-years FUTURE Master Plan in 2007 on the future of the urban and rural communities of the federation. It largely focus on upgrading major hubs into smart cities, investment in clean energy and implementing measures to safeguard food and climate security.

The 21st Century bring about new challenges to the Federation. Several militant groups in Eauripik and Sorol pledged allegiance to terrorist organisations such as al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah. In the 2010s, an ISIS-related militia went as far as to claim a caliphate over the Caroline archipelago. A SARS outbreak occurred in 2003, causing 64 deaths and resulting in a nationwide closure of schools and public areas. Climate change also caused record-intensive weather phenomena throughout the 2010s, causing billion dollars of damages. The release of the Panama and Paradise papers resulted in widespread protests and eventually led to a government crisis in 2018 after a federal committee was formed to investigate alleged tax evasion within the government, leading to mass resignation of elected Members of Parliament, including former President of Eauripik Jameson Davani, and leading to a series of by-elections and a snap election in Eauripik.