Sihu

Sihu (:シフ), officially the Republic of Sihu (シフ共和国) is an located in Bangju. The country is located in the East Sea. Sihu covers an area of 606.23 square kilometres (335 sq mi) and consists of an archipelago covering over 100 islands. Sihu shares maritime borders with several countries; Kinshu to the north, Sikuku, X to the east and Igu to the south.

Historically most of the population of Sihu were involved in fishing and agriculture on the island. The archipelago became the centre of a race for influence in the East Sea in the XXth century and was occupied by X in XXXX. The village of Yabushi became an important port and expanded rapidly. The population of the archipelago grew rapidly before plateauing in the mid-17th century. The first factory on the island opened in the mid 18th century, agriculture and fishing however were still the most important sectors of the local economy. On the outbreak of the Eulhae War the island's factories began manufacturing firearms and became an important ship-building hub and port. The archipelago was subject to a blockade by X which caused mass-starvation on the islands. Combined with repeated air raids led to thousands of deaths over the war which devastated the local economy and population. After the war the island fell under supervision of the Congress of Nations. In this period the economy began to recover and rationing was ended in 1957. The archipelago became independent in 1958 and quickly fell into recession when the agricultural industry began to shrink, faced with an impending crisis the national government, the governing Sihu Dream party began promoting the archipelago as a business hub and slashed corporation taxes.

Major economic growth occured following this alongside a sharp rise in immigration which led to the massive urban expansion of Yabushi and the near complete destruction of the agricultural industry on the island. Sihu's economic growth reached a maximum of 10% in 2002. In exchange for membership in the Sinju Union, Sihu reinstated corporation taxes in 2003. The country's economy began stagnating in 2014 and entered a recession in 2019. A major hurricane and storm surge devastated the country in 2019 killed 132 people.

Sihu is a member of numerous international organisations such as the Congress of Nations (since 1958) and the Sinju Union. The Sihu Armed forces which was established during the CoN mandate is the primary defence force of the country. Sihu ranks highly in the global (HDI) list. Sihu is home to many large companies which moved their headquarters to Sihu to take advantage of it's low corporation taxes, the country is also home to many start up tech companies and is also a manufacturing hub.

Modern history

 * First factory
 * Migration
 * Local language restricted

Eulhae War

 * Armaments factories and ship building
 * Air raids
 * Blockade
 * Invasion
 * Famine

CoN mandate

 * Reconstruction
 * Local government established
 * Rationing ended
 * Dependence on foreign aid
 * New industries

Independence

 * CoN Resolution 1833
 * Economic problems
 * Orange coalition
 * Rapid economic and population growth
 * Stagnating economy
 * 2017 Storm and mass flooding

Politics and government
Sihu is a. Under the 1960 Constitution of Sihu the country's head of state is the President which is elected by Parliament for a single non-renewable 8 year term. The role of President is mostly ceremonial although the President retains the ability to dissolve the legislature, call general elections and the ability to veto some laws. Since 2016 the current President has been former Finance Minister Minami Seigo.

The Prime Minister is the of Sihu and is directly elected. The Prime Minister is the head of the Cabinet, subject to the approval of the majority of the legislature. Cabinet appointees must appear consultative open hearings before one or more parliamentary committees before being elected by Parliament. The current Prime Minister is Hara Eitoku who was elected in 2020.

The President of Parliament is responsible for the daily overseeing of Parliament and is elected by Parliament. Parliament also selects several Vice-Presidents, usually one from each political party represented in the legislature, they assist the President of Parliament in running the legislature.

The Supreme Court created in 1960, is the highest trial court in Sihu. The Supreme Court has decided several notable cases such as in 1970 when it ruled against the Sihu government and paved the way for the abolishment of the death penalty in 1974.

Sihu has a strong history of, the most well known is the Hara family which has dominated the liberal Sihu Dream party and descends from the country's first Prime Minister Hara Motoichiro. The current Prime Minister is the grandson of Hara Motoichiro and the son of former Prime Minister Hara Yasuo and the brother of Hara Toshiharu who also served as Prime Minister. All 4 Prime Ministers in Sihuese history have come from the Sihu Dream party and from the Hara family.

Political parties
Since the country's independence in 1958 it has been a. The country has been continuously governed by the Sihu Dream party since it's independence. The party was able to successfully merge the opposition centre-left Sihu Social Democratic Labour Party and centre-right Sihu People's Party prior to independence to present a united front for independence. As of 2020 the party controls 47 seats in the country's legislature, more than the required 2/3rds majority needed to amend the constitution. Unlike other dominant parties the Sihu Dream party has promoted policies, combining progressive social policies and an individualist economy. The party itself has said by experts as creating a modern in Sihu.

Other important political parties in Sihu include the New Party, the  Green Future Party and the pro- Tomorrow Party. All 3 parties form the Opposition Coordination Council which seeks to form a united list against the Sihu Dream party. The Coordination Council has had limited success since it's founding in 2007 and has suffered from severe infighting.