Maps Union

The Maps Union is the current country located on Maps Island. It was founded in 2011, during the Snoss-Castillan War. The island was broken into two countries, the Democratic Republic of Eastern Maps Island, and the Confederate Republic of Western Maps Island. A Dork, Carter, made it his mission to turn Maps Island into a fine country. He and his terrorist friends battled the Snoss, and with the help of Castilla scared them off of Maps Island. The Maps Union was founded, and Maps Island became one country.

Though small, the country's economy is very powerful and stable. The economy has based itself around farming, and education. Over 5% of professors in Antarctica are Mapsian. Over 85% of Mapsian college students graduate from college, while the other 15% fail and or quit.

History
See also: Snoss-Castillan War.

See also: 2011 Maps Island border conflict.

The Maps Union has a very short history, having been established in early 2011. Maps Island had been having border conflicts, and even bigger problems. Maps Island was split into two countries, because some wanted a Monarchy while others wanted a Democratic Republic. The Snoss allied controlled the Confederate Republic of Western Maps Island; while the Castillans allied with the Democratic Republic of Eastern Maps Island. In the end the DREM won the conflict, with Castilla's help.

The Maps Union quickly rebuilt itself with a donation from Castilla, and was able to fix the economy. Carter became president of Maps Union, and has become a celebrity. Maps Union is now a peaceful, and wealthy country. Its economy is expected never to fail, unless a large loan was bought.

In 2012, many Antarcticans migrated to the Maps Union in order to escape the economic situation of the USA. These Antarcticans came in such large numbers and so suddenly that the nation's infrastructure couldn't handle it. Power plants were going out, grocery stores were running out of food, water was shut down in the cities, and the citizens became worried. Angry mobs started to pop up in the larger cities, and it seemed like Maps Union was about to fall once again. However, in July of 2012, Castilla sent 50 retired electric generators to the country in order to help it build more power plants. President Carter ordered that government funds be focused restoring power and water to the cities, and building neighborhoods for the immigrants. By the end of August, the population of 18,700 exploded to 50,600 penguins and puffles. Large families were also becoming popular, with the average family size being 5 members. For a few months after the great migration, taxes went up 1%, and income taxes had at last been legalized.

Culture
The Mapsian culture is somewhat influenced by the United Terra, and the United States of Antarctica. However some immigrants from Castilla brought some of their culture to the cuisine, fashion, and media.

Fashion
The fashion is highly influenced by current trends, and some from the 1930's. Men like to wear suits, with their hair spiked; women like to wear medium-sized skirts, and let their hair flop around. The fashion is somewhat influenced by Castillan, but those trends are up to date too.

Fashion designers have created a way of mixing the 1930's style, with current trends. They created colorful suits for the men, and colorful dresses for women. The Mapsians like to wear colorful feather colors too, common colors are light blue, lime green, pink, red, and purple. Some even wear jetpacks.

Architecture
The architecture is a lot like Mattress Village's buildings. The buildings are usually grey colored, with red roofs. These buildings are made of stone, or wood but most commonly stone. The Mapsian buildings are also very simple. Architects don't put a lot of work into trimming, or other details.

Music
Mapsians like to listen to rock, and jazz music. Groups like the Penguin Band, and Cadence are popular musicians in Maps Island. The piano, trumpet, and electric guitar are famously used instruments. Many famous musicians are Mapsian, and travel Antarctica on tours.

Media
Mapsians like to watch comedy, and action shows. Some shows are funny cop shows, that are foreign in Maps Island. Some comedians hold live TV broadcasts on the Mapsian Cable Program, which are local shows.

Government
The government is a democratic republic, which has two parts: the president, and the congress. The current president is Carter, who was the terrorist leader. The government likes to support small businesses, by giving them large loads of money. They also tend to take money from the rich, and give it to poorer people sometimes. This action is a lot like the USA's, and makes some people mad.

President
The president is the leader of the country. He/she is elected by the Mapsian people every ten years. Presidents are allowed to be reelected, but only two times. Presidents, unlike Monarchs, can only make laws by showing them to the Congress. The Congress will then vote for if, or not the bill may become a law. The president also has control over when the military should attack enemies. If needed the president could launch a, or ALL the Mapsian missiles.

The first president, Carter, was actually nominated by the Castillan military in 2011. Leonardo had appointed Carter as president, because of his love towards Maps Island. In 2021 the citizens will elect their next president.

Congress
The Congress is a large council made up of Mapsians. The Congress is split up into three groups: The House of Economy, The House of Military, and The House of People.

The Congress keeps the government democratically, by making sure the President doesn't make a law without input from anyone else. The Congress can decide to make laws if it would want, but the majority of Congress must agree to the bill, and the President must sign the bill officially making it a law. Despite this Congress is the most powerful part of the Mapsian Government.

Relations With other Nations

 * Castilla- Great. The two are amazing trading partners, and Castilla protects Maps Union. They donate to the government, and military too. Though, like Yow, some Mapsians don't link the Castillan monarchy government.
 * USA- Great. The two nations are good trading partners, and the USA also looks out for the Maps Union.
 * Snowzerland- Horrible. The Mapsians hate Snowzerland for trying to kill they're current President, Carter, and killing most of them.

Economy
The economy runs a lot on farming, and tourism. Maps Island is a great place for explorers to see caves, ruins, and large forests. Many hikers, mountain bikers, and miners come to the Maps Union. The Mapsian economy is currently very powerful, and is fueled by tourism. Tourism brings the government an annual $50 billion each year, and is a big deal to the citizens. The Mapsian mining industry is very important for the region where it is located, because oil is very scarce in the Yowien Sea and other nearby oceans. The oil found on the Mapsian coastlines and inland make gasoline cheaper for the Mapsians. The oil and gas industry brings the government an annual $1 trillion each year, and restrictions on the industry are very low. Countries like the Old Yow Kingdom depend greatly on the country for cheap gasoline and oil. Besides oil and gasoline, agriculture is another important industry. Though, not as important to neighboring nations, agriculture is very important to the Mapsians. Because of the island's perfect size, there is enough room on the island to have enough farms to feed all the citizens. Less than 5% of all the food in the country is imported from other nations; this means that food is very cheap in the country.

Military
The Mapsian Military, or the Mapsian Armed Forces, is a very small military. It comprises of ex-terrorists who battled the Snoss, and some younger penguins. The military only has an average of 1,500 soldiers in duty. The military is very weak, and makes Maps Union a very easy nation to take.

The military receives annual funds from Castilla, of $3 million. These funds are used to buy new uniforms, weapons, and other military needs. However Castilla had signed a contract that stated that the funds would end on 2014, so the Maps Union is having to prepare for a sudden lack in military money.

The military is also not well-trained. The soldiers aren't disciplined, and very strong. They also don't do a lot of exercising, or training. Most of them are slightly fat, and lazy. This changed in February 2012 when General Hermosa, a Castillan general, came to Maps Island to help it out. He found a troop that was really lazy, and need some work. He trained the men, and turned them into top notch soldiers. He went out, and did this with the rest of the soldiers.

Trivia

 * On HandyWalrus's quest to find his brother, WalrusWithAnOverlyLongTitleThatNeverEnds, he crashed here, and stayed for 2 weeks before repairing his boat and sailing again.