Atarashima

Atarashima, officially the Republic of Atarashima, is an East Asian city-state north-west of Taiwan. An island country made up of 89 islands, it is separated from Taiwan by the Strait of Amaterasu to its east, Taiwan Strait to its south and from the East China Sea to its north and west. Atarashima is highly urbanised and dense but parts of the country is covered by greenery. Currently more land is being created for development through land reclamation.

About 6.3 million people reside in Atarashima but only 4.3 million people are Atarashiman citizens and another 2 million people are Atarashiman Permanent Residents. Most Atarashiman's are of Chinese, Okataian, Japanese and Korean descent. There are four official languages: English, Okataian, Chinese and Japanese. English is the common language of the country. Atarashima is the member of APEC, EAS, WTO, IAU, AIN and the UN.

Etymology
The name Atarashima (アタラシマ) came from the indigenous name Atawabati. Before independence from Okatabawashi it was named Tang Wéou. While under Chinese ruling, it was named Wunan Province.

History
Atarashima is founded by Okatabawashi as Tang Wéou in 983. City of Gwahajin built along the banks of Atarashima River, it is also known as Old Atarashima Town. Construction of Ang Taieng Castle was completed in 992 and became the largest castle in East Asia.

Chinese conquer
In 1623, the south of Okatabawashi is conquered by the Chinese empire including Tang Wéou. The Chinese empire renames Tang Wéou into Wunan Province. The population of Wunan Province increases by 500,000 residents in 10 years. After 11 years under the Chinese empire, Wunan Province is returned to Okatabawashi as Tang Wéou again.

British ruling
1841, centuries after Tang Wéou was returned back to Okatabawashi from China, Tang Wéou was then held under the control of the British Commonwealth. Sir Murray Scott becomes the first British governor of Tang Wéou. During this period, many changes were made to the architecture and culture of the island. A noticeable area during the British ruling is the current Little Britain area which is near Harbourside.

The 4 Bloodbaths
The Japanese empire attacks Tang Wéou in 1941 while under British conquer and whilst WWII was still going on. They attacked Tang Wéou in a period of 4 hours, known as "The 4 Bloodbaths". Thousands of lives in Tang Wéou were lost to Japan. After the attacks, Tang Wéou was returned to Okatabawashi again.

December 1944 Riots
In the month of December in 1944, protestors marched along the main streets of Atarashima and blocked all access to Mid City Island causing havoc all around the island. The protests were protesting about gaining independence from Okatabawashi. This led to the stepping down of Lord Thomas Fletcher who was the president of Okatabawashi at that time. The riots have since simply been known as the December 1944 Riots.

Independence
It was tough during these times with the Second World still taking place, however Tang Wéou was not involved with the war. The 'Free Atarashima Movement' begins after the December 1944 Riots which was led by Alexander Quan-Ming. Following the riots, Okatabawashi did not have involvement with anything happening in Tang Wéou and the residents in Tang Wéou claimed to have become independent. The independence was not official. Several months later after the movement began, the Mingxun treaty grants Tang Wéou independence from Okatabawashi on 1 September, 1945. On that day, Japan had also just surrendered from the Second World War. The new officially independent country was then named Atarashima which came from the indigenous name of Atawabati.

Modern day Atarashima
Today, Atarashima is a modern, dense and eco friendly city-state nation. High rises have been built to house the 6.3 million residents living in the 1049.5 km² island. As the country needs more land to cope with the rising number of residents, land have been reclaimed from the sea.

Geography
Atarashima consists of 89 islands, including the main island, widely known as Atarashima Island but also as Dǎoshàng Atarashima. There is one man-made connection to Taipei, Taiwan: the Harmony Tollway (consisting of Harmony Causeway and Harmony Bridge) which crosses the Strait of Amaterasu. Mid City Island is the largest of Atarashima's smaller islands and Downtown is also located on Mid City Island.

Most of the undeveloped land in Atarashima is in the north districts like Headlands and parts of Peninsula. The highest natural point is Mount Lushan at 186 m.

Land reclamation
There are ongoing land reclamation projects, which have increased Atarashima's land area from 1049.5 km² in the 1950s to 1284 km² today; it may grow by another 100 km² by 2030.

Currently however, Atarashima is facing problems of where to get the land. Taiwan and China no longer want to give their land to Atarashima. The government has also tried sealing a deal with Okatabawashi however it is not very successful.

