Motto: "Por la luz de Santa Espinosa!" ("By the light of Saint Espinosa!")
National Anthem: "Himno de Santa Espinosa" ("Hymn of Saint Espinosa")BACKGROUND
San Espinosa was founded in 1837 as a Catholic mission by Rodrigo Espinosa, hidden away from memory in the dense jungles. After integrating the native people and subsequently flourishing, San Espinosa went from a small mission to a bustling town. It continued to grow, and after Rodrigo (now Saint) Espinosa's death in 1860, the people of the mission/town voted to create a republic named after their founder. With a unicameral Congress and a popularly-elected President, the Republic was meant to emulate the successful democracies of the time, seeing it as the best way to gain acceptance from the international community. San Espinosa remained largely isolated from the rest of the world for a long time, and thus maintained colonial-level infrastructure and architecture for a majority of the nation's history. The majority party and first party ever founded in the republic, the Republicans, were content with the status quo, preferring to focus on social issues, traditional values, and religion. However, their grip lessened during the Oil Boom of the 1990's, when prospectors found oil reserves deep in the Espinosan jungles. Eusko Abendaren, a college dropout and horse carriage driver, took advantage of this opportunity to found the aptly-named San Espinosa Oil Company. Being one of the first oil companies in the country, SEOC was able to establish a monopoly on the oil market, propelling Eusko to incredible wealth and influence. Using this accumulated influence and good-will, at age 30 he decided to run for President, and in 1996 crushed the Republican candidate in a landslide victory. His party, the Capitalists, gained a supermajority in Congress and have since merged with the Republicans to form a coalition that holds all 100 congressional seats. Eusko continues to be a popular president among his people, and has run unopposed since he was first elected in 1996. His administration modernized San Espinosa, building high-rise business districts in the center of the city and tearing down entire jungles to build oil fields and train tracks. Now, most of the jungle is gone, replaced by concrete foundations and metal rails. The once-beautiful Espinosan coastline is now littered with ports and docks of all sizes. The waters around San Espinosa are some of the most crowded in the world as Eusko and his Capitalists have turned the country into a major shipping hub. While the environment suffers, quality of life has gone up, the lifespan rising from 60 in 1990 to 77 in 2018. Modern conveniences and cars now pack the dense streets of San Espinosa. The narrow stone roads from colonial times were paved over, but not widened, resulting in a near-constant city-wide traffic jam. Newly-built underground subways carry people around the city, and shipping is done on priority railways that criss-cross the countryside like veins.
Government Type: Representative Democracy
Population: 3.6 million
Capital City: San Espinosa (pop. 3.6 million)
Demonym: Espinosan
ECONOMY
Currency: Acuñar (Ñ)
Gross Domestic Product: $54.7 billion (Ñ383.5 billion)
GDP per Capita: $15,220 (Ñ106,540)
Unemployment Rate: 7.6%
Main Industries: Petroleum, Crude Oil, Shipping
PEOPLE
Ethnicity: Spanish
Languages: Spanish
Religions: - Catholicism - 91%
- Unaffiliated Christian - 8%
- Other - 1%
Average Life Expectancy: 77
GOVERNMENT
Head of State & Government: President Eusko Abendaren (1996 - present)
Name of Legislative Body: Congress of San Espinosa
