Republic of Zolo
Parliamentary Republic
GDP per capita: $19,000
Population: 283 million*
*only 272 million are actually under the jurisdiction of the state, 11 million are autonomous indigenous peoples, who are exempt from military service and almost never voluntarily enlist
National Service: The state has the legal right to draft male citizens into the military at will, but has rarely needed to do so. There are generally many willing recruits among the nationalistic settlers, and the nation hasn’t been in a major war for about 50 years. In the war of 1968 recruitment was stimulated without using a draft by promising parcels of indigenous land to settlers who enlisted.
What threats does the nation face?: The most significant threats that the armed forces of Zolo currently and historically have faced come from within the own country. The military has been involved in suppressing multiple insurrections and guerilla groups, cracking down on cartels which produce and export drugs as well as traffick humans, and in genocidally destroying entire indigenous societies and massacring their civilian populations.
What is the nation’s landscape like?: Large areas of the country are covered by dense jungle, with some areas covered by marshes, there are harsh mountain ranges in the east and west, plains in the northeast, and the whole country is criss-crossed by many small and large rivers.
How technologically advanced is the nation?: As much of the country lives in extreme poverty, many people do not have access to “basic” features of modern technology, including farming equipment, vaccines, plumbing, and cooking equipment; but this isn’t the case in terms of arms. The wealthy ruling class of the country have consistently, since the country’s founding in 1925, ensured that the military is well funded and technologically up to date (if not cutting edge), and the country has a small but thriving arms industry.
Historically, how has the nation’s military been used?: To suppress rebels in a few major civil conflicts, and to destroy indigenous societies.
What is the nation’s current foreign policy stance?: Building trade connections and requesting humanitarian aid for its impoverished population, while regarding the few communist nations as security threats.
