Meridian Confederation

Meridiana, officially, the Meridian Confederation(Portuguese: Confederação Meridiana) is a confederation in the southeastern region of South America. It borders Argentina to its west, Brazil to its north, the La Plata River to its south and the Atlantic Ocean in the east. Meridiana is home to an estimated xxx million people with a total area of about 754,440.31 km², being the 8th major country in the continental South America plus about 1,250,257 km² of the Meridian Antarctic Territory. The Confederation Capital, Desterro, is the home of important decisions for the politics of the Southern Hemisphere.

Various indigenous people have lived in the Meridian Territory before the formation of the National State. In the colonial era, Santa Catarina was a strategic territory for the Portuguese Dominion in South America, Desterro, São Francisco do Sul and Laguna were one of the first cities in the South of the Portuguese Colony. In 1822, with the Brazilian independence, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande became provinces of Brazil, the Brazilian dominion over Rio Grande ended in 1835 and over Santa Catarina in 1839 through the War of Independence knowns as Farroupilha Revolution. These events created national holidays in the days 24 and 29 of July in Santa Catarina and in September 20 in Rio Grande. Uruguay was the first to get their independence, the "Trinta e Três Orientais" movement fought for their independence in 1825 against the Brazilian Empire, getting it on 1828 with the support of the United Kingdom and Argentina.

In 1864, the declaration of war of Brazil against Uruguay reforced the ties of the Southern former provinces of Brazil, the Conference of 1864 created a Defensive Pact between Santa Catarina, Rio Grande and Uruguay, the continuous Brazilians aggressions lead to the Conference of 1865, creating the Meridian Confederation. After the Southern answer to the agressions, Brazil recognized the independence of Uruguay again. The Confedarion stayed united after the War and started annexing parts of the Paraná territory in Brazil as answer to the previously aggressions.

In the 21st century, Meridiana is a regional power and has the AIN's xxxx largest economy by nominal GDP by 2017 estimate. Meridiana has a growing industrial pole and specializes in several areas of high technology, from the naval area to the electronics, the leader in the Latin America. Meridiana is member of United Nations, Alliance of the Independent Nations, G20, Organization of American States, Union of South American Nations, Organization of Ibero-American States, Community of Portuguese Language Countries, International Organization for Italophonia, Latin Union and associate member of Mercosul. Meridiana still hold one of the highest GDP(PPP) Per Capita in South America, with an average value of US$ xxxx.

Etymology
The name Meridiana is associated with the Latin language as a result of the country being located geographically in the south of the planet. The name was chosen due to avoid the name "Southern Brazil" and "Cisplatina", the War of Uruguay led to the formation of the confederation with the chosen name, "Meridiana". The country has already be called by other nations as the United States of the South or the Southern Confederation, both names were abandoned in the 20 Century, after the First World War in agreements with the League of Nations.

First Contacts
The coastal region of Santa Catarina was always inhabited, before the colonial era, by indigenous tribes, and after that, was initially visited by French, Spanish and Portuguese. In 1504, the first colonial expedition took place, where in nowdays is the city of São Francisco do Sul, the first settlement in the Catarinian coast. In 1514, the Island of Santa Catarina, nowdays Desterro, was named as Island of the Ducks, where 17 people were settled in the same year. The coast of Santa Catarina was the stopping point for several navigators who traveled to the Plate River. With the advance of the Portuguese towards the south, the city of São Francisco do Sul was founded, the first city of the south part of the Portuguese colony. At the time of the discoveries, the region that today forms Rio Grande was inhabited by the Minuti Indians, plows and caaguaras, who lived 12,000 years BC. They were good potters and, in hunting, they used the boleadeiras, even today it still as instruments of the Gaucho culture. These tribes lived long without contact with the white settlers. The disputes between Portugal and Spain over the limits of their possessions in America meant that the region was only occupied in the seventeenth century. The Spanish Jesuit priests were the first to establish themselves in Rio Grande, at the time, part of the Capitany of Santana, based in Laguna. Rio Grande, before existing as a division of the Portuguese Empire, was a large pasture where cattle herders from Laguna took the animals to São Vicente, one of the Portuguese main colonial centers in America.

