Tinderland

Tinderland is a very large, older nation located on the Pacific coast of North America. Its technology is first rate and its citizens marvel at the astonishing advancements within their nation. Its citizens enjoy freedom from high taxation and as a result tend to earn more money. The citizens of Tinderland work diligently to produce Cattle and Coal as tradable resources for their nation. It is an aggressive country that some say has an itch for war. When it comes to nuclear weapons Tinderland has no definite position and is therefore considered opposed to them. The military of Tinderland has been positioned at all border crossings and is arresting all drug traffickers. Tinderland allows its citizens to openly protest their government, even if it means violence. It has an open border policy, but in order for immigrants to remain in the country they will have to become citizens first. Tinderland believes in the freedom of speech and feels that it is every citizens right to speak freely about their government. The government gives foreign aid when it can, but looks to take care of its own people first. Tinderland will trade with other nations with questionable ethical treatment of their citizens but prefers to keep such trade agreements a secret.

Government
The government of Tinderland is a constantly changing farce that is often ridiculed on late night talk shows and in bad sketch comedies. Since its founding, the country has had more than half a dozen governments pass through the halls of power. A by no means exhaustive list of governments include: Communism, Totalitarian State, Democracy, Monarchy, Revolutionary Government, Dictatorship and others. Most disturbing in this sequence of governments is the fact that the citizens seem to prefer authoritarian forms of government, having gone through no less than two dictatorships.

The head of the government is Alexander. Little is known about him, save that he has managed to keep his post through each successive revolution by some as-yet unfathomed means. There is no small amount of evidence that his success may be due to a connection with the enigmatically named +1/0, who may, or may not, run a shadow government and who may, or may not, be the unofficial head of the Ammondalism religious movement.

+1/0
There is very little known about the individual named +1/0. All that can be definitively stated is that he may, or may not, exist and that he may, or may not be on a quest to become the absolute, undisputed, Supreme Overlord of Earth.

Religion
The citizens of Tinderland enjoy great religious freedom, having the right to worship in any way they see fit, or not at all. While the government does recognise an official state religion, it is endorsed only in the interests of maintaining a positive and productive populace and plays no role in government decision making. There is a prominent unofficial religion that most government officials and high powered executives belong to called Ammondalism.

Ammondalism
Little is known about Ammondalism, an unorganised religion lacking even the semblance of hierarchy or structure. It also lacks a difinitive holy text, but does posses a vast quantity of worshiper revelead proclomations, that have yet to be revealed to any but the initiates of the religion. Worship centres around the ASCII representation of their lord and saviour, Ammondale the Psychotic Chicken.

Founding
Tinderland was founded by displaced Dutch settlers who made their way to New Holland Island (formerly Vancouver Island), located off the Pacific coast of North America. Here they found a haven away from the harsh continental winters and near year-round growing conditions, as well as access to deep water harbours and long inlets.

Expansion
During its formative days, Tinderland focused on expansion in order to make room for its growing population. Neighbouring small nations gradually faded from view as the country swallowed up all that surrounded it. It was during this early stage that Tinderland was recruited into the ODN.

ODN Membership
With the exception of the few days following its creation, Tinderland has been a member of the Orange Defence Network, having been recruited in the days following the end of the NPO-ODN War (otherwise known as the Citrus War).

Great War
Tinderland was an active, though low key, participant in the Great War, a massive, globe encompassing conflict between the NPO-NpO-IGC and the CoaLUEtion-Legion-ODN and other small alliances. It was through the ODN-LUE mutual defence pact, United for Orange that Tinderland joined the conflict.

Combat Activity
Tinderland engaged three NPO opponents, alongside various CoaLUEtion members, during the course of the war: Spideria, Sith Empire II, and Gateborg. Both Spideria and Sith Empire II were rapidly reduced in nation strength and infrastructure with Tinderland itself suffering very few casualties. Gateborg proved a significantly more formidable foe though, with the two countries punishing each other at a roughly equal level.

Top 1,000
Thanks to the massive military buildup that Tinderland underwent during the war, as well as the rapid decline of numerous top-level powers, Tinderland climbed the ranks of the nation strength reports, breaking the 1,000 mark near the end of the conflict. This was not to last though, as Tinderland fell to roughly 100 points below the 1,000 mark after the war due to the decomissioning of half its armed forces and the entirety of its tank corps.

Public Support
The public support for Tinderland's participation in the war was lukewarm at best. Most citizens viewed the conflict as a personal disagreement that was permitted to grow out of control. In all circles, there was absolutely no support for Yaridovich, whose actions have been largely credited with setting the world on the path to a small-scale conflict. Public opinion of Tygaland is more mixed. Many understand why he launched a pre-emptive attack, but nonetheless disagree with his actions as well as with the targetting of LUE. And most feel that it was his actions that converted a small-scale war into a global conflict.

Post-War
Following the end of the Great War, Tinderland pursued a course of infrastructure development, decomissioning most of its military and purchasing five factories so that it could increase the speed of growth. This policy was so successful, that the government had to make at least five seperate purchases of land so that overpopulation could be avoided.

Tech 100 Policy
After an extensive period of time focusing on population growth, the government undertook a massive policy shift, changing its focus from people to technology. Having come out of the Great War at roughly 53 on the technology spectrum and seeing that most of its peers were at 80 or more, the government decided that it should strive to break the 100 mark. This decision led to the replacement of factories with clinics and a hospital in an effort to further boost population levels, as well as with schools and a university. These efforts proved successful, with Tinderland passing the 100 mark in short order and with much national fanfare.

Renewed Buildup
Following GATO's decision not to recognise the New Polar Order and its ill-timed internal difficulties, government policy shifted again. With the immediate technology aims achieved, an increased emphasis was placed on national defence, and with new aviation technologies becoming available, a substantial military buildup was undertaken. This once again put Tinderland in the top 1,000 nations by strength, where it has remained since.

With the passing of the GATO-NpO non-crisis, the government put further military expansion on hold, with the exception of aircraft, in order to focus on infrastructure and technology development. However, not wanting to be caught off guard in the future, no reduction in the size of the standing army was issued.

Improvements
Tinderland currently has a barracks, two clinics that support one hospitals, a police headquarters, three schools that serve two universities, a stadium and a harbour.