Araucaria

Araucaria, officially the Araucarian Republic (República Araucano), is one of the four semi-sovereign states that make up the Baliscan Confederation. The state is named after the trees of the same name that are abundant in the region. At ?? Km, it is the ?? Largest state in Latin America and the ?? Largest n the world. To the north, it is bordered by Santo Antonio and the Santiago Metropolitan Region. It is separated from Cerdanya to the south by the Straits of Fortuna. On the Araucarian West Coast is the Baliscan Sea, and to the East is the Atlantic Ocean.

With over ?? million inhabitants in 2019, it is the ?? most populous of the Baliscan regions. If it was its own country, Araucaria would be the ?? Most populous country in Latin America, and the ?? Most populous in the world. Araucaria is home to Balisca’s fifth largest metropolitan area, Bayreut, which also serves as the Araucarian capital. Other large cities in the region include Elijah, Iskandar, Alexandria, Koliniopolis, and San Miguel. It is made up of seven regions, called nomes; Juju, Sangao, Botanica, Kopi, Libertas, Adayemi and Soussa. It is the only Black-majority state in the Baliscan Confederation, with most of its inhabitants being descendants of African slaves brought to Balisca in the colonial era. It is home to significant minorities of Asian and Indigenous Baliscans. Around 17% of the region’s population are immigrants, either from another Baliscan region or an entirely different country. The percentage of black people in the region has steadily declined from an all time high of 90% in 1948 to 74% in 2019, largely as a result of increased immigration from other regions in Balisca.

Originally, what is now Araucaria was known as Sangoa (“land of the Sang”) after the native society that was spread throughout the land. Aranese exploration of the land was quite limited, as the Aranese Captaincy General of Balisca attempted to delineate native-only territories. The land remained largely untouched by Europeans up until the 1610s, with the outbreak of the Reaper’s War between Aranese and Portuguese settlers and the eventual expulsion of the Aranese. The Baliscan Civil Wars and the Maroon Settlement Act of 1840 greatly changed the region, which was renamed to Araucaria, establishing it as a separate autonomous state for former slaves and their descendants.

Government and politics
Araucaria is a semi-presidential constitutional republic, with a bicameral parliament, the Araucarian Assembly. As stated in the Araucarian Constitution of 1944, the President of Araucaria is elected by popular vote, every four years. The Assembly is made up of the Chamber of Representatives, with 147 representatives who are elected on block lists by proportional representation for four year terms, and the Senate, with 14 senators (two for each nome), who are directly elected by popular vote for four year terms.

The current President of Araucaria is Miguel Christovam, from the Araucarian Social Democratic Party, who has been in office since 1 January 2016.