Druaya

Druaya, officially the Commonwealth Republic of Druaya, is a country in North America. It is situated west of the United States; covering an area of 187146 km2, with a population of over 52 million within its 64 counties. Druaya is the third-most populous country in North America after Mexico, as well as the third-most populous member state of the Union of North American Nations. Its capital is Pacanne, and its largest city and financial centre is Los Santos; the largest urban area is the Los Santos Bay Area.

Various Indigenous peoples have continuously inhabited what is now Druaya for thousands of years. Beginning in the 16th century, Spanish expeditions explored the California coast, and as a result, the Druayan archipelago. The first European settlement in Druaya was established in 1643 at Pueblo de Los Leopardos del oeste de California in the modern-day county of Plainecotiere, now known as Comienzo Point. Japanese expeditions, beginning in 1638, also began to explore the archipelago. They soon established the Japanese colony of Druaya under the Japanese Empire, settling near where Los Santos is based today, at the town of Ribabey. Unlike other colonies in the Empire, Druaya was allowed self-government and settlement by those of European descent. Particularly, British, French, Spanish, and German settlers began establishing settlements in the colony, giving it a distinct mix of Japanese and European customs and culture. The French-established city of Pacanne became the colony's capital in 1754, and Japanese control was loosened in the decades that followed. In 1832, the territory declared independence from the Japanese Empire, starting a seven year long process of negotiations with Japan. On 18 July 1839, the Treaty of Montemarciano was signed, releasing Druaya from Japanese control and granting Druaya full independence.

Druaya's early history of being a nation state was marked by several political and socioeconomic upheavals, primarily the Los Santos Revolution of 1847 and the June Revolt of 1848, which mandated the creation of a second constitution on 7 August 1848. After the second constitution, the country stabilised and began to industrialise, significantly growing its economy and bringing in an era of prosperity, primarily due to its location west of the Pacific coast of North America. It also began to establish formal relations with the United States in 1849, becoming a major American ally and trading partner. The Port of Los Santos soon became one of the West's primary ports for importing goods from East Asian countries like Korea, China, and Japan.

During the Jim Crow era in the United States, Druaya became a refuge for African-Americans who were affected by such laws, and as such, is home to one of the largest populations of Africans in the Western world by proportion to the wider population. It passed the Anti-Discrimination Act, barring discrimination on the basis of race and ethnicity, in 1896. It was codified into the basic laws of Druaya by the third and current constitution in 1909, which also saw the country become a unitary, semi-presidential republic with 41 administrative counties, now 64 administrative counties. Amendments were established in the 1920s to establish equality between the sexes, the 1970s to establish the same for sexual identity, and the 2000s for gender identity.

The Commonwealth Republic of Druaya is a unitary semi-presidential representative democratic republic. The head of state is known as the Premier, who shares executive powers with the head of government, otherwise known as the Chancellor. The Chancellor is elected via a vote by the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Druaya's legislature, the National Assembly. Typically, the Chancellor is the leader of the largest party in the governing coalition. The Chamber of Senators, the upper house, oversees the Chamber of Deputies, and answers to the Vice Chancellor, who himself answers to the Premier. The Vice Chancellor is elected in a similar process to the Chancellor.

Druaya is considered to be a great power with a strong economy; it has the second-largest economy in North America, the world's third-largest economy by nominal GDP, and the fourth-largest by PPP. It is a leader in several industries, including Information and communications technology, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, tourism, transportation, sustainable energy, and agriculture. As a highly developed country, which is the highest-ranked country on the Human Development Index, it offers a wide-reaching social security network and a universal health care system, extensive environmental protections, a tuition-free university education, and an expansive public transportation system. Druaya is a member of the United Nations, Union of North American Nations, NATO, PPTO, European Union, Commonwealth of Nations, the G7, the G20, the OECD, Asian Economic Union, and the Pacific Alliance. It has the ninth-greatest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Etymology
The earliest evidence of the name Druaya has Native American origins, likely coming from the Lemaremara word for green hills, Druu Yaja.

Major cities
Druaya is a highly urbanised country, with its largest cities (in terms of metropolitan area population in 2019) being Los Santos (5,544,204 inh.), Montemaricano (4,310,850), Navamorisca (3,956,296), Iramaia (3,345,343), Yeluma (4,000,713), Birmingham (3,339,295), Clermont (3,232,550), Clermont (2,185,839), Northport (1,961,521) and Bristol (727,357). (Note: There are significant differences between the metropolitan population figures just cited and those in the following table, which indicates the population of the city limits). Rural flight was a perennial political issue throughout most of the 20th century.