The documented inhabitants of Uruguay before European colonization of the area were the Charrúa, a small tribe driven south by the Guarani of Paraguay. It is estimated that there were about 9,000 Charrúa and 6,000 Chaná and Guaraní at the time of contact with Europeans in the 1500s. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to enter the region of present-day Uruguay in 1512. The Spanish arrived in present-day Uruguay in 1516. The indigenous peoples' fierce resistance to conquest, Uruguay then became a zone of contention between the Spanish and Portuguese empires. The first permanent Spanish settlement was founded in 1624 at Soriano on the Río Negro. In 1669–71, the Portuguese built a fort at Colonia del Sacramento. Spanish colonization increased as Spain sought to limit Portugal's expansion of Brazil's frontiers.

Colonization
The initial settlement of the coast area was based on mining practiced by the old inhabitants of São Vicente, arrived at the beginning of the seventeenth century, and from which resulted, in 1648, the foundation of the village of Paranaguá. In 1654, the dissemination of the existence of silver mines in the region led to the settlement of several other places south of Paranaguá, such as São Francisco do Sul(1658), Santa Catarina Island(1675), localities in which the Spanish occupation processed in the last century, there were almost no vestiges, and finally, Laguna (1676), settlements that were, respectively, in the times when they emerged, the most advanced of the southern coast and the basic nuclei of the Catarinian settlement.

The dissemination of these mineral riches not only attracted the Portuguese to the coastal stretch, but also led them to try to complete the plan to dominate it until the River Plate before the Spaniards again settled in some ports of this strip, guaranteeing the possession of the mines that possibly extending and extending the southern border to the platinum estuary which they considered as the natural limit of the territory. Carrying out their pretensions, they built, in 1680, on the left bank of the river of the Silver, not occupied by the Castilians, the Colony of Sacramento, one of the first settlements of Uruguay. Between Laguna, until the moment the most advanced settlement of the south coast, and the Colony of the Sacramento was opened the way destined, mainly, to attend to the commerce of the cattle. In the comings and goings, Portuguese and lagunistas became aware of the existence of the great herd of bovines and goats that there existed in the loose and they took advantage of it. The precincts began to appear and then the wintering that marked the temporary occupation of the region, in which there was no settlement nucleus. After all, in 1733, inhabitants of Laguna moved there, fixing themselves in the restingas between the sea and the lagoons. Laguna was, at the end of the seventeenth century, the point of support for the occupation of the South. From it departed the elements that settled in the coast of Rio Grande. Its inhabitants opened up the terrestrial paths to the Missões and others that completed the connections of São Paulo to Rio Grande. The first urban nucleus emerged four years later, when the Portuguese government ordered the foundation of a fort that would have as its objective the official and effective possession of Rio Grande and the defense of this part of the coast between Laguna and Colonia of Sacramento. It was the Fort of Jesus Maria José(1737) erected on the shore of the Lagoa dos Patos. Around it formed the original nucleus of the first village installed in Rio Grande, Rio Grande de São Pedro(1751), now the city of Rio Grande. After the foundation of the fort, lands were granted until Santa Vitória do Palmar, whose owners dedicated themselves especially to the cattle raising; the second population nucleus was São José do Norte (1763); was born when the Spaniards blocked the Colônia do Sacramento and attacked the town of Rio Grande de São Pedro whose inhabitants fled to Laguna, Rio de Janeiro and some to the other side of the canal, where they bloomed São José do Norte. After the foundation of the fort, lands were granted to Santa Vitória do Palmar, whose owners dedicated themselves especially to the cattle raising. The second population center was São José do Norte (1763), founded when the Spaniards blocked the Colony of Sacramento and attacked the village of Rio Grande de São Pedro whose inhabitants fled to Laguna, Rio de Janeiro and some to the other side of the channel, where they founded São José do Norte.

These sparse nuclei, not only on the coast of Rio Grande but also in Santa Catarina, did not constitute a guarantee to maintain possession of these areas near the border and threatened with external aggression. This led the Portuguese government to introduce in 1748 the colonization system with Azorean families in order to complete the occupation, establishing a continuous settlement from Santa Catarina to Rio Grande. Taking into account the defense issue, the location of the Azoreans was strategic, making themselves at points spaced from the coastal path. In Santa Catarina they settled in two stretches: Island of Santa Catarina - continental area bordering to him and around Laguna. In Rio Grande they were not limited to the coast, they also settled in nuclei throughout the Central Depression. The government's objective was to use the Azorean arm in agriculture, not only because the region's almost exclusive activity was cattle ranching, responsible for the rarefaction of its population, but above all for the interest of arresting man to the land, contributing to the strengthening of coastal occupation and accelerating the population density. The success was not complete. In Santa Catarina, although the coast provided better conditions, the islanders only planted for their subsistence, preferring to concentrate on the villages and settlements that soon developed. Contrary to what happened in Rio Grande, the Catarinian coastal area would later receive European immigrants and would evolve in a very significant way. In short, the settlement of the coastline was characterized by the fact that the influence of the natural factors was not very favorable, resulting in an inexpressive occupation in relation to the other zones of Southern Brazil, except for the strip corresponding to Santa Catarina, where the conditions were favorable to the establishment of the population, and some sections isolated from other States. As for the settlement, the interior, was based on cattle raising.

Uruguayan Independence
In 1811, José Gervasio Artigas, who became Uruguay's national hero, launched a successful revolt against the Spanish authorities, defeating them on 18 May at the Battle of Las Piedras. In 1813, the new government in Buenos Aires convened a constituent assembly where Artigas emerged as a champion of federalism, demanding political and economic autonomy for each area, and for the Banda Oriental in particular. The assembly refused to seat the delegates from the Banda Oriental, however, and Buenos Aires pursued a system based on unitary centralism. As a result, Artigas broke with Buenos Aires and besieged Montevideo, taking the city in early 1815. Once the troops from Buenos Aires had withdrawn, the Banda Oriental appointed its first autonomous government. Artigas organized the Federal League under his protection, consisting of six provinces, four of which later became part of Argentina. In 1816, a force of 10,000 Portuguese troops invaded the Banda Oriental from Brazil; they took Montevideo in January 1817. After nearly four more years of struggle, the Portuguese Kingdom of Brazil annexed the Banda Oriental as a province under the name of "Cisplatina". The Brazilian Empire became independent of Portugal in 1822. In response to the annexation, the Thirty-Three Orientals, led by Juan Antonio Lavalleja, declared independence on 25 August 1825 supported by the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata(present-day Argentina). This led to the 500-day-long Cisplatine War. Neither side gained the upper hand and in 1828 the Treaty of Montevideo, fostered by the United Kingdom through the diplomatic efforts of Viscount John Ponsonby, gave birth to Uruguay as an independent state. The nation's first constitution was adopted on 18 July 1830.

Brazilian Empire
Brazil got their independence in 1822, along this, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande and Cisplatina(nowadays Uruguay) became provinces of the Empire, with its capital in Desterro, Porto Alegre and Montevideo respectively. These provinces suffered from governamental discontinuity and abandonment from the central government based in Rio de Janeiro. In Santa Catarina, Francisco de Albuquerque Melo became President of the Province, Albuquerque brought stability to the province and implemented significant improvements, updating the ports, founding post offices and receiving the first German and Italian immigrants in Desterro. In his government was created the first means of communication of the province, the newspaper "O Catharinense". In Rio Grande, Brazil's independence brought war and efforts to sustain the Cisplatin War, which led Uruguay to independence in 1828. The influx of German immigrants to Porto Alegre marked the growth of agriculture in the province, in agriculture, handicrafts and small industry, balanced the pastoral landscape with its peaceful society, with no ties to the military patriarchy and alien to the tensions of the cattle economy, contrasting with the political and economic disputes of the first period of the Brazilian Empire.

Gauchian Independence
Populating Rio Grande do Sul was a constant concern of the Portuguese. To that end, the metropolitan Crown distributed land in the form of enormous latifundia. In those large latifundia, cattle raising was the predominant economic activity. The Guaranis, under Jesuit rule, had started raising cattle in the Missões. The destruction of the Missões left astray immense herds, which went feral. The Azorean settlers, on the other hand, mainly introduced wheat crops in much smaller properties. Up to the beginning of the 19th century, wheat was the main export of Gauchian products. However, the introduction of charqueadas in the Southern coast, following the 1777 drought in Ceará, opened new opportunities to husbandry, as from them on, instead of moving herds by land to São Paulo, cattle could be sold in the relatively nearby region of Pelotas, to be slaughtered and processed there, and further transported by sea to Santos, Rio de Janeiro, and other Brazilian harbours. The cheap jerky was commonly used as food for the enslaved laborers in other parts of Brazil.

Up to 1830, political unrest in Argentina and Uruguay favoured the jerky producers of Pelotas. But with order restored in these countries, competition by Argentinian and Uruguayan jerky producers became a concern. The jerky industry of the Plata was favored by the superior quality of Argentinian and Uruguayan pastures, by their better seaports, and by their use of free labor, instead of slavery. Consequently, the regional elites soon started to demand customs protection for the Gauchian jerky against the product of the Rio de la Plata, on the failure of the Imperial government to address those concerns, political demands of greater autonomy, and ideas of a federal relationship towards the rest of Brazil were put forth. These escalated into full rebellion in 1835. In 1834, the Imperial government issued an "Ato Adicional", allowing for elected Provincial legislative assemblies. The first Gauchian Legislative Assembly, inaugurated in April 1835, quickly confronted the Provincial President(appointed by the Regency on behalf of the Emperor, who was a minor). Rebellion broke out in the province on September 20, 1835, giving up hope of redress of the situation by the Imperial Government, the Gauchians proclaimed independence of the Riograndense Republic on September 11, 1836.

The Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi joined the rebels in 1836, he helped the forces to advance to the North, declaring the independence of the Catarinian Republic. One of the main cities of Santa Catarina, Laguna, was taken by the rebels but fell back into imperial hands after four months. It was in this struggle that Garibaldi gained his first military experience and got on the road leading to his becoming the famed military leader of the Unification of Italy. The rebel forces were also aided financially and indirect military support by the Uruguayan government led by José Fructuoso Rivera. The Uruguayans had the intention of creating a political union with the Gauchian Republic to create a new stronger state.

With the support of the Colorados in Uruguay, Italian volunteers brought by Giuseppe Garibaldi, the Northern Coalition in Argentina and the Catarinian Republic on the north, the rebels finally where able to take over the coast and force the imperial troops to the north. With fear of an invasion of Curitiba and the rest of the Iguaçu River area, the Brazilian Empire and the Gauchian Republic signed the Treaty of Poncho Verde on March 1st, 1845, where Brazil recognized the republic as a sovereign state and granted independence to Rio Grande. The gaúchos then held their first national election where all men from whichever race or social status could vote. The national hero and leader of the revolution General Bento Gonçalves was elected the 1st president of the Rio Grandense Republic, with his loyal friend General Netto as vice-president.

Catarinian Independence
With the advance of the war in the Rio Grande, gauchian troops advanced towards the north, taking important cities like Lagoon. In Laguna, the Republic of Santa Catarina was proclaimed on July 29, 1839, at the same time the troops located in Lages and Laguna were united in a front against the Imperial Government in Desterro, taking the island and capital of the then province. The administrative strutures of the Catarinian Republic were defined on August 7, 1839, being elect President by the Electoral College the General of the Republic David Canabarro, who was already in charge of the Catarinian affairs since the Republic proclamation, he appointed the firt Secretary of State, Luigi Rossetti, and for Secretary of Justice, Antônio José Machado. Santa Catarina has emerged as a presidential republic, under the leadership of the President David Canabarro, he unified the troops of Santa Catarina on a great front against Brazil, taking cities as Curitiba and territories in São Paulo province. With the advance of the troops against one of the main regions of Brazil, the Imperial government accepted the peace instead of more war, on March 1st, 1845, Brazil and Santa Catarina signed the Treaty of São Francisco, ending the war and giving independence officially to the Catarinian Republic.

The War of Paraguay and the Early Confederation
Solano López ascended as the great leader of Paraguay, with expansionist ambitions, he concluded that to make Paraguay a great power, would need an exit to the sea, since the Bacia do Prata was controlled by the other countries who doesn't allow Paraguay to control and transport goods without paying taxes. On December 27, 1864, Solano Lopéz invaded the province of Mato Grosso, in Brazil, and the region of Iguaçu, in Santa Catarina, starting his expansionist crusade into the Atlantic Ocean. Lopéz started the war with victories at first, advancing not against the Catarinian Republic this time, but against Rio Grande as well, the Paraguayan Army started a war by the control of the banks of the Rio da Prata.

Demographics
Meridiana is a country with an approximate population of 33 million inhabitants, where 55% of them live within 150km of the Atlantic coast. The largest city is Curitiba, in the Catarinian Republic, followed by Porto Alegre, in the Gauchian Republic and then the capital of the Uruguayan Republic, Montevideo.

Government
See also: Parliament of the Meridian Confederation Meridiana is a constitutional confederation with a federal division of powers. It uses a parliamentary system of government with the Confederation Council as the leader of the government, a group composed by four members elect by the Parliament. All the offices of Meridiana are elect for four years, in the Confederation Council, the Council also chooses one of the composers of it as the President of Meridiana for the next four years, representing the Confederation in international events. The four members represent the following departments: Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Justice and Work. The Parliament has a unicameral system, composed of parties and coalitions elected in direct elections. Members of Parliament can form study commissions on how to improve the country, as well as propose laws and changes to the constitution. The largest parties of the Parliament are the Liberal Party, the National-Conservative Party and the Democrats, but also can be considered strong parties the Republican Party and the Libertarian Party. The Parliament is composed of xxx members from elected directly by the population.