Climate
Atarashima lies on the Tropic of Cancer, and its climate is marine tropical.The island has a rainy season that lasts from January through late March during the monsoon season, and experiences tsuyu in May. It also experiences hot, humid weather from June through September. Typhoons are common between July and October.

Economy
The current currency in Atarashima is the Atarashiman Kina.

Tourism also forms a large part of the economy, and 12.2 million tourists visited the country in 2008. To attract more tourists, in 2004 the government legalised gambling and allowed the construction of casino resorts to be developed in the city-state. Atarashima is an education hub, and many foreign students study in Atarashima. Atarashima hosted over 80,000 international students in 2005. There are also more than 6000 Taiwanese students who cross the Harmony Bridge every morning with hopes of receiving a better education in Atarashima.

Transportation
Since Atarashima is a small island with a high population density, the number of private cars on the road is restricted so as to curb pollution and congestion. Each family household in Atarashima is limited to 1 car only or you must pay the Atarashima Vehicle Addition Tax (AVAT).

Most Atarashiman residents commute by foot, bicycle, bus, taxi, train or rapid transit. There are 4 taxi companies, who together put out 30,000 taxis on the road. Taxis are a popular form of public transport as the fares are very cheap compared to many other developed countries.

Road
Though most commuters use public transportation as a way of commuting, cars are also used. However due to the amount of space available on the island, cars are relatively expensive and each household is only limited to one car unless you pay the AVAT.

Expressways
Atarashima is connected by a series of expressways/motorways. There is a total of 8 expressways located on the island connecting many parts of the island. The Metropolitan Ring Road (MRR) which was completed in 2000 is a ring road which encircles the centre of the island connecting major areas like Downtown Atarashima, Yamasenki Airport, Port of Atarashima, Fukuda Island and Causeway. The MRR is 52kms long and it is the second busiest expressway in Atarashima with 3 lanes going each way for most of the expressway.

Expressway + Tourist Project
The Expressway + Tourist Project (E+TP) is a project focused on a tourist friendly expressway system. The project is designed to help tourists and residents to know and use the roads safer and friendlier. The main changes to the expressways is that all signage will be changed into a more simple name. An example like the Yukon Bay Cross-Link which consists of: River Expressway, Bay Tunnel, Kara Expressway and Peninsula Highway will simply be renamed to E4F (Expressway 4 Free). Another example, for a tollway would be Yamasenki Tollway which consists of: Greens Freeway, Hills Bridge and Airport Road will simply become E6T (Expressway 6 Toll).

Bus
Buses are a convenient way of commuting, TransBus which is owned by TransAta has 130 bus services and 4,000 fully air conditioned buses. In 2014, the construction of a system of elevated and underground busways will be completed and will connect places all around the island and will ease congestion on the current bus routes.

Taxi
Taxi's in Atarashima are relatively low compared to other developed countries in the world, 4 companies operate on the island with 1 of them having a 24 hour service. Taxi ranks are located at major ARTS stations, Yamasenki Airport, shopping malls and some hotels.

Train
Although using the train to commute in Atarashima is no longer popular, it is still used daily by regular commuters. Yukio Railway Company operates and owns the railway system. Plans of demolishing the existing 5 railway lines are currently in discussion with a proposal for replacing them with new ARTS lines. In 2014, TransAta will take over the railway and therefor operate the railway, bus and rapid transit system in Atarashima.

Rapid transit
Atarashima Rapid Transit System (ARTS) is a major subway and tram transport system in the island. The ARTS is owned and operated by TransAta. It has a total of 154 subway stations and 27 tram stops to provide an easy and efficient way to get around Atarashima. Apart from the ARTS, in 2012 the first tram line began operating known as City West Tram. It features a 3km long tunnel which has neon lighting on the walls which moves along with trams that pass by making it the first in the world to do so.

Aviation
Atarashima currently only has 1 major airport which is Atarashima Yamasenki International Airport located in the south west district of Yamasenki approximately 19.3km's from downtown and it is connected via the Airport Express ARTS line. Yamasenki Airport is also the 3rd busiest airport in Asia with a total annual handling capacity of more than 65 million. Shimizu Airport is a smaller airport located on a reclaimed island in Yukon Bay, however it is now mainly used for small aircrafts for transportation between the other islands of Atarashima.

Ship
Port of Atarashima was first located in Atarashima Harbour until it demanded more space due to the increase in impors. The construction of a new and larger port in which is located in Minato Bay. This resulted to the current development of the Harbourside Precinct where Port of Atarashima was previously located. Cruise ships also dock at the port, however, cruise ships will be diverted to a new cruise terminal part of the Harbourside Precinct development when completed in 2015.

Demographics
Atarashima has a mix of ethnic groups with 68% being Atarashiman, 13% Japanese, 10% Okatian, 5% Chinese, 3% Korean and %1 being other ethnic groups. Although Atarashima has a population of 6.3 million, only 4.3 million are Atarashiman citizens and the remaining 2 million being Permanent Residents.

The large and increasing population with the small area of land was a big problem for the growth of Atarashima starting at the independence of Atarashima. The urban sprawl continued to grow outwards however mountains were also a problem but housing developers kept building houses on the edges of the mountains. In 1953, a whole housing complex which was being built on the edges of a mountain was completely destroyed when a landslide occurred. Since the disaster, Richard Wee Mung who was the president at that time passed a law with the halt of urban sprawl. By 1960, hundreds of medium to high rise estates were built in place of urban sprawl. Since then, urban sprawl has only been allowed for flat lands or build upwards.

The Atarashiman government set a plan to redevelop areas of Atarashima to create more jobs and residential centres. Some of the blueprints include Atarashima Moving Forward and World City Ata.

Districts
Atarashima is made up of 9 districts consisting of Mid City Island, Nishikaigan, Higashikaigan, Headlands, Peninsula, Fukuda, Yamasenki, Minato and Ushiku. Often, Capital Island is also considered its own district however it is actually part of Mid City Island. Other smaller islands or uninhabited ones are usually don't belong to any district therefor having no other name than its island name.

Languages
There are 4 official languages in Atarashima including English, Japanese, Okataian and Chinese. Though these are all official languages, English is the mainly spoken language throughout the island. Schools in Atarashima are taught in English some exceptions apply including Chinese or Okataian international schools.

Atarashiman slangs
During the times when Okataian and Japanese was used throughout the island, slangs were developed and some are still used to this present day.

Some Okataian slangs include:
 * Yokewa (Hello) = Y'ewa
 * Kazwi (Goodbye) = Zuwi

Japanese:
 * Konnichiwa (Hello) = Kon'wa

Education
Education standards in Atarashima is very high with having a few of the best universities in Asia. All universities, schools, private and public, must be registered with the Department of Education. English is the language of instruction in all public schools and all subjects are taught and examined in English.

The levels of education in Atarashima consists of: Junior School, Senior School and University. Junior and Senior schools are both compulsory in Atarashima. In 2015, Senior schools will no longer be compulsory under the new law proposed by the Department of Education. There are four standard subjects taught to all students: English, mathematics, science and language.

Yamazakura University (Central Campus) is by far the very best university in Atarashima. The university is ranked 84th in the world and 4th in Asia after Tokyo University, Kyoto University and Osaka University.

Culture
Atarashimans generally take off their shoes before entering their homes just like Japan. Unlike its neighbouring country Taiwan, Atarashima has developed driving on the left. The country has very strict laws against drug use and has one of the lowest rates of drug use in the world. Atarashiman employees work an average of around 40 hours weekly, three in four Atarashiman employees surveyed stated that they take pride in doing their work well, and that doing so helps their self-confidence.

Sport and recreation
Popular sports in Atarashima include football, basketball, swimming, sailing, table tennis and badminton. Most Atarashiman's live in public residential areas near amenities such as public swimming pools, outdoor basketball courts and indoor sport complexes. Water sports are popular, including sailing, kayaking and water skiing. Scuba diving is another popular recreational sport. The northern island of Riko Island, particularly, is known for its rich coral reefs and the Undersea Atarashiman Monument.

Atarashima began hosting a round of the Formula One World Championship, the Atarashima Grand Prix, in 2006. The race was staged at the Riverside Park Circuit.

In 2012, Kagyoma Park which is a sporting complex completed its long construction. Kagyoma Park has been a big tourism and business centre due to hosting the 17th Simlympic Games.

Food
The food in Atarashima has mainly been Okatian, Japanese and a bit of Chinese cuisines. Popular dishes that have been brought to Atarashima from other countries include pancakes, steak, ramen, sushi and much more. The diversity of food is touted as a reason to visit the country, and the variety of food representing different ethnicities is seen by the government as a symbol of its multiculturalism.

International relations
Atarashima has strong relationships mainly with Taiwan being its neighbouring country and Okatabawashi as well. The president of Atarashima often goes to Taiwan to discuss matters regarding security, transportation between the countries, issues with China and wars going on around the world.

Twin towns and sister cities
Atarashima is twinned with: