Information about Martazuela

CAPITAL CITY:Valperegas
MAJOR CITIES: Santa Valencia, Puerto España, Paraquéz, Santo Fidel, Bahia Nueva, La Puebla, Ciudad Cortez, Fuerte de las Americas, León, Cateilla
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE:Spanish
POPULATION: 6 036 632
GOVERNMENT: Presidential Republic
PRESIDENT: Miguel Santos
ADMINISTRATIVE REGIONS: Atlántico, La Capital, Playas del Sur,Montañas, Santa Maria, Fernando, Colonia,Norte,Isla Concepción.
HIGHEST POINT: Monte Alvarez
RELIGION: Catholic
INDEPENDENCE DAY (FROM SPAIN): January 20 1905
MAJOR EXPORTS: Bananas,Coffee,Gold,Wine,Tobacco,Coal,Seafood
MAJOR IMPORTS: Cars,Electronics,Consumer Goods,Machinery
NATIONAL ANTHEM: Viva Martazuela(Long Live Martazuela)
CURRENCY: Martazuelan Peso


MAP


COAT OF ARMS


LOGO

HOLIDAYS
New Years Day-Jan.1
Independence Day-Jan. 20
Martyrs Day-Feb.10
Flag Day-Mar. 3
Good Friday-April 22
Labour Day-May 1
José Martez Day- Jun. 25
Festival de Canciones-Jul. 10-20
Harvest Day-Oct.1
Day of the Saints-Nov.12
Christmas Eve-Dec.24
Christmas Day-Dec.25

HISTORY
Martazuela was first colonized by the Spanish in the late 1700s. The main explorer who led the exploration was a wealthy Spaniard named Martin Alvarez. The Spanish explorers landed at what is now Fuerte de las Americas on Isla Concepción. When they realized there was not much for them on the island they sailed onward and landed at Puerto España. They then developed Puerto España as the colony's capital and kept Fuerte de las Americas as their defensive fort. From this the Spanish began to develop the territory into a vital gateway to South America. As years progressed the colony began to prosper more and more and by 1812, thirteen thousand Spanish settlers were living in Martazuela. The prosperity only grew when gold was discovered in the Cortez Mountains in the Montañas region. When people heard of this miners and those seeking wealth flocked to the colony from places such as Europe and North America and other parts of South America. However, when this happened Spain became angered at how foreigners were coming into their territory and taking what was supposed to be theirs and in 1819 the Gold War took place. The war lasted little more than 3 months as the mighty Spanish Army drew the foreigners out and retook the gold mines. Following this Martazuela became somewhat more isolated than Spain's other colony's primarily due to the abundance of resources in the colony. In 1824, Simon Bolivar's liberation of South America and the Independence of Spain's colonies left Spain with only Martazuela,Cuba and Puerto Rico. At one point, the Portuguese attempted to take over Martazuela and make it part of Brazil but Spain firmly kept hold and by 1872 Martazuela was the last of Spain's North America's colonies. Spain's firm hold on Martazuela isolated it from other South American influences and the colony remained prosperous under Spanish control. In the late 1800's to early 1900's Spain began modernizing Martazuela as the population reached 1 million. They built additional towns and established a railway and road system.
In 1904, Martazuela realized that it was their time to achieve independence and a group of representatives went to Spain and demanded a peaceful independence. At first Spain denied their request but then realized as the world began to decolonize more and more they would soon lose the colony anyways. So in exchange for their independence the Spanish requested a quarter of their gold. The Martazuelans eagerly agreed and on January 20 1905 Martazuela achieved independence without any bloodshed. Following the establishment of the country's first president, José Ramos the new nation continued to prosper. This prosperity also continued under the presidency of the second president, Javier Ramirez. Ramirez brought many changes to the country. He established a number of coffee and tobacco plantations,created a new health and education system and moved the capital city from Puerto España to the central town of Valperegas located on the Rio Azul. The nation's prosperity grew and grew until the outbreak of World War 2. At this time although Martazuela did not fight in the war the economy fell drastically as world trade became less demanding. To add to the falling economy revolutionaries seized the opportunity to take power and overthrew the Martazuelan president. In his place the ruthless dictator, Juan Martin Fernandez seized control and reformed the entire government into a totalitarian like regime. Fernandez's regime proved horrific for the country. Industries and farms were controlled by the government,basic human rights were stripped away,work camps were established for those who opposed him and he also heavily isolated the nation from the rest of the world. As the years went on the dictator's regime resulted in Martazuela becoming an almost third world country. However, Fernandez managed to build up what was at the time one of the largest armies in South America. Following the war, the nation remained under Fernandez's rule until his death in 1972. At this time before another dictator could be put into power freedom-fighter and revolutionary, José Martez gathered a large group of supporters and stormed the parliament building and took power. Martez immediately changed the constitution and established Martazuela as a free, democratic republic. Martez once again opened the country, established trading partners, privatized industries and agriculture and repaired the damage to the nation. By the first election the Martazuelan people loved him so much he was re-elected and died in office in 1989. His death affected everyone and his funeral attracted worldwide dignitaries and citizens from all over the nation.
Following the death of José Martez Martauela ran into new problems. A large pro-communist revolutionary army known as the Ejército Revolucionario de Martazuela (ERM) was established by rebels. The ERM cause widespread terror throughout the country and were responsible for countless bombings and attacks throughout the country as a way to prevent a new democratic president from taking power. In addition to the increase of violence in the country due to ERM, numerous drug cartels began to pop up around the country. This further increased the violence and crime in the country and by 1995 the country was thrown into a state of anarchy and did not even have an organized government. This led to the Martazuelan Civil War (1995-1999) which resulted in the deaths of over 4000 citizens and soldiers. When the war ended in 1999 a new government was formed, members of the ERM were captured, jailed and the army disbanded, a huge campaign against the drug cartels resulted in the reduction of the 16 cartels to 2 (the remaining 2 have gone into hiding in the jungles and mountains near the Argentine border). Today, the country has managed to repair itself very quickly and has become one of the wealthiest and most developed countries in South America. It is also quickly becoming one of the safest due to the large national police force and crackdown on crime.