The Meridian Law is based on the Common Civil Code(In Portuguese: Código Civil Comum), different from other countries, the Civil Code of Santa Catarina is a joint between Civil Law and Common Law. Part of the Meridian Code is written and detailed in codes, but there is a good part that there is no code, and therefore, it applies to Common Law, varying from Judge to Judge. Parliament to pass a law requires a consensus of 60% of the members, representing in the current parliament by xxx Parliamentarians. All bills must be discussed at least twice before they are approved. Department Secretaries are Members of Parliament chosen by the Parliament to serve as representant of internal and external affairs of the Confederation, there are currently 4 ministries, namely: Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs and Department of Justice and Work.

International Relations
Meridiana's international relations are based on the Constitution, which establishes self-determination, international cooperation and the peaceful settlement of conflicts as the guiding principles of Meridianas's relationship with other countries and multilateral organizations. According to the Constitution, the President has ultimate authority over foreign policy, while the Congress is tasked with reviewing and considering all diplomatic nominations and international treaties, as well as legislation relating to Meridian foreign policy.

Meridiana's foreign policy is a by-product of the country's unique position as a regional power in Latin America, a leader among developing countries, and an emerging world power. The foreign policy has generally been based on the principles of multilateralism and peaceful agreements. In case of War, the declaration should pass throught the Parliament of the Confederation and be signed by the President. Meridiana still being one of the countries with more agreements and partnerships in the world, being member of United Nations, Alliance of the Independent Nations, G20, Organization of American States, Union of South American Nations, Cooperation of American Alliance Nations, Organization of Ibero-American States, Community of Portuguese Language Countries, International Organization for Italophonia, Latin Union and associate member of Mercosul.

The Meridian Diplomatic Missions span the globe, being one of the few countries with representatives in both Chinas and both Koreas, with more than 170 embassies around the world and more than 300 consulates, serving more than the 33 million Meridians and the foreign people. The visa program of Meridiana is divided by the categories: Tourism Visa, Student Visa, Study and Work Visa, Business Visa and Permanent Residence. Any foreign person can ask for Meridian Citzenship after living 5 years inside Meridiana's territory, including the Antartic Territory. About 3 million people from another countries received the Meridian Citzenship, they hold all the rights and duties as the natural born in Meridiana, except they can't serve as Prime-Minister. Any person who invest in Meridiana at least 250 thousand dollars has the right for Permanent Residence and right for citzenship in 3 years living within the borders.

LGBT Rights
LGBT rights have been guaranteed since the formation of the Confederation, the Statute of the Confederation has specified that each individual has the right to choose their future, therefore, thus not creating the limitation for the LGBT community.

Armed Forces
The Meridian Armed Forces are formed by the Meridian Navy, the Meridian Air Force and the Meridian Army, and they are one of the major forces of the Latin America, the Government invests about 5% of the National Budget in defense. Participation in the armed forces is optional for all citizens of Meridiana, serving between the ages of 18 and 49. Approximately 5% of the national population works in some way for one of the armed forces, being approximately 1.5 million people, the permanent active contingent results in approximately 325 thousand people.

The Meridian Navy has a great tradition linked to the sea, serving in the great wars as an economic bridge between the Americas and Europe. In the 18th century, it has grown with the support of economic policies and agreements between the United Kingdom and Meridian, becoming a naval pole of South America and one of the most advanced places for naval technological development in the Southern Hemisphere. During the 1960s, the Meridian Navy built its first aircraft carrier, the Ship-Aerodrome Constituição.

The Meridian Air Force was created in 1938, just before the Second World War as a division of the Navy Naval Aviation, which has as its responsibility the control of national air traffic and the defense of air sovereignty. Currently, the Air Force has approximately 50,000 active workers. The Meridian Army is responsible for national land security and border services, the army is made up of approximately 220,000 people.

Each armed force has a police force at its service, being the Army Police, the Navy Police and the Air Force Police. The Police in Meridiana is divided by counties, each with its own division, the maximum leader of each County Police is the County Chief of Police, all County Police are subordinate to the Department of Defense. The County Polices have the duty of serving the population and maintaining the safety and integrity of the towns that make up the county, it is their duty to conduct investigations and maintain special operations troops as well. The Department of Defense has its own national defense division, which is able to operate in all counties, being the Meridian National Guard, with the duty of defending national integrity and serving the highest levels of the